Jan. 16, 2026, 6:05 a.m. ET

The Florida Gators have rejoined the ESPN College Basketball Power Rankings at No. 18 following a 3-1 start to conference play.

Unranked a week ago, a dominant run, including back-to-back wins against ranked opponents, has the Gators back in the top-25 conversation.

“The Gators might be back,” wrote ESPN’s Jeff Borzello. “Since losing by two at Missouri on Jan. 3, the reigning national champions have run three straight SEC opponents off the floor. They beat Georgia, Tennessee and Oklahoma by an average of 18.7 points, scoring an average of 93.0 points in the process. 

“Boogie Fland’s emergence has been important; he has put up 19.0 points and 6.0 assists in their past two games. And Rueben Chinyelu has been dominant down low, averaging 18.0 points and 14.0 rebounds over his past two games.”

Florida is coming to form as a potential Final Four squad, with Thomas Haugh leading the charge as the program’s do-it-all wing. Alex Condon has found his rhythm as well, turning the ball over less and letting the offense run through him at the top of the key. As Borzello mentioned, Chinyelu is emerging as one of the top big men in the country, both as a physical defender and — more recently — a scorer with a refined touch around the rim.

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Fland’s emergence gives the backcourt a legitimate threat for opponents to worry about, even if Xaivian Lee doesn’t seem cut out to score in droves against the SEC. Both guards are distributing the ball well and turning it over less. Urban Klavzar provides a true 3-point presence off the bench, too.

Micah Handlogten and Isaiah Brown have established themselves as the seventh and eighth men in the rotation. However, Todd Golden would like one more player to rely on whenever the starters get into foul trouble.

Up next, the Gators take on the Vanderbilt Commodores, who are ranked No. 12 this week, despite suffering their first loss of the season. Swapping places with Vanderbilt and overtaking Arkansas is realistic for Florida with a win on Saturday.

Dominating SEC play will help Florida after a brutal non-conference schedule. Three of Florida’s five losses came against top-five teams — No. 1 Arizona, No. 2 UConn, and No. 4 Duke — all ranked inside ESPN’s top five this week.

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