Less than a month remains before the 2026-27 men's college basketball season begins and the Florida Gators are looking good ahead of their push for a second national title in three seasons.
Todd Golden and Co. got some great news last month when returning guard Denzel Aberdeen's motion for a temporary injunction against the NCAA received a favorable ruling by an Eighth Circuit Court judge. That cleared the way for his reunion with the Orange and Blue, which completes Florida's fully loaded roster.
“We’re pleased with today’s ruling, and we’re especially happy for Denzel,” Golden said after the decision.
As a result, the Gators reclaimed the top overall spot from Duke and now hold the South Region's No. 1 seed in Joe Lunardi's latest bracketology
update for October.
"The return and (temporarily) reinstated eligibility of veteran guard Denzel Aberdeen further cements the Florida Gators as a clear choice for the nation's preseason No. 1 team. The Gators were sitting pretty even without Aberdeen, returning four starters from a second straight No. 1 seed roster, but they can now fill the final spot with their top backcourt reserve from the 2025 national title year," Lunardi notes.
"It's hard not to forget the Gators falling to Iowa in the 2026 second round, but it's harder to remember how dominant they were winning a loaded SEC by three full games last season. Should Aberdeen's temporary injunction against the NCAA stand, these Gators can be every bit as good as the 2025 champions, and their quest for a second title in three years is every bit as realistic."
Florida tips off the upcoming season on Monday, Nov. 2, against the Miami Hurricanes in the Orion180 Tip-Off Classic at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Florida.
Top seeds in ESPN's 2027 bracketology
Florida retakes the top overall seed in the latest bracketology, sitting atop the South, while Duke shifts over to the No. 1 seed in the East. Illinois holds on to its claim over the Midwest, and Arizona still rules the West.
SEC schools in ESPN's 2027 bracketology
The Southeastern Conference lost a school in this bracketology update but still leads the way with 12 representatives — one more than the Big Ten and Big 12, and five more than the Atlantic Coast Conference and Big East. The Atlantic 10 has two, rounding out the conferences with more than one school included.
Florida still headlines the SEC with the top seed in the South, while Texas slides over to the No. 3 seed in the Midwest. Following them are Alabama and Arkansas, who remain the No. 4 seeds in the West and Midwest, respectively, plus Tennessee, which moved up to the No. 4 seed in the East.
Next up are Kentucky (No. 6, East), Vanderbilt (No. 7, West), Missouri (No. 8, Midwest), Georgia (No. 8, West), Auburn (No. 9, East), Texas A&M (No. 10, East) and Oklahoma (No. 10, Midwest). Texas A&M sits among the last four byes and Ole Miss is the final team in the first four out, while LSU went from being the very last team in the tournament to completely out of the bracketology.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Aberdeen's approval puts Florida back atop ESPN's bracketology
