Bracketology: Florida Gators basketball moves up to No. 12 in AP Top 25

Basketball

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Image Credit: ESPN Images

The Florida Gators returned to the AP Top 25 in late November after nearly two years out of the college basketball rankings, and now they are focused on the upcoming 2017 NCAA Tournament.

At 23-6 and seeing an impressive nine-game winning streak come to an end on Saturday, Florida has jumped to a season-best No. 12 in the rankings with 807 points.

The Gators will end the regular season 1-5 against ranked opponents with the sole victory being a 22-point win over Kentucky. The Wildcats got revenge with a 10-point defeat of UF on Saturday.

AP Top 25

1. Kansas (58)
2. Villanova (2)
3. UCLA (3)
4. Gonzaga (2)
5. North Carolina
6. Oregon
7. Arizona
8. Louisville
9. Kentucky
10. West Virginia
11. Baylor
12. Florida
13. Butler
14. SMU
15. Florida State
16. Purdue
17. Duke
18. Cincinnati
19. Notre Dame
20. Saint Mary’s
21. Wichita State
22. Wisconsin
23. Virginia
24. Iowa State
25. Miami

Style key: Red = loss, blue = win, purple = split

Tournament resume

By Jake Sillick

RPI: 6th | Nonconference RPI: 7th
SOS: 7th | Nonconference SOS: 7th
vs. Top 25 RPI: 1-4 | vs. Top 50: 5-6 | vs. Top 100: 15-6
Major quality wins (1-25 RPI): vs. No. 7 Kentucky
Minor quality wins (26-50 RPI): vs. No. 30 South Carolina, at No. 31 Arkansas, vs. No. 35 Miami (FL), vs. No. 49 Seton Hall
Major bad losses (101+ RPI): None | Minor bad losses (51-100 RPI): None
Road record: 8-3 | Road + neutral-site record: 15-5

Major quality win opportunities: TBD in SEC Tournament
Minor quality win opportunities: vs. No. 31 Arkansas (March 1), at No. 48 Vanderbilt (March 4)

Other computer rankings

KenPom: No. 7 (No. 25 offense, No. 4 defense)
Sagarin: No. 8 | ESPN BPI: No. 6

S-Curve (as of Feb. 27)

Team (Region) — First Round Site
1. Kansas (Midwest) — Tulsa
2. Villanova (East) — Buffalo
3. North Carolina (South) — Greenville
4. Gonzaga (West) — Salt Lake City
5. Oregon (West) — Sacramento
6. Louisville (South) — Indianapolis
7. Baylor (Midwest) — Tulsa
8. Arizona (East) — Salt Lake City
9. Kentucky (Midwest) — Indianapolis
10. Florida (South) — Orlando
11. Butler (East) — Milwaukee
12. UCLA (West) — Sacramento
13. Florida State (East) — Orlando
14. Duke (South) — Greenville
15. Purdue (West) — Milwaukee
16. West Virginia (Midwest) — Buffalo

Remaining a No. 3 seed or better will guarantee that the Gators play in Orlando for the first and second rounds. Being a No. 4 seed would make that more difficult but still likely because of few top teams that are close to Orlando.

Why are the Gators at No. 10?

+ Tough strength of schedule, nonconference schedule
+ Similar top 50 record to other No. 3 seeds
+ Quality win over Kentucky
+ Ranked high in metrics and computers
+ Eye test (win vs. Kentucky in front of major national audience)
+ Great road record
– Not enough of those major quality wins to warrant a No. 2 seed
– Losses to teams ahead of them in rankings (Gonzaga and Kentucky)

Coaches Poll

Not yet released.