Florida is the preseason No. 1 in the AP Top 25 men's poll, ahead of Duke and Illinois. Yahoo Sports, citing the AP's Dave Skretta, reported that the Gators received 47 of the 59 first-place votes from the national media panel. ESPN called them an "overwhelming" choice. Duke and Illinois also received first-place votes, according to Yahoo's headline. The summaries we have don't say how many each got.

CBS Sports and Yahoo both reported that this is Florida's first preseason No. 1 since 2006. Yahoo's Ryan Young added that the Gators were fresh off the first of back-to-back national titles that year. Skretta framed it differently, saying Florida starts the season where it ended it two seasons ago: at No. 1. Yahoo's piece on the 2026-27 season describes the Gators as the nation's top-ranked team to begin the year.

The Coaches Poll is close to the AP's but not identical. CBS Sports' Isaac Trotter reported that Florida also tops the coaches' ballot, and that Florida, Duke and Illinois are the consensus top three. The split comes at No. 4, where the coaches picked Arizona and not UConn. The summaries don't give the AP's No. 4 team or the rest of the order, so we can't say how far apart the two polls are beyond that.

Our archive shows how much the picture has changed since last April. The final 2025-26 AP poll, from April 7, had Michigan first, UConn second, Arizona third, Duke fourth and Illinois fifth. Florida finished ninth at 27-8, down five spots. So the Gators have gone from ninth in the last poll to first in the new one. Illinois and Duke moved up or held, and Michigan, last season's No. 1, is not among the top three or mentioned in the coverage we have.

None of it has been tested on the court yet. Every team in the discussion is 0-0, and our standings are only placeholders. They show Illinois and Arizona atop the Big Ten and Big 12, Florida fourth in the SEC and UConn ninth in the Big East.

The first tests come on Monday, Nov. 2. Florida hosts Miami, Illinois plays FDU, UConn plays GWEB, and Arizona travels to UCLA, which is the toughest opener of the four.