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Gators face early questions after preseason No. 1 ranking
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- Gators face early questions after preseason No. 1 ranking
GAINESVILLE — Todd Golden's Gators unsurprisingly earned the nation's preseason No. 1 ranking, the same spot Florida ended 2025 as the school's third national champion.
"It's cool," Golden said earlier this month, "but we've been No. 1 before. That's what I want our program to expect."
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Yet, the 41-year-old coach's team has plenty of work ahead after losing to Baylor in an exhibition game Sunday.
Florida's veteran lineup is loaded with talent, but too often struggled during an 82-76 overtime loss to the Bears. Despite their expected depth, the Gators were outscored 33-3 off the bench.
Golden didn't hit the panic button, instead using the defeat as motivation as Florida prepares to face Miami in Tampa in its season opener.
"Pretty grateful it's not November 2 right now," he said.
Florida returns four starters back this season, including All-America candidates Thomas Haugh , Alex Condon and Rueben Chinyelu leading one of the nation's top frontcourts.
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Against Baylor, the Gators grabbed 26 offensive rebounds and attempted 20 more field goals than the Bears.
A season after he recorded a school-record 19 double-doubles, Chinyelu had 13 points and 15 rebounds. Haugh led the way with 19 points and five rebounds before fouling out late in the overtime. Condon had 13 points, nine rebounds and four assists, but missed five of his six free throws on an off shooting night for the Gators.
Florida finished at 34.7% shooting overall, hit just 4 of 29 shots from the 3-point line (13.8%) and went 22 of 35 from the free-throw line (62.9%).
Point guard Boogie Fland is back for his second season. Florida also welcomed back veteran shooting guard Denzel Aberdeen, who transferred to Kentucky following the national championship season. The 6-foot-5, 190-pound Orlando native decided to return to UF, where he began his career in 2022, to bolster a backcourt featuring and reigning SEC Sixth Man of the Year Urban Klavzar.
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Aberdeen had 15 points, but went 3-for-17 from the floor and 0-for-10 from 3-point range. Klavzar was 0-for-7 overall and 0-for-5 from long range a season after the Gators' three-point shooting was a season-long issue.
"Get an opportunity to figure some things out and learn from your mistakes," Golden said.
The Gators will have an opportunity to do just that before the regular season begins.
Voters in the AP preseason poll are betting on Florida to work through its early issues. The Gators received 47 of the 59 first-place votes, with Duke garnering 10 to land second in the poll and Illinois getting two first-place votes and the No. 3 ranking.
Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com
