No surprise here: Gators picked to win SEC basketball title

Florida basketball at the SEC tournament on March 13, 2026. Photo by Chris Spears, GatorBait Media.

Tommy Haugh, Rueben Chinyelu and Alex Condon could all be in NBA training camps right now. Haugh was a surefire lottery pick while both Chinyelu and Condon were almost certain to go somewhere between the last five picks of the first round and first 10 picks of the second. Instead, they decided to return for a shot at a second national championship in three years, which is why a panel of Southeastern Conference and national media have selected the Gators to win their second straight SEC championship. Haugh, All-SEC and All-American last year, was selected preseason SEC Player of the Year. Chinyelu, who won the Naismith National Defensive Player of the Year and SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year last year, joined Haugh on the first team preseason All-SEC. Condon, who made second team All-SEC a year ago, was named to the preseason second team.

Chinyelu and Condon were starters on Florida’s 2025 national championship team, while Haugh was a vital reserve off the bench. Chinyelu finished second in the country in rebounding last year while Condon was one of the nation’s most efficient post players from February onward. Haugh led the Gators in scoring at 17.1 points per game. They will be joined in the starting lineup by Boogie Fland, back as the starter at the point for a second straight year, and Denzel Aberdeen, a key reserve at Florida in 2025 who spent last year in exile at Kentucky, where he was the Wildcats’ second leading scorer. Also returning are SEC Sixth Man of the Year Urban Klavzar and athletic wing Isaiah Brown. From top to bottom of the 15- man roster, Florida is the most experienced and productive team in the country.

The Gators have exhibition games on the schedule – Baylor in Jacksonville, Sunday, October 18; Stetson at the O-Dome October 27 – before the season begins in earnest against Miami in Tampa November 2.

Predicted Order Of Finish In The Sec

1. FLORIDA; 2. Texas; 3. Arkansas; 4. Tennessee; 5. Alabama; 6. Vanderbilt; 7. Kentucky; 8. Missouri; 9. Texas A&M; 10. Auburn; 11. Georgia; 12. Oklahoma; 13. Ole Miss; 14. LSU; 15. Mississippi State; 16. South Carolina

First Team Preseason All-Sec

Rueben Chinyelu, Florida; Tommy Haugh, Florida; Juke Harris, Tennessee; Josh Hubbard, Mississippi State; Tyler Tanner, Vanderbilt

Second Team Preseason All-Sec

Alex Condon, Florida; Amari Allen, Alabama; Milan Momcilovic, Kentucky; Jordan Smith Jr., Arkansas; Matas Vokietaitis, Texas

Third Team Preseason All Sec

PJ Haggerty, Texas A&M; Malachi Moreno, Kentucky; Tahaad Pettiford, Auburn; David Punch, Texas; Billy Richmond III, Arkansas

Chatter from the scrimmage with UNF

It was North Florida from the Atlantic Sun Conference, in Gainesville last Wednesday for a closed door scrimmage with the Florida Gators, who will start the season as the No. 1 team in the nation in just about every poll out there. The Gators won, 99-75. No surprise there. With the starters in the game, the Gators led 55-25 at the half. It would have been dial-a-score had Todd Golden played his starters in the final 20 minutes but overall, Golden was satisfied seeing all 14 players who were dressed out in action against someone other than themselves.

“I would say a tale of two halves a little bit,” Golden said last Friday. “I thought our first half was pretty good, not perfect. I thought we played pretty well, though, and did a good job. One thing I’ll share is we valued the basketball really well, which I think is going to be an important part of this team. We had only three turnovers in the first half, so that was a big plus.

“The second half didn't go as well … We got a lot of tape, both positives and negatives, but it's a good reminder of just Division I level players are good no matter where you're at. And, when you have an opportunity to compete, you need to be ready. And I thought our second half wasn't where it needed to be. So some positives from the first half for sure, some negatives in the second. I think big picture-wise, you know, good to be able to break down tape against somebody other than yourself a little bit.”

The starting five of Tommy Haugh, Alex Condon, Rueben Chinyelu, Denzel Aberdeen and Boogie Fland combined for 40 points, 22 rebounds and 10 assists in the first half. The starters were a combined 3-11 from the 3-point line. Urban Klavzar, Isaiah Brown, AJ Brown and Viktor Mikic got minutes in the first half as well as the second.

