Feb. 12, 2026, 5:38 p.m. ET

Florida basketball continues to climb the rankings as March approaches.

In his latest college basketball power rankings, ESPN’s Jeff Borzello moved the Gators up two spots from No. 12 to No. 10, signaling growing confidence in a team that appears to be hitting its stride at the right time.

The Orange and Blue reinforced that momentum Wednesday night with an emphatic 86-66 win over the Georgia Bulldogs in Athens, improving to 18-6 overall and 9-2 in SEC play.

The victory marked the Gators’ ninth in their last 10 games and kept them alone atop the conference standings.

Xaivian Lee led the way with 18 points, while Boogie Fland added 15. Florida also controlled the glass behind Rueben Chinyelu, who dominated the interior with 20 rebounds in just 25 minutes of action.

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Defensively, Florida held Georgia to a season-low 66 total points, who came into the night averaging an SEC-best 91.9.

The Gators return home this weekend for the first of two meetings with No. 25 Kentucky. Another strong showing would only strengthen the argument that this group belongs firmly inside the top tier of contenders.

Here is everything Borzello wrote about the Gators.

What ESPN said about Florida

“There is arguably no better team in the country playing better defense than Florida. Here is the Gators’ performance on the defensive end in their past four games: held South Carolina to 48 points and 0.69 points per possession; held Alabama 15 points below its average; held Texas A&M to 67 points on 30.6% shooting; and held Georgia to 66 points on 34.7% shooting.

“Three of those games were on the road, and three were against likely NCAA tournament teams. Per ESPN Research, the past two games mark only the fifth time in the past 20 seasons that Florida has held back-to-back SEC opponents below 35% from the field.”

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