Florida rises to No. 15 in AP Poll

The Florida Gators men’s basketball team is up to No. 15 in this week’s AP Top 25, released Monday — their highest ranking of the season and, thus, of the Mike White era.

The Gators moved up two spots from No. 17 after a third straight unbeaten week. Florida downed Georgia on the road on Tuesday, then topped Texas A&M at home on Saturday in the last of three noon home games this regular season.

Florida is still ranked behind No. 13 Kentucky, which it defeated two Saturdays ago. The only other currently ranked teams Florida has faced this year are the No. 1 Gonzaga Bulldogs, No. 12 Duke Blue Devils, and No. 17 Florida State Seminoles, which slipped below the Gators for the first time in more than a month after a Saturday loss at Notre Dame.

The AP Poll — which has little to no bearing on the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee’s decision-making — may like the Gators least of the major ranking systems in college basketball. As of Monday morning, Florida is No. 6 in Ken Pomeroy’s tempo-adjusted efficiency rankings, and No. 10 in RPI — and the Gators were slotted in as the No. 11 overall seed and on the No. 3 seed line in the Selection Committee’s initial rankings release of the 2016-17 season on Saturday.

Here’s the full AP Top 25 for the week of February 13, 2017.