65° M/CLOUDY, UF unranked in Top 25 hoops poll
Last Modified: Thursday, October 29, 2009 at 1:31 p.m.
Florida received 53 votes in the preseason Associated Press men's college basketball poll released Thursday.
Based on at-large votes, the Gators open the season ranked 34th in the country. The Gators return three starters and nine players from a team that finished 25-11 and reached the quarterfinals of the NIT last season.
Kansas was the landslide choice as the No. 1 team in the country, receiving 55 of 65 first-place votes. Kentucky was the top-ranked Southeastern Conference team at No. 4. Tennessee (No. 10) and Mississippi State (No. 18) also cracked the Top 25 from the SEC.
Florida could have a chance to move up in the poll in the coming weeks. The Gators face Florida State (92 votes, No. 29) on Nov. 24 before traveling to Atlantic City, N.J., on Nov. 27 to face No. 2 Michigan State.
Florida plays its first exhibition game Monday at the O'Connell Center against St. Leo's. The Gators open the regular season at home Nov. 15 against Stetson.
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Comments
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November 4, 2009 5:52:11 am
RE: Link
Gators not being ranked now is good, it is always better to be ranked at the end of Basketball season. I believe that we were not ranked in 2006, and look what happened the next two years. Go Gators
November 4, 2009 6:31:15 am
Then there's the other end of the spectrum with UK at #4. I'd much rather be in our position with nothing but blue sky above and no pressure to meet unrealistic expectations.
November 4, 2009 8:04:33 am
Seeing we sucked last year, we shouldn't be ranked. We haven't played any real games, so we shouldn't be ranked either.This team needs to earn it.
November 4, 2009 8:12:39 am
Unlike Football its not that big of a deal where you start.
November 4, 2009 8:38:56 am
20 in the polls
64 in the tournament
No need to worry anytime soon.
November 4, 2009 9:47:13 am
Getting any votes and at 34th is very generous.
November 4, 2009 12:31:18 pm
Preseason basketball polls are worth nothing. They are all over the spectrum, and the ranking methodology is typically based on returning "stars" and last season's performance.For example. Syracuse was ranked #25 preseason, then loses to DII Le Moye in its opening exhibition, while we slaughtered DII St. Leo in ours with all 10 players. No way to rank these teams until they start playing, and even then, basketball rankings lack reliability. That's why they have a 64 team tourney at the end, picked by a selection committee, and throw the rankings out the window. In basketball, rankings are for the fans and for excitement.In football, rankings matter. You start out unranked, then you probably aren't playing in the BCS NC game.
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