Florida basketball suffered its first loss of the 2024-25 campaign on Saturday in the opening salvo of the Southeastern Conference schedule. The Gators were outgunned by the Kentucky Wildcats, 106-100, inside Rupp Arena snapping a 13-game winning streak.
The loss on the road to the ‘Cats was far from devastating, but it ended the Orange and Blue’s meteoric climb up the rankings this fall. The USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll dropped Todd Golden’s gang to No. 8 in its latest update while the Associated Press Poll also has them in the same spot with a 13-1 overall record.
CBS Sports writer Kyle Boone, who has been updating his Top 25 and 1 rankings regularly this season, responded to Florida’s loss by dropping it three spots to No. 9 — still inside the top 10. “Voters shouldn’t — and likely won’t — penalize Florida too harshly for falling on the road to a top-10 Kentucky team in a two-possession game,” he noted.
CBS Sports Top 10
The top five schools remained unchanged in this update, with the Tennessee Volunteers holding onto the top spot, followed by the Auburn Tigers, Iowa State Cyclones, Duke Blue Devils and Alabama Crimson Tide, respectively.
The Marquette Golden Eagles moved up to No. 6 followed by Kentucky, the UConn Huskies, Florida and the Kansas Jayhawks, respectively, to round out the top 10.
Next up for Florida
The Gators welcome the Tennessee Volunteers to the O’Connell Center on Tuesday, Jan. 7. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Gators slip in CBS Sports Top 25 and 1 after Kentucky loss
