Florida sits atop the preseason AP Top 25 for the first time since 2006, with the poll set for release Monday, Oct. 19, 2026. The Gators edge Duke and Illinois, who are widely expected to land at No. 2 and No. 3, as the lone team ranked this fall by the group that reached a championship game or earned a No. 1 seed in each of the last two NCAA Tournaments.
The method behind this ranking is straightforward: it reflects the teams’ placement in the AP preseason poll, built on returning talent, program continuity and recent postseason results, cross-referenced against the preseason KenPom ratings for added context on how computer models view the same group.
1. Florida Gators (27-Win Season, No. 1 Seed)
Florida returns five starters from a team that won 27 games and claimed a No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed for the second straight year: Boogie Fland, Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon, Rueben Chinyelu and Urban Klavzar. That continuity, paired with what is described as arguably the most talented starting lineup in the sport, positions the Gators to receive a majority of the first-place votes. Florida also gets a boost from Denzel Aberdeen, who left for Kentucky before transferring back and was granted a temporary injunction last month that makes him eligible to play.
The last time Florida opened a season ranked No. 1 was 2006, giving this preseason perch added weight for a program chasing back-to-back deep tournament runs. The preseason All-America recognition for Haugh adds another marker of how highly evaluators view this roster.
2. Duke Blue Devils (No. 1 In KenPom)
Duke sits just behind Florida in the AP projection despite ranking No. 1 in the preseason KenPom ratings, which were released ahead of the Nov. 2 regular season opener, according to Sporting News. The split between the two systems shows how voter-driven polls and computer models can diverge even when they largely agree on which programs belong at the top. Duke’s KenPom edge over Florida, Houston, Illinois and Arizona suggests the Blue Devils carry strong efficiency projections entering the year, even as the AP voters are expected to favor Florida’s returning core.
3. Illinois Fighting Illini
Illinois rounds out the top tier of the AP preseason poll at No. 3, according to CBS Sports. The Illini also land at No. 4 in the preseason KenPom ratings, keeping them within the same tight cluster of programs as Florida and Duke in both the human and computer evaluations. That consistency across two different ranking methods signals Illinois enters the season as one of the sport’s most reliably strong teams regardless of which system is used to measure it.
Houston And Arizona Round Out The KenPom Top Five
Houston checks in at No. 3 and Arizona at No. 5 in the preseason KenPom ratings, slotting them just outside the AP’s top tier of Florida, Duke and Illinois. Their presence in the computer rankings’ top five underscores that the gap between the AP’s top three and the next group of contenders may be narrower than the poll order alone suggests. For a broader look at the questions facing the sport entering the year, see Total Apex Sports’ biggest questions facing college basketball preview.
What The Eligibility Landscape Means For The Top Tier
Florida’s case is strengthened by Aberdeen’s injunction clearing him to play, but he is not alone in carrying uncertainty into the season. Many of the top teams nationally have at least one impactful player whose eligibility remains in question because of pending five-for-five lawsuits. That reality means the preseason No. 1 ranking comes with a caveat: rosters at the very top of the poll could still see changes before or during the season depending on how those legal matters resolve.
What’s Next
The full AP preseason Top 25 poll is set for release Monday, Oct. 19, 2026, with the regular season tipping off Nov. 2 under the preseason KenPom ratings already in place. Florida will carry the preseason No. 1 tag into its opener looking to validate the vote with its returning starting five intact.
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