Florida basketball stayed on top of the CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 rankings on Monday, following updates made after the court ruling that granted Class of 2022 players a fifth year of eligibility.
That same ruling ended the question of whether Florida would get Denzel Aberdeen back or not. The Kentucky transfer guard who spent his first three seasons with Florida and was pursuing a waiver after playing just 41 minutes as a true freshman.
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The irony is that Aberdeen’s return didn’t make a difference in Florida’s standing on CBS Sports Insider Gary Parrish’s rankings. Florida was already at No. 1 before officially getting Aberdeen back.
“This (No. 1) ranking is based on the Gators returning six of the top seven scorers — specifically Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon, Boogie Fland, Reuben Chinyelu, Urban Klavsar and Isaiah Brown — from a team that finished 27-8 and advanced to the second round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament,” Parrish wrote. “That core will be joined by a recruiting class highlighted by Kentucky transfer Denzel Aberdeen and 7-foot center Jones Lay.”
Arizona, Gonzaga, North Carolina and Tennessee are other teams that took a jump, but Florida simply became a stronger preseason favorite with Aberdeen in tow. The top five of Florida, Duke, Illinois, UConn and Texas stayed put.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida remains on top of latest CBS Sports Top 25 basketball rankings
