Florida lands top spot in Joe Lunardi’s latest 2026 bracketology projection
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Florida is amongst the early favorites to repeat as national champs in 2026, according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi.
The World Wide Leader’s top college basketball prognosticator released an updated bracketology on Tuesday and he has the Gators projected as the top overall seed as of late June.
Florida is projected to be a national title contender next spring despite losing Walter Clayton Jr., Alijah Martin and other key pieces this offseason. That’s largely due to UF’s work in the transfer portal where it added Xaivian Lee and Boogie Fland to be starters in the back court.
Florida also received excellent news with regards to retaining talent this offseason. Thomas Haugh and Alex Condon are both expected to be back in Gainesville next season despite garnering some early NBA interest. Here’s an excerpt from Lunardi’s analysis on the Gators:
This team has all the pieces to make a Final Four return and win the title again. The Gators won’t be overwhelming favorites like Billy Donovan’s repeat champions in 2007, but the 2026 Gators will be in the mix next March.
The other projected No. 1 seeds in Lunardi’s bracketology update are Houston, Purdue and Duke. A total of 14 SEC teams made the cut for this projection, which would match last year’s record-shattering number of bids for the SEC.
The 2025-26 college basketball season will begin in November.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
