Florida received 47 first-place votes and took No. 1 in the AP preseason poll on Monday. The first regular-season opponent for that team is No. 14 Miami. Florida's schedule puts the game in Tampa on November 2, giving the Gators a ranked matchup before they have played an ordinary regular-season game.
That is a quick answer to one question a preseason ranking cannot settle. Florida brings back four starters in Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon, Boogie Fland and Rueben Chinyelu, according to its poll release. Those returning players help explain the confidence in the Gators. Miami gives that group an immediate chance to show how its continuity holds up against another team voters placed in the top 15.
The opener comes before the long SEC test
Florida has one more exhibition against Stetson on October 27. Its first regular-season game arrives six days later. The school counts eight AP-ranked opponents on its confirmed schedule, including six SEC teams. Those are preseason rankings. Opponents can move before the conference games arrive, but the Miami date is already fixed.
The 82-76 overtime exhibition loss to Baylor is part of the immediate context. It does not change what Monday's voters decided, and an exhibition result does not enter the regular-season record. It shows the returning starters still have work to do together. Miami will be the first ranked opponent Florida meets in a game that counts.
Stetson gives Todd Golden another exhibition, then Miami brings a ranked opponent. The Miami result will give readers a firmer measure of Florida's returning core than the poll alone. Six ranked SEC opponents await later, when the preseason order may look quite different.