AJ Brown, who took a redshirt last year while rehabbing a surgically repaired shoulder, scored 10 points and hit 3-6 from the 3-point line. Mikic, who has played sparingly his first two seasons at UF, had eight points and 10 rebounds. Domen Petrovic, the Slovenian import, scored 10 and hit 2-3 from the 3-point line.

Here are some Golden comments about those three:

AJ Brown: “AJ has been coming on. I thought he played really well the other night.” Viktor Mikic: “Victor Mikic played in the first half on Wednesday night. And so I'd say he's got a good chance to carve out a little role.” Domen Petrovic: “I consider Domen Petrovich more of like a perimeter player right now for us, more on the wing. But he could be a guy, because he shoots it so well, and he's 6-8, 6-9, and can really let it fly from the perimeter.”

Injury note: Sophomore CJ Ingram, who is expected to have a prominent role coming off the bench, was held out of the scrimmage. He has been dealing with some lower back issues.

“He just has some back pain and it hasn't really gone away,” Golden said. “And he's done a great job rehabbing and being on top of all that stuff. He's a stud that way. I don't think anybody wants to be out there more than C.J. Ingram.”

Florida scrimmage with North Florida: player stats

Tommy Haugh: 15 points, 3 rebounds, 1 blocked shot; 2-5 on 3-pointers, 5-5 from the foul line

Alex Condon: 8 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 blocked shot; 2-6 from the field. 4-4 from the foul line

Rueben Chinyelu: 10 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists; 4-5 from the field, 2-3 from the foul line

Boogie Fland: 2 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists

Denzel Aberdeen: 5 points, 3 assists, 1 steal; 1-4 on 3-pointers

Urban Klavzar: 11 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal; 4-10 from the field, 2-7 from the 3-point line

Isaiah Brown: 6 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 1 blocked shot

AJ Brown: 10 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals; 3-6 on 3-pointers

Viktor Mikic: 8 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist; 4-8 from the field

Alex Lloyd: 2 points, 2 assists; 0-5 on 3-pointers

Arturas Butajevas: 6 points, 5 rebounds, 1-4 on 3-pointers

Alex Kovatchev: 3 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists

Jones Lay: 3 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal

Domen Petrovic: 10 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal; 4-5 from the field, 2-3 on 3 pointers

Team stats

Rebounds: Florida 53 (22 offensive); North Florida 28

Points from turnovers: Florida 17, North Florida 5

Points in the paint: Florida 36, North Florida 28

Second chance points: Florida 19, North Florida 0

Fast break points: Florida 10, North Florida 9

Bench points: Florida 59, North Florida 36

Shooting: Florida 33-77 (42.8 percent); North Florida 23-52 (44.2 percent)

3-point shooting: Florida 12-43 (27.9 percent); North Florida 7-21 (33 percent)

Turnovers: Florida 7; North Florida 12

Espn Preseason Top 25

1. FLORIDA; 2. Duke; 3. Illinois; 4. Arizona; 5. UConn; 6. Michigan State; 7. Texas; 8. Tennessee; 9. Texas Tech; 10. St. John’s; 11. Miami; 12. Arkansas; 13. Virginia; 14. Gonzaga; 15. Louisville; 16. Missouri; 17. Southern Cal; 18. Houston; 19. Kansas; 20. BYU; 21. Alabama; 22. Michigan; 23. Vanderbilt; 24. UCLA; 25. Kentucky

Blue Ribbon Yearbook Top 25

1. FLORIDA; 2. Duke; 3. Illinois; 4. Michigan State; 5. Arizona; 6. Tennessee; 7. Texas; 8. Houston; 9. Arkansas; 10. UConn; 11. Vanderbilt; 12. Michigan; 13. Miami; 14. Missouri; 15. Virginia; 16. Kansas; 17. Iowa State; 18. Louisville; 19. Kentucky; 20. St. John’s; 21. Alabama; 22. Southern Cal; 23. Gonzaga; 24. Ohio State; 25. North Carolina

