The Florida Gators begin the 2026-27 campaign ranked second on ESPN's Basketball Power Index with an overall rating of 21.5. That puts them just behind the top-ranked Duke Blue Devils at 23.1.
Florida brings an offensive rating of 11.8 into the season opener, which ranks third behind Duke (12.3) and Illinois (11.9), and a defensive rating of 9.7, which is second only to the Blue Devils' 10.9 score. The Gators have a projected overall record of 24.9-5.1 and a conference tally of 14.1-3.9, with a 63.6% chance of winning an SEC title and the ninth-toughest strength of schedule.
“The College Basketball Power Index (BPI) is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of performance going forward,” ESPN explains. “BPI represents
how many points above or below average a team is. Strength of Record (SOR) is a measure of team accomplishment based on how difficult a team’s W-L record is to achieve. Game predictions account for opponent strength, pace of play, site, travel distance, day’s rest and altitude, and are used to simulate the season 10,000 times to produce season projections.”
Todd Golden's gang starts the season as the No. 1 team in both the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll and AP Top 25, and holds the top overall seed in ESPN's preseason bracketology. According to the preseason edition of the Pomeroy College Basketball Ratings, Florida is ranked second with a plus-33.38 net rating — 1.08 points short of Duke's plus-34.42.
The Gators tip off their regular-season schedule on Monday, Nov. 2, against the Miami Hurricanes — who rank 10th in the first edition of the BPI — in the Orion180 Tip-Off Classic at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Florida.
Basketball Power Index top 25 ahead of regular-season start
- Duke Blue Devils
- Florida Gators
- Iowa State Cyclones
- Illinois Fighting Illini
- Tennessee Volunteers
- Arizona Wildcats
- UConn Huskies
- Texas Tech Red Raiders
- Texas Longhorns
- Miami Hurricanes
- Houston Cougars
- Michigan State Spartans
- Gonzaga Bulldogs
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Kansas Jayhawks
- Louisville Cardinals
- Kentucky Wildcats
- UCLA Bruins
- Nebraska Cornhuskers
- BYU Cougars
- Arkansas Razorbacks
- Oklahoma Sooners
- Auburn Tigers
- Cincinnati Bearcats
- Michigan Wolverines
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Where Florida ranks in Basketball Power Index ahead of season opener
