College basketball rankings: Florida earns No. 1 spot in preseason Coaches Poll as well as AP Top 25

Florida, Duke and Illinois are the consensus top-three teams in, but the coaches tabbed Arizona, not UConn, for the fourth spot

Oct 19, 2026 at 2:20 pm ET • 2 min read

It's a two-horse race atop college basketball's preseason Coaches Poll. Florida and Duke combined to receive 28 of 30 first-place votes. That is right in line with Monday's preseason AP Top 25 poll, which tabbed the Gators No. 1 with Duke on their heels. The computers tend to agree, too. Duke and Florida are uncontested atop KenPom.com's 2027 projections. 

The coaches are also aligned with the AP Poll voters with Illinois at No. 3, fresh off its first Final Four appearance since 2005. Where the coaches differ from the scribes starts at No. 4, with Arizona getting the nod over Dan Hurley and the Connecticut Huskies. Arizona will have one of the best Big Three's in the sport with big wing Ivan Kharchenkov, five-star freshman Caleb Holt and intimidating center Mo Krivas. UConn counters with arguably college basketball's best 1-2 punch in the backcourt. Point guard Silas Demary Jr. and shooting guard Braylon Mullins will be firmly in the mix to win the Bob Cousy Award and Jerry West Award, respectively.

AP Top 25 poll reactions: Michigan overrated; Kansas, UK underrated in preseason college basketball rankings

Cameron Salerno

Here is the entire poll and the panel of coaches whose votes will be tabulated this season. 

College Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll 🏀 

The top 25 teams in the USA Today college basketball Coaches Poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and previous ranking:

Rank	Team	Record	Points	Prev.
1	Florida (20)	0-0	732	NR
2	Duke (8)	0-0	725	NR
3	Illinois (2)	0-0	683	NR
4	Arizona	0-0	634	NR
5	UConn	0-0	612	NR
6	Michigan State	0-0	570	NR
7	Texas	0-0	527	NR
8	Houston	0-0	486	NR
9	Tennessee	0-0	436	NR
10	Virginia	0-0	409	NR
11	Louisville	0-0	369	NR
12	Gonzaga	0-0	361	NR
13	Arkansas	0-0	345	NR
14	St. John's	0-0	316	NR
14	Iowa State	0-0	316	NR
16	Texas Tech	0-0	314	NR
17	Miami	0-0	292	NR
18	Kansas	0-0	286	NR
18	Alabama	0-0	286	NR
20	Michigan	0-0	219	NR
21	Vanderbilt	0-0	164	NR
22	USC	0-0	103	NR
23	Kentucky	0-0	100	NR
24	Purdue	0-0	83	NR
25	BYU	0-0	76	NR

Also receiving votes: Nebraska 66, UCLA 64, Missouri 60, Ohio State 31, North Carolina 24, Texas A&M 19, Villanova 14, Indiana 9, Wisconsin 5, Saint Louis 4, Cincinnati 4, West Virginia 2, Creighton 2, Maryland 1, Auburn 1

Here are the 30 coaches on the voting panel: John Becker, Vermont; Jeff Boals, Ohio; Matt Braeuer, Stephen F. Austin; Pat Chambers, Florida Gulf Coast; Scott Drew, Baylor; Dan Earl, Chattanooga; A.W. Hamilton, Eastern Kentucky; Alan Huss, Creighton; Donte' Jackson, Alabama A&M; Ben Jacobson, Utah State; James Jones, Yale; Greg Kampe, Oakland; Eric Konkol, Tulsa; Brad Korn, Southeast Missouri State; Anthony Latina, Sacred Heart; Shantay Legans, Portland; Jim Les, UC Davis; Luke Loucks, Florida State; Nick McDevitt, Middle Tennessee; Mike McGarvey, Lafayette; Dan Monson, Eastern Washington; Chris Mooney, Richmond; Mike Morrell, UNC Asheville; Andy Newman, Cal State Northridge; Nate Oats, Alabama; Matt Painter, Purdue; Paul Sather, North Dakota; Patrick Sellers, Central Connecticut State; Zach Spiker, Drexel; Stan Waterman, Delaware State.