From cold shoulder to hot list, Florida gets its flowers entering the new season

This time last year, the Florida Gators were seen as a fringe Sweet 16 team that could make a run to the Elite Eight if everything went right. The Gators had barely squeaked inside the top 25 and had just one player on the All-SEC preseason team (Walter Clayton Jr.).

Fast forward one year, and it feels like the preseason honors can't come in fast enough for Florida as the Gators picked up a ton of honors on Thursday.

Three Gators named to Preseason All-SEC team

Alex Condon, Boogie Fland, and Thomas Haugh have all been tabbed by SEC coaches to the All-SEC team for the preseason. Condon made the 1st team, while Fland made the 2nd team, and Haugh made the 3rd.

Condon was also named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches Player of the Year watchlist. Haugh was named to the Karl Malone Award watchlist, which is given to the best Power Forward in college basketball.

Add in the fact that Florida is ranked No. 3 in the country, and the narrative surrounding the Gators has gone from being the hunter to the hunted.

There are, of course, some question marks Florida is going to have to answer in 2025-26, the biggest being whether the guard pairing of Fland and Xavian Lee (transfer from Princeton) is going to mesh.

The ultimate wildcard of the group is going to be Haugh playing the three spot and Florida opting for three forwards in the lineup compared to the three guard look Todd Golden employed last season.

And while Florida does return its entire backcourt and will have size almost no one can match, it has to prove it has the scoring in clutch situations.

Florida will open its season on Monday against Arizona in Las Vegas before its first home game against UNF next Thursday.