Florida’s start to the 2026-27 season has been strong enough to put the Gators at the top of the KenPom Ratings, and the numbers back up the buzz.
Two weeks into the year, Florida sits with the No. 1 Net Rating at +33.94, the No. 2 offensive rating at 124.5, and the No. 6 defensive rating at 90.5. That’s the kind of profile that says the Gators are doing just about everything well early on.
KenPom, the longtime college basketball rating system that measures more than just wins and losses, factors in scoring, pace, players, defense, locations, strength of schedule, and plenty more before sorting teams out by offensive, defensive, and net efficiency. In other words, it’s built to tell the story of how a team is really playing.
Florida has wasted no time making its case. The Gators opened the season with an impressive win over the No. 14 Miami Hurricanes and have handled business since then.
That’s a sharp turnaround from last season’s finish, when Florida entered the NCAA Tournament as a No. 1 seed with hopes of repeating as national champions before getting knocked out in the round of 32 by the No. 9 seed Iowa Hawkeyes, last year’s Cinderella run.
Instead of letting that ending linger, the Gators regrouped and came back with a team that looks loaded again. They’re three games away from what could be the early-season matchup of the year against the No. 2 Duke Blue Devils, and for now they’re sitting on top of the sport’s most respected statistical board.
In Other News...
Florida Faces A Huge In-State Recruiting Test For Elite WR
Florida is in the thick of a major in-state recruiting battle for one of the nations top young wide receivers, as Tyree Mannings Jr. has narrowed his list to Florida, Kentucky and Auburn. The Venice, Florida, standout is a four-star prospect in the 2028 class, and his final three gives the Gators a clear geographic edge as the only school from his home state still in the mix.
Mannings has already taken visits to Florida and Auburn during his recruitment, a sign that this race has been active and still open despite the early buzz around the Gators. Rivals is projecting a high probability that he ends up in Gainesville, but with two out-of-state contenders still standing, Floridas staff is facing the kind of test that can shape an entire recruiting cycle. [Read more 🡒]
Floridas Secondary Just Got More Uncertain Before Kentucky
Floridas secondary picked up another question mark heading into its matchup with Kentucky, with the latest SEC availability report listing cornerback Dijon Johnson as doubtful. The Gators already know they will be without Vernell Brown III, Bryce Thornton, Jaden Robinson and Evan Chieca, while Kofi Asare and DK Kalu remain questionable, leaving the staff to sort through a defense that is still trying to settle in before another conference test.
Kentucky is dealing with its own absences, with four players ruled out, but Floridas concern is the ripple effect in the back end if Johnson cannot go. The Gators have been managing injuries and availability all week, and the updated report only adds to the uncertainty around how they will line up in the secondary when they take the field. [Read more 🡒]
St. Thomas Aquinas Opens Playoff Run In A Rematch Florida Fans Know
The first Florida Open Division playoff bracket brings a familiar heavyweight matchup right back into the spotlight, with Lakeland set to visit St. Thomas Aquinas on Friday, Nov. 13. Aquinas enters as the No. 1 seed in Pool A and has turned the state championship into its own annual stage, winning seven straight titles since 2019, while Lakeland comes in seeded No. 5 after capturing the 2023 state crown.
For Florida fans, the appeal is obvious: this is a rematch of last years Class 5A state championship game, only now it arrives with even more at stake in the states inaugural eight-team Open Division playoffs. Lakeland gets the chance to test itself again against the program that has set the standard in Florida high school football, and Aquinas gets another shot to show why it remains the team everyone else is chasing. [Read more 🡒]