You won't believe how high Florida basketball climbed in ESPN's latest preseason rankings
The final major deadline of college basketball's offseason — the date that players must withdraw their names from the NBA draft if they want to return to college — passed on Wednesday, May 28. With that milestone now in the rearview mirror, the rosters for the upcoming 2025-26 campaign are clearer than ever.
The decisions leading up to the deadline resulted in both winners and losers, depending on who departed and who came back to school. Among those in the former category are the Florida Gators, who have already been anointed as overwhelming winners according to a trio of major publications.
A little under a week after the big day passed, ESPN's basketball recruiting insider Jeff Borzello updated his men's college basketball preseason top 25 rankings, sending the Orange and Blue on a meteoric rise from No. 18 to No. 2 overall, just behind the Purdue Boilermakers, who held onto their top spot.
"The debate over preseason No. 1 intensified with Milos Uzan returning to Houston and Florida adding Boogie Fland while also getting back Alex Condon," Borzello notes. "Both programs are squarely in the conversation alongside Purdue, with UConn and St. John's not far behind."
Take a look below at Florida's projected starting lineup as well as ESPN's full updated rankings.
Florida's 2025-26 projected starting lineup
Boogie Fland (13.5 PPG at Arkansas)
Xaivian Lee (16.9 PPG at Princeton)
Thomas Haugh (9.8 PPG)
Alex Condon (10.6 PPG)
Rueben Chinyelu (6.1 PPG)
ESPN's post-NBA draft withdrawal rankings
Purdue Boilermakers (—) Florida Gators (+16) Houston Cougars (+1) UConn Huskies (-2) St. John's Red Storm (-2) BYU Cougars (+1) Louisville Cardinals (—) Michigan Wolverines (+1) Kentucky Wildcats (+2) Texas Tech Red Raiders (-2) Arkansas Razorbacks (-1) Duke Blue Devils (-6) Arizona Wildcats (-1) Auburn Tigers (+1) UCLA Bruins (-1) Illinois Fighting Illini (+1) Alabama Crimson Tide (+7) Iowa State Cyclones (-5) Gonzaga Bulldogs (+3) Wisconsin Badgers (-4) Kansas Jayhawks (—) Creighton Bluejays (-3) Tennessee Volunteers (-3) NC State Wolfpack (NR) North Carolina Tar Heels (—)
Next in line
San Diego State Aztecs
Michigan State Spartans
Ohio State Buckeyes
Texas Longhorns
USC Trojans
Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
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