It was not the start that the Gator Nation had hoped for from their beloved Florida basketball squad. Two games into the 2025-26 season, the team is just 1-1 and has not looked as sharp as it did last year when it ran the table to the title.

To be fair, that Arizona Wildcats squad that beat the Gators in the men’s college basketball opener was no slouch, having reached the Sweet 16 last spring and adding some top freshman talent to its roster ahead of this fall. But even the 40-point win over the UNF Ospreys left a bit of a bitter taste in the fanbases’ collective mouths.

Subsequently, Florida fell in both the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll and the AP Top 25 from No. 3 to No. 10. So what about the other offerings, such as The Athletic’s weekly men’s college basketball rankings?

After the opening week of play, The Athletic’s CJ Moore dropped the Orange and Blue from No. 5 to No. 7, nestling it between the No. 6 Alabama Crimson Tide and No. 8 Purdue Boilermakers.

SEC schools in The Athletic’s top 25 after Week 1

The Southeastern Conference has five schools among the top 25 in its season-opening salvo, headlined by the third-ranked Kentucky Wildcats, followed by the Crimson Tide and the Gators, respectively, to round out the teams among the top 10.

The 19th-ranked Tennessee Volunteers and 25th-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks are the other two SEC schools among the top 25. The Missouri Tigers dropped out this week.

The Athletic’s college basketball rankings after Week 1RankSchoolRecordPrev1Michigan1-012Arizona2-063Kentucky2-024Houston2-035UConn2-046Alabama2-0187Florida1-158Purdue2-089Gonzaga2-01610St. John’s1-1711BYU2-01312North Carolina2-02013Louisville2-01114Texas Tech2-01215Duke2-0916Kansas1-11017Illinois2-01418UCLA2-01719Tennessee2-01920Creighton2-02121Iowa State2-02222Indiana2-0NR23Ohio State2-02424Michigan State2-0NR25Arkansas1-115

Dropped out: Washington, Missouri

Keeping an eye on: North Carolina State, Oklahoma State, Georgetown, Wisconsin, San Diego State, Auburn, Nebraska, Clemson, Utah State, Virginia Tech, Liberty, Baylor

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