Blue Ribbon Yearbook preseason All-America

First Team

Jeremy Fears Jr., Michigan State; Tommy Haugh, Florida; Braylon Mullins, UConn; Tyler Tanner, Vanderbilt; Rob Wright III, BYU

Second Team

David Mirkovic, Illinois; Elliot Cadeau, Michigan; Motiejus Krivas, Arizona; Flory Bidunga, Louisville; Tyran Stokes, Kansas

Third Team

Pryce Sandfort, Nebraska; Trey McKinney, Michigan; Shelton Henderson, Miami; Juke Harris, Tennessee; Thijs De Ridder, Virginia

Fourth Team

Joseph Tugler, Houston; Matas Vokietaitis, Texas; Tounde Yessoufou, St. John’s; Nijel James, Marquette; Josh Hubbard, Mississippi State

Joe Lunardi bracketology

South

1. FLORIDA; 2. Houston; 3. Virginia; 4. Arkansas

Projected first-round matchups: 1. FLORIDA vs. 16 East Tennessee-Merrimack winner; 4 Arkansas vs. No. 13 UC-Santa Barbara

Midwest

1. Illinois; 2. Louisville; 3. Texas; 4. Kansas

Projected first-round matchups: 3. Texas vs. McNeese; 7. Nebraska vs. 10 Oklahoma-Baylor winner; 8. Missouri vs. 9. North Carolina

East

1. Duke; 2. UConn; 3. Michigan; 4. Tennessee

Projected first-round matchups: 4. Tennessee vs. 13. Liberty; 6. Kentucky vs. No. 11 West Virginia-Creighton winner; 7. UCLA vs. 10 Texas A&M; 8. Ohio State vs. 9. Auburn

West

1. Arizona; 2. Michigan State; 3. Gonzaga; 4. Alabama

Projected first-round matchups: 4. Alabama vs. 13. High Point; 7. Vanderbilt vs. 10. Providence; 8. Georgia vs. 9. Wisconsin

Kenpom.Com Preseason Top 30

1. Duke; 2. FLORIDA; 3. Houston; 4. Illinois; 5. Arizona; 6. Iowa State; 7. Michigan State; 8. Kansas; 9. Alabama; 10. Texas; 11. UConn; 12. Texas Tech; 13. Vanderbilt; 14. Gonzaga; 15. Virginia; 16. Nebraska; 17. Louisville; 18. Tennessee; 19. Texas A&M; 20. Arkansas; 21. Ohio State; 22. Miami; 23. St. John’s; 24. Purdue; 25. Auburn; 26. Kentucky; 27. UCLA; 28. Michigan; 29. Oklahoma; 30. Creighton

Other teams of interest (SEC teams bold face): 38. Ole Miss; 46. Georgia; 48. Missouri; 57. UCF; 62. LSU; 69. Mississippi State; 73. Florida State; 93. South Carolina; 94. South Florida; 116. Florida Atlantic; 192. Florida International; 209. Bethune Cookman; 230. Jacksonville; 272. Stetson; 273. Florida Gulf Coast; 320. North Florida; 324. Florida A&M; 354. West Florida

Evanmiya.Com Preseason Top 30

1. FLORIDA; 2. Duke; 3. Illinois; 4. Arizona; 5. UConn; 6. Gonzaga; 7. Houston; 8. Iowa State; 9. Michigan State; 10. Kansas; 11. St. John’s; 12. Alabama; 13. Miami; 14. Texas Tech; 15. Louisville; 16. Michigan; 17. Texas; 18. Tennessee; 19. Kentucky; 20. Virginia; 21. Arkansas; 22. UCLA; 23. Purdue; 24. BYU; 25. Auburn; 26. Nebraska; 27. LSU; 28. Georgia; 29. Baylor; 30. Villanova

Other teams of interest (SEC teams bold face): 32. Oklahoma; 33. Vanderbilt; 35. Texas A&M; 47. Ole Miss; 65. Florida State; 75. UCF; 76. Mississippi State; 85. South Carolina; 98. South Florida; 117. Florida Atlantic; 163. Florida International; 241. Florida Gulf Coast; 252. Bethune Cookman; 264. Jacksonville; 293. Stetson; 319. North Florida; 344. Florida A&M; 353. West Florida