The Florida Gators are the consensus No. 1 team in the nation heading into the 2026-27 season, but that doesn't mean there isn't plenty to work on. Their 85-68 victory over Stetson in exhibition play on Tuesday night was a scoreline that probably flattered the Gators.

The Hatters kept it close until the final minutes of the game, and head coach Todd Golden was particularly critical of his reserves not rising to the challenge.

"I thought our starting group was pretty good, not perfect," said Golden. "A lot of things that we can kind of nitpick at watching film, and clearly, I don't think our bench was anywhere near good enough.

"When we had a majority of those starting guys out there, I thought we played pretty well. When we kind of got into the bench and had some lineups with some younger players in there, the score didn't go the right way.

"And you guys can see that from the plus-minus."

The Gators carried a 42-40 lead into half, and really clamped down on defense after the break.

"Second half was pleased, thought we did a better job defensively, limiting 32% from the field, defending without fouling," Golden said.

Golden wasn't satisfied with his team's effort on the glass, despite out-rebounding Stetson 40-36. The Hatters had 16 offensive rebounds.

That said, Golden realizes the purpose of the exhibition games is to get his team prepared for the regular season, not necessarily just to beat the opponent. The Gators were focused on the Gators more than Stetson heading into the game.

"The exhibition season's unique, because we're trying to balance preparing the right way for Stetson, but at the same time, making sure we're ready to go for the beginning of the year. I didn't do a great job of spending a lot of time preparing for the way they play offensively tonight," Golden said.

"We tried to switch a bit. You could tell, fundamentally, that we hadn't practiced it quite enough, and I thought our communication was really poor in those situations. So you kick yourself a little bit. You want to play better, and we probably didn't prepare as well as we should have.

But again, as I said, we're worried about next Monday. Just getting ready for that game.

It's more than just a season opener for the Gators next week. They take on the No. 14 Miami Hurricanes in Tampa in a game that means a lot to both programs locally as well as nationally.

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