Florida surges into Coaches Poll top 5 after Arkansas beatdown
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Another week, another move up the polls for Florida basketball.
The Gators have now won nine-straight games after beating the Texas Longhorns, 84-71, on Wednesday night in Austin, followed by an SEC title-clinching 111-77 victory inside the O’Connell Center on Saturday night. It is the first time since 2014 — a year the program reached the Final Four — that the Orange and Blue finished at the top of the conference standings.
It should come as no surprise that Todd Golden’s team continues to climb the standings and now finds itself among the top tier of teams in the nation at No. 5 in the latest USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll. The last time UF ranked this high was in the preseason rankings, when they started the campaign at No. 3.
Just ahead of them at No. 4 are the UConn Huskies, who beat Florida inside Madison Square Garden back in early December by four points; behind them are the sixth-ranked Houston Cougars, who the Gators beat for their third national title last spring.
While Florida could still end up sharing its regular-season SEC title from a mathematical standpoint, Golden’s gang appears to be pulling away from the rest of the pack with just two games left.
SEC schools in Coaches Poll top 25 after Week 17
The Southeastern Conference retains its five-member-school representation among the top 25 this week, with Florida once again headlining the group, now at No. 5. There is a huge gap until the Alabama Crimson Tide shows up at No. 16, followed by the Arkansas Razorbacks at No. 19, the Vanderbilt Commodores at No. 22 and Tennessee Volunteers taking up the last spot at No. 25.
The Missouri Tigers hauled in 10 votes, while the Kentucky Wildcats pulled five and the Georgia Bulldogs received one single ballot.
USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll top 25 after Week 17
| Rank | Team | Record | PTS | 1st | Prev | Chg | Hi/Lo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Duke | 27-2 | 772 | 28 | 1 | – | 1/6 |
| 2 | Arizona | 27-2 | 735 | 3 | 2 | – | 1/13 |
| 3 | Michigan | 27-2 | 720 | 0 | 3 | – | 1/7 |
| 4 | UConn | 27-3 | 670 | 0 | 6 | +2 | 3/7 |
| 5 | Florida | 23-6 | 639 | 0 | 7 | +2 | 3/NR |
| 6 | Houston | 24-5 | 606 | 0 | 4 | -2 | 2/8 |
| 7 | Iowa State | 24-5 | 574 | 0 | 5 | -2 | 2/18 |
| 8 | Michigan St | 24-5 | 540 | 0 | 13 | +5 | 8/21 |
| 9 | Nebraska | 25-4 | 537 | 0 | 10 | +1 | 5/NR |
| 10 | Texas Tech | 22-7 | 452 | 0 | 16 | +6 | 10/20 |
| 11 | Illinois | 22-7 | 420 | 0 | 11 | – | 6/19 |
| 12 | Gonzaga | 28-3 | 419 | 0 | 9 | -3 | 5/20 |
| 13 | Virginia | 25-4 | 407 | 0 | 12 | -1 | 12/NR |
| 14 | Purdue | 22-7 | 371 | 0 | 8 | -6 | 1/14 |
| 15 | Kansas | 21-8 | 363 | 0 | 14 | -1 | 9/NR |
| 16 | Alabama | 22-7 | 338 | 0 | 18 | +2 | 9/NR |
| 17 | St. John’s | 23-6 | 295 | 0 | 15 | -2 | 6/NR |
| 18 | North Carolina | 23-6 | 283 | 0 | 19 | +1 | 12/25 |
| 19 | Arkansas | 21-8 | 194 | 0 | 17 | -2 | 14/23 |
| 20 | Miami (OH) | 29-0 | 175 | 0 | 25 | +5 | 20/NR |
| 21 | St Mary’s | 27-4 | 126 | 0 | NR | +10 | 21/NR |
| 22 | Vanderbilt | 22-7 | 93 | 0 | 21 | -1 | 8/NR |
| 23 | Miami (FL) | 23-6 | 74 | 0 | NR | +8 | 23/NR |
| 24 | Saint Louis | 26-3 | 73 | 0 | 24 | – | 19/NR |
| 25 | Tennessee | 20-9 | 57 | 0 | 22 | -3 | 13/NR |
Schools Dropped Out
No. 20 Louisville; No. 23 BYU
Others Receiving Votes
BYU 35; Louisville 31; Wisconsin 23; Villanova 17; Missouri 10; Utah State 9; Clemson 8; Kentucky 5; UCF 3; Georgia 1
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida basketball among top 5 in USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll
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