Florida basketball is getting a bit of downtime during the winter holiday week — a well-deserved break, no doubt — after winning its first dozen games of the 2024-25 campaign.
While many had high expectations of this year’s Gators hoops squad, few foresaw the program’s blistering beginning to the season. Before the Gator Nation gets too excited, however, the Southeastern Conference schedule looks as competitive as it was in football and there is a long, grinding road between now and March.
Nonetheless, Florida’s Big Dance prospects are looking better and better each game. On Christmas Eve, ESPN’s basketball guru Joe Lunardi released his latest bracketology update, with Todd Golden’s gang quickly approaching a top seed.
Florida’s ESPN bracketology seed, region
Lunardi moved the Gators up to the No. 2 seed in the West Region (San Francisco), where they will play the 15-seed Indiana State Sycamores in Cleveland, Ohio. The Duke Blue Devils claimed the top seed in that region after handing the Auburn Tigers their first loss of the year en route to a six-game winning streak.
SEC teams in ESPN’s bracketology
The SEC boasts the most teams in the bracketology update with 13 of its 16 member schools included. The top-seeded programs are Auburn (No. 1, South) and the Tennessee Volunteers (No. 1, Midwest), followed by Florida (No. 2, West), the Kentucky Wildcats (No. 2, South) and Alabama Crimson Tide (No. 2, East).
The Texas A&M Aggies and Mississippi State Bulldogs are No. 4 seeds in the South and Midwest, respectively, while the Oklahoma Sooners (No. 5, West), Ole Miss Rebels (No. 6, South), Georgia Bulldogs (No. 8, West), Arkansas Razorbacks (No. 9, East) and Texas Longhorns (No. 10, Midwest) all earned main bracket seedings.
The Missouri Tigers are an 11-seed and among the last four in. The Vanderbilt Commodores are among the first four out, while the LSU Tigers are among the next four out.
Next up for Florida
Before the SEC schedule begins next month, the Gators will host the Stetson Hatters inside the O’Connell Center on Sunday, Dec. 29. Tipoff is slated for 1 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on the SEC Network+.
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