{"id":923,"section":"sports","section_label":"Sports","url":"https://www.brokenews.co/sports/923","headline":"Florida opens preseason No. 1 in AP men's basketball poll","dek":"Duke and Illinois round out the top three, while defending champion Michigan lands at 16th after losing four starters and head coach Dusty May.","body":"Florida is back on top. The Gators were named the overwhelming choice as No. 1 in the preseason AP Top 25 released Monday, pulling in 47 of 59 first-place votes from the national media panel. It marks the first time Todd Golden's program has sat atop the poll since the final rankings of 2025, when Florida beat Houston for the school's third national championship.\n\n\"It's cool,\" Golden said of the ranking, \"but like, we've been No. 1 before. We won a national championship before. That's what I want our program to expect. That's what we want to kind of go into every season at.\"\n\nDuke picked up 10 first-place votes and slots in at second, with Illinois taking the other two first-place votes to round out the top three. The coaches' poll largely agrees, though it tabbed Arizona for the fourth spot instead of UConn.\n\nDefending national champion Michigan finds itself well outside the top tier, ranked 16th after losing four starters, including first-round talents Morez Johnson Jr., Yaxel Lendeborg and Aday Mara, along with head coach Dusty May, who left for the Dallas Mavericks.","published_at":"2026-10-20T00:05:54.422100+00:00","source_count":5,"written_from":[{"outlet":"CBS Sports","publisher":"CBS Sports","title":"College basketball rankings: Florida earns No. 1 spot in preseason Coaches Poll as well as AP Top 25","url":"https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/college-basketball-rankings-florida-preseason-coaches-poll-duke-illinois/"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"College basketball top 25 rankings 2026-27: Preseason AP Top 25 poll","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/college-basketball-top-25-rankings-170259062.html"},{"outlet":"ESPN","publisher":"ESPN","title":"Florida No. 1 in preseason AP Top 25 men's hoop poll","url":"https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/50219265/florida-no-1-preseason-ap-top-25-men-basketball-poll"},{"outlet":"Fox Sports","publisher":"Fox Sports","title":"Men's CBK AP Top 25: Florida, Duke, Illinois Receive 1st Place Preseason Votes","url":"https://www.foxsports.com/stories/college-basketball/associated-press-preseason-top-25-florida-duke"},{"outlet":"The Athletic","publisher":"The Athletic","title":"Preseason AP men's basketball Top 25: Florida opens at No. 1, with Duke and Illinois next","url":"https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7704699/2026/10/19/ap-top-25-basketball-preseason-poll-florida/"}],"more_coverage":[{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Florida leaps back into AP Poll's top 25 after Week 7 upset win","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/florida-leaps-back-ap-polls-182559130.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Florida sneaks back into USAT re-rank top 25 after beating Texas","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/florida-sneaks-back-usat-rank-131620235.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Florida is No. 1 in preseason AP Top 25 men's poll as Duke, Illini also receive first-place votes","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/florida-no-1-preseason-ap-155939666.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Men's college basketball rankings: Preseason Coaches Poll top 25 for SEC","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/mens-college-basketball-rankings-preseason-160319381.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Men's college basketball rankings: Preseason Coaches Poll top 25 for SEC","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/mens-college-basketball-rankings-preseason-160319520.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Men's basketball preseason AP poll: Florida edges Duke to start year at No. 1 for the first time in decades","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/mens-college-basketball/breaking-news/article/mens-basketball-preseason-ap-poll-florida-edges-duke-to-start-year-at-no-1-for-the-first-time-in-decades-160540956.html"},{"outlet":"CBS Sports","publisher":"CBS Sports","title":"College basketball rankings: Florida earns No. 1 spot in preseason AP Top 25 poll ahead of Duke, Illinois","url":"https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/ap-top-25-poll-2026-27-college-basketball-rankings-florida-duke-illinois/"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Florida is No. 1 in preseason AP Top 25 men’s poll as Duke, Illinois also receive first-place votes","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/florida-no-1-preseason-ap-161801343.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Florida sits atop preseason Coaches Poll heading into 2026-27 season","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/florida-sits-atop-preseason-coaches-163029519.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Men's college basketball rankings: Preseason USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, AP Top 25","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/mens-college-basketball-rankings-preseason-195515262.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Florida And Duke Top AP Preseason Men’s College Basketball Top 25 Poll","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/florida-duke-top-ap-preseason-200231583.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Florida faces early questions after preseason No. 1 ranking","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/florida-faces-early-questions-preseason-203100580.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Florida is No. 1 again. Last season explains why the Gators still have something to prove","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/florida-no-1-again-last-203418260.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"UConn Men's Basketball: What to Make of Landing at No. 4 in AP Preseason Poll","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/uconn-mens-basketball-landing-no-035238794.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Florida Basketball Is No. 1 Again, but Can the Gators Live Up to the Hype?","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/florida-basketball-no-1-again-041215120.html"}],"image":null,"embed":null,"license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","attribution":"Analysis data is licensed CC BY 4.0. Credit brokenews and link to the story page you took it from. Source headlines, story titles taken from a source headline, and quoted passages remain the property of their publishers and are quoted for comparison, not licensed onward.","terms":"https://www.brokenews.co/about#reuse"}