Gators not in AP preseason men's basketball poll

It appears the national media isn't expecting much from the Florida men's basketball team for the 2021-22 season.

Florida, which finished 15-10 after reaching its fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament last season, was not ranked in The Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball preseason poll released Monday.

The Gators lost two players to the NBA and four more to the transfer portal. UF coach Mike White rebuilt his roster by signing Charleston Southern guard Phlandrous Fleming Jr., Penn State guard Myreon Jones, Kansas City guard Brandon McKissic and Boston College forward CJ Felder.

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Gonzaga was the runaway top choice in the poll. The Zags earned 55 of 63 first-place votes to easily outdistance No. 2 UCLA, which earned the other eight. Kansas, Villanova and Texas rounded out the top five, while reigning national champion Baylor checked in at No. 8.

The Big Ten and Southeastern conferences have a national-best five ranked teams each.

The Big Ten has No. 6 Michigan, No. 7 Michigan, No. 11 Illinois, No. 17 Ohio State and No. 21 Maryland. The SEC has No. 14 Alabama, No. 16 Arkansas, No. 18 Tennessee and No. 22 Auburn joining Kentucky.

The ACC is next up with four, with No. 20 Florida State and No. 25 Virginia joining Duke and UNC. The Big 12 has its Kansas-Texas-Baylor trio, while the Pac-12 (UCLA and No. 13 Oregon), Big East (Villanova and No. 24 Connecticut) and American Athletic Conference (No. 12 Memphis and No. 15 Houston) are the others with multiple Top 25 teams.

Florida hosts Emory-Riddle at 7 p.m. Nov. 1.