Florida
Florida basketball has failed to meet expectations early on
A 5-4 start to Florida basketball’s national title defense is not what anyone had in mind — much less, the Gator Nation — but here we are nine games deep into the 2025-26 schedule.
To be fair, three of those losses have come against programs currently ranked among the top five in both major polls and have been off to stellar starts. The Arizona Wildcats, Duke Blue Devils and UConn Huskies are nothing to sneeze at, and while the TCU Horned Frogs are not quite on their tier, all of these losses came either on the road (Duke) or on a neutral court (the other three).
Maybe Todd Golden should reconsider playing in all of these early-season special events in the future. But alas, that is a story for another season.
ESPN thinks Florida has failed to meet expectations
Obviously, with a dominating frontcourt roster returning in full, there was plenty to be optimistic about heading into the campaign. However, the departure of three guards to the NBA and a fourth to the transfer portal has proven to be a void too large to fill with their offseason acquisitions.
And that is the crux of ESPN’s Myron Medcalf’s observation that the Gators have simply not met the bar so far.
“Months after winning a national title with an elite set of guards, Florida’s Todd Golden rebooted his backcourt with former Arkansas star Boogie Fland and Princeton transfer Xaivian Lee,” he begins.
“It hasn’t worked out as planned. In Florida’s two-player lineups — an on-court metric at EvanMiya.com that captures how teams perform when specific players are paired together — the Fland-Lee combination ranked 26th within its own team,” Metcalf continues.
“And though Lee scored 19 points against UConn in Tuesday’s game at Madison Square Garden, that loss was another example of the Gators’ limitations when Lee and Fland (1-for-9 combined from 3 against the Huskies) aren’t equally elite on the same night.”
He has not liked what he has seen, and his conclusion is not necessarily unfair.
“Ultimately, Florida hasn’t looked like a defending champion thus far, despite Thomas Haugh (18.6 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 2.8 APG) playing like an All-American.”
How does the NET, BPI and KenPom view Florida basketball?
While Medcalf’s assessment comes fully equipped with dark clouds, the objective metrics paint a much more optimistic outlook for the team overall.
According to the NET rankings, Florida is just inside the top 25 at No. 24 — one spot ahead of the Miami Hurricanes, who they beat in Jacksonville back in November. The Gators are 1-3 in Quadrant 1 matchups, 1-1 in Quad 2, 1-0 in Quad 3 and 2-0 in Quad 4.
KenPom views the Orange and Blue even more bullishly, ranking Florida at No. 15 despite the weak record. Golden’s gang currently sits at No. 15 with a plus-26.55 adjusted net rating — up from plus-25.70 (17th) at the end of November, while the offense (120.4) moved up from 24th to 23rd in the nation, and the defense (93.8) has only dropped one place — from 10th to 11th — despite allowing 0.6 fewer points per 100 possessions.
The most optimistic metric for Florida comes from ESPN’s Basketball Power Index, which has the Gators at No. 9 despite a 1-3 stretch over the past two weeks. They have an 18.8 overall BPI, with the offense logging in at 8.5 (22nd) and defense earning a 10.3 (8th) rating recently.
ESPN projects Florida to go 21.0-10.0 overall and 12.2-5.8 in conference play.
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FORT MYERS, Fla. – An injured manatee and her calf are recovering after authorities on a boat rescued them from the Orange River near Fort Myers on Thursday.
What we know:
The Lee County Sheriff’s Office said its Marine Unit, Advanced Technology Support Unit, drone pilots and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission helped in saving the pair after the mother was found hurt in the water and in need of medical attention.
READ: Missing Florida man found stuck in mud without food or water for days: PFD
Video shows authorities pulling the frantic manatees safely onto the boat in netting before taking them to shore.
Courtesy: Lee County Sheriff’s Office
Both animals will be taken to ZooTampa for evaluation and medical care.
What we don’t know:
LCSO did not say the extent of the mother’s injuries.
By the numbers:
As of Feb. 20, there have been 85 manatee deaths across Florida in 2026, according to the FWC. Last year reportedly saw a total of 632 manatee deaths.
Dig deeper:
Earlier this month, the FWC began investigating a spike in manatee deaths, specifically in Lee County, where officials say 25 were found dead within a week.
READ: FWC investigating spike in manatee deaths over the past week
The FWC believes these manatee deaths could be from several factors: cold stress, a lack of seagrass and polluted waterways.
The Source: Information for this story was provided by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
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