College basketball rankings: Florida Gators jump Auburn in AP Top 25 ahead of NCAA Tournament
Florida Gators basketball moved to 30-4 (17-4 SEC) on Sunday after capturing the 2025 SEC Tournament championship, the team’s first league crown in 11 years. Year 3 under head coach Todd Golden continues to see Florida soaring to heights not seen in over a decade, and the Gators now enter the 2025 NCAA Tournament as a No. 1 seed in the West Region.
Expectations have been significantly raised for Florida, which still has the best win in the nation this season (at Auburn) and a tremendous resume that got even stronger over the last few days.
The Gators moved up one spot in the college basketball rankings on Monday when it slid into the No. 3 slot in the AP Top 25 — in front of the Tigers. UF has been ranked among the top six for 10 straight weeks with its No. 2 ranking from four weeks ago the highest it has placed in the AP Top 25 since March 17, 2014, the final poll of that regular season.
Florida similarly advanced one spot to No. 3 in the Coaches Poll ranking — also in front of Auburn — which the the Gators beat by nine points on the road. UF remains No. 4 in the NET Rankings with an 11-4 record against Quadrant 1 opponents, 20-4 against the first two quadrants. The NCAA Selection Committee used those rankings, which largely evaluate quality of wins and losses, as part of its process in choosing the NCAA Tournament field.
The Gators played 10 games against teams in this week’s rankings, going 7-3 in those contests.
AP Top 25 — March 17
1. Duke (49)
2. Houston (6)
3. Florida (2)
4. Auburn (2) — [W 90-81]
5. St. John’s
6. Tennessee — [W 73-43, L 44-64, W 86-77]
7. Alabama — [W 99-94, W 104-82]
8. Michigan State
9. Texas Tech
10. Louisville
11. Maryland
12. Clemson
13. Wisconsin
14. Michigan
15. Iowa State
16. Memphis
17. BYU
18. Kentucky — [L 100-106]
19. Texas A&M — [W 89-70]
20. Saint Mary’s
21. Arizona
22. Purdue
23. Missouri — [L 82-83, W 95-81]
24. Gonzaga
25. Oregon
