The Florida Gators are making serious noise in the SEC-and the numbers are backing it up in a big way.
According to the latest update from ESPN’s Basketball Power Index (BPI), Florida isn’t just a contender-they’re the overwhelming favorite to win the Southeastern Conference this season. With a BPI of 20.3, which ranks tenth nationally, the Gators currently hold a commanding 77.1% chance to take the SEC crown in March. That’s a massive gap over the next closest teams: Texas A&M at 13.1% and Alabama at 10.7%.
The BPI projects Florida to finish the regular season at 23-8 overall, with a 14-4 mark in conference play. If that projection holds, it would mark a major statement season for head coach Todd Golden and his squad.
Right now, Florida is firing on all cylinders. The Gators, ranked No. 16 in the latest AP Top 25, are riding a five-game winning streak that’s turned heads across the country. And it’s not just the wins-it’s who they’re beating and how they’re doing it.
Let’s run through it: they’ve taken down No. 18 Georgia (92-77), No.
21 Tennessee (91-67), Oklahoma (96-79), No. 10 Vanderbilt (98-94), and LSU (79-61).
That’s three ranked wins in a row, all by double digits except for a tightly contested battle with Vanderbilt. The Gators have now won nine of their last ten games, and they’re doing it with confidence, pace, and a level of physicality that’s clearly been forged through early-season adversity.
Coach Golden pointed to the team’s tough non-conference slate as a key factor in their SEC surge. Before diving into league play, Florida faced three top-five opponents: No.
13 Arizona, No. 4 Duke, and No.
5 UConn. Those games didn’t all go Florida’s way, but the experience seems to have paid off.
“You’re not surprised when you face a team like Georgia playing at a top-30 level,” Golden said after the Gators’ dominant win over Tennessee on Jan. 10.
“We played Arizona, we played Duke-we’ve seen really good teams. So this isn’t anything new.”
Golden also emphasized how those early battles helped prepare his team for the physicality of SEC play, particularly against teams like Tennessee. “You can talk about the physicality, you can talk about their size, but you don’t really feel it until you’re on the floor,” he said.
“Arizona, Duke, UConn-they all brought that physical presence. We took some lumps early, but it toughened us up.”
That toughness is now showing up in every facet of Florida’s game. They’re playing fast, sharing the ball, and getting contributions across the board. Their recent stretch of wins has been as much about depth and resilience as it has been about star power.
Looking ahead, the Gators still have three more ranked matchups on the schedule: No. 17 Alabama at home, No.
21 Georgia on the road, and No. 20 Arkansas back in Gainesville.
But first, they’ll host Auburn this Saturday at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in front of a sold-out crowd, aiming to stretch their win streak to six.
Here’s how the BPI sees the rest of the SEC shaking out behind Florida:
- Florida - 77.1%
- Texas A&M - 13.1%
- Alabama - 10.7%
- Arkansas - 8.7%
- Kentucky - 7.0%
- Vanderbilt - 4.9%
- Georgia - 3.9%
- Tennessee - 3.5%
- Auburn - 1.5%
- Missouri - 0.3%
- Texas - 0.1%
- Ole Miss - <0.1%
- Mississippi State - <0.1%
- LSU - <0.1%
- Oklahoma - <0.1%
- South Carolina - <0.1%
The Gators are in the driver’s seat, and if they keep this pace, the road to the SEC title might just run through Gainesville.