No changes for Florida basketball in final bracketology of 2025

1 week ago 2

The final game of the 2025 calendar year is in the books for Florida basketball, which takes a 9-4 record into the New Year's holiday after defeating the Dartmouth Big Green on Monday night, 94-72.

Following that win that fell well short of the betting line, ESPN's college hoops expert Joe Lunardi released his latest men's basketball bracketology. In it, the Gators remained a No. 5 seed in the West Region — exactly where they were last week — with an opening round matchup against the No. 12-seeded Akron Zips in Tampa, Florida.

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As of Tuesday, the Orange and Blue are ranked No. 23 in the NET rankings, while holding onto the No. 22 spot in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll. Todd Golden's team was also ranked 22nd in last week's AP Top 25, which did not receive an update this week.

Top seeds in ESPN's 2026 bracketology update

The top-seeded schools in this week's bracketology remained unchanged, with the Michigan Wolverines maintaining the top overall seed plus the No. 1 spot in the Midwest Region. Meanwhile, the Arizona Wildcats lead the West, the Iowa State Cyclones top the South and the UConn Huskies rule the East.

SEC schools in ESPN's 2026 bracketology update

For the second-straight week, the Southeastern Conference has 10 schools included in ESPN's bracketology, matching the Big Ten for the most of any league.

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The Vanderbilt Commodores held onto the No. 2 seed in the Midwest to headline the SEC, followed by the followed by the Alabama Crimson Tide (No. 4, South), Tennessee Volunteers (No. 5, East), Florida (No. 5, West), Arkansas Razorbacks (No. 6, East), Kentucky Wildcats (No. 7, South), Auburn Tigers (No. 8, East), Georgia Bulldogs (No. 8, Midwest), LSU Tigers (No. 10, East) and Oklahoma Sooners (No. 11, Midwest).

Also note that LSU is among the last four byes, while Oklahoma is the final team in the tournament.

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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida basketball's bracketology status to end 2025 calendar year

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