In 28 of the 31 conferences in college basketball, Florida would be the unquestioned team to beat as non-conference play begins to wrap up in the next couple of weeks.
Of those other three conferences, Florida would feel like they have a 50/50 shot at worst of winning two of those conferences.
But Florida plays in the one conference that is loaded to the brink this season, and even though the Gators are ranked the highest they have been in season for a decade, it will still be a dogfight to emerge on top this season.
Florida Basketball: Cut down the nets
Once upon a time, not too long ago, basketball in the SEC was essentially Florida and Kentucky. In 2017, the conference only got five bids to the NCAA Tournament, and even as recently as 2022, the conference only earned six bids.
It is not an exaggeration to state that the SEC could send 12 teams to the tournament in 2025, but it could still feel too low.
As it stands right now, the SEC has eight teams ranked in the top 30 of the KenPom computer rankings and 12 teams ranked in the top 40.
All 16 SEC teams are inside the top 70.
By comparison, the ACC has 11 teams outside the top 70, and the Big Ten and Big 12 both have four teams outside the top 70.
So while Florida is 10-0 and has been ranked 7th in the latest AP Poll, moving up two spots from last week, the Gators are still only the fifth-highest-ranked team in the SEC.
Florida will get their last real non-conference test in Charlotte on Tuesday night when they take on UNC. After that, there are two tune-up games before non-conference play begins against Kentucky to open SEC play in January.