Another week, another USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll for this year’s men’s basketball campaign.
It felt kind of the same way for Florida Gators fans, who once again watched their beloved Orange and Blue fall short on the parquet; this time, it was a narrow one-point loss to the Duke Blue Devils inside Cameron Indoor Stadium last Tuesday night. The reigning defending national champions now have three losses in eight tries.
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As a result, Todd Golden’s gang fell four more spots to No. 18 in the fifth regular-season installment of the poll. They are now nestled between the No. 17 Arkansas Razorbacks and No. 19 Kansas Jayhawks.
Florida will have its hands full in its next game on Tuesday night — a neutral court rematch of last year’s NCAA Tournament second round against the fifth-ranked UConn Huskies inside Madison Square Garden.
SEC schools in Coaches Poll top 25 after Week 5
The Southeastern Conference is represented by just six schools this week and was completely shut out of the top 10 spots. The highest-ranked SEC program is the Alabama Crimson Tide, which checks in at No. 12, followed by the No. 14 Vanderbilt Commodores, No. 17 Arkansas Razorbacks, No. 18 Florida, No. 20 Tennessee Volunteers and No. 24 Auburn Tigers.
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The Kentucky Wildcats tumbled out of the top 25 with just 14 votes. The Missouri Tigers (7), Georgia Bulldogs (5) and LSU Tigers (4) also made this week’s ballot.
USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll after Week 5
|
Rank |
Team |
Record |
PTS |
1st |
Prev |
Chg |
Hi/Lo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
8-0 |
755 |
17 |
2 |
+1 |
1/7 |
|
|
2 |
8-0 |
742 |
11 |
3 |
+1 |
2/13 |
|
|
3 |
10-0 |
723 |
2 |
4 |
+1 |
3/5 |
|
|
4 |
9-0 |
651 |
1 |
9 |
+5 |
4/18 |
|
|
5 |
8-1 |
628 |
0 |
5 |
– |
3/7 |
|
|
6 |
8-1 |
617 |
0 |
1 |
-5 |
1/6 |
|
|
7 |
9-1 |
565 |
0 |
11 |
+4 |
7/20 |
|
|
8 |
8-1 |
547 |
0 |
7 |
-1 |
2/8 |
|
|
9 |
8-1 |
517 |
0 |
8 |
-1 |
8/21 |
|
|
10 |
7-1 |
507 |
0 |
10 |
– |
7/11 |
|
|
11 |
8-1 |
456 |
0 |
6 |
-5 |
5/12 |
|
|
12 |
7-2 |
436 |
0 |
12 |
– |
9/16 |
|
|
13 |
7-2 |
371 |
0 |
15 |
+2 |
8/15 |
|
|
14 |
9-0 |
365 |
0 |
16 |
+2 |
14/NR |
|
|
15 |
8-1 |
341 |
0 |
17 |
+2 |
15/25 |
|
|
16 |
7-2 |
277 |
0 |
19 |
+3 |
11/20 |
|
|
17 |
7-2 |
245 |
0 |
23 |
+6 |
15/23 |
|
|
18 |
5-3 |
213 |
0 |
14 |
-4 |
3/18 |
|
|
19 |
7-3 |
208 |
0 |
21 |
+2 |
19/NR |
|
|
20 |
7-3 |
170 |
0 |
13 |
-7 |
13/20 |
|
|
21 |
5-3 |
138 |
0 |
22 |
+1 |
6/22 |
|
|
22 |
9-0 |
114 |
0 |
NR |
+6 |
22/NR |
|
|
23 |
8-1 |
77 |
0 |
25 |
+2 |
23/NR |
|
|
24 |
7-3 |
76 |
0 |
24 |
– |
22/NR |
|
|
25 |
8-1 |
67 |
0 |
NR |
+8 |
25/NR |
Schools Dropped Out
No. 18 Kentucky; No. 19 Indiana
Others Receiving Votes
Saint Mary’s 52; UCLA 35; Oklahoma State 33; Wisconsin 32; USC 20; Seton Hall 16; Indiana 16; Kentucky 14; SMU 11; Missouri 7; Clemson 7; Ohio State 6; Georgia 5; Miami (FL) 4; LSU 4; Utah State 3; Yale 2; California 1; Baylor 1
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida basketball in USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll after Duke loss
