Florida's Billy Donovan knows why his Gators are the preseason favorites in the Southeastern Conference. He just has a different take.
Yes, the Gators have all five starters returning from a team that snapped a two-year NCAA tournament drought. But, Donovan points out, Georgia has two preseason all-conference picks, including player of the year favorite Trey Thompkins, Tennessee is tall and deep, and two-time defending champion Kentucky has another bumper crop of recruits.
So why is Florida so highly regarded?
''Because we have five starters coming back from a team that made the NCAA tournament,'' Donovan said Thursday at SEC media day in suburban Birmingham. ''Nothing more, nothing less. I don't think our players are the best team in the league because we don't have any players on the first-team all-league. It can't be because of that.
''We've got a good core nucleus of guys, that's what we have.''
The Gators did return to the NCAA tournament for the first time since winning back-to-back national titles, but they lost in the first round to BYU in double overtime.
So the team to beat in the SEC depends on who you ask.
John Calipari and the Wildcats took ownership of the SEC last season with a 35-3 record and three NCAA tournament wins behind one-and-out freshmen John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Eric Bledsoe and Daniel Orton. That team lost the most talent by a landslide, with five NBA first-round draft picks.
Now comes preseason first-team All-SEC point guard Brandon Knight and another impressive group of newcomers. Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl also cited the Kentucky returnees who could play larger roles, like guard Darius Miller.
''I think that's going to be one of the biggest stories this year,'' Pearl said. ''Yes, they've got some tremendously talented new players and they'll make a big impact. But watch for a couple of those returning guys to make a big, big difference.''
Three teams in the East were ranked in the preseason ESPN-USA Today Top 25 released Thursday - No. 10 Kentucky, No. 11 Florida and No. 20 Tennessee. Vanderbilt, Georgia and Western Division favorite Mississippi State also got votes.
Calipari called the East logjam ''ridiculous.''
''I think Florida's outstanding, I think Billy's a great coach,'' Calipari said. ''But don't be going to sleep on Georgia. Mark Fox is a terrific coach, but they also have two really good players, maybe two of the best in the division.
''Kevin (Stallings' Vanderbilt) teams are always going to be the same, well coached and coming at you. They're never going to beat themselves, ever. Tennessee, you know what Tennessee's going to do and how they're going to play and they're going to be right there. Mississippi State may be one of the top five teams in the country when they get everybody back.''
Neither Kentucky nor Mississippi State are assured of being at full-strength for a while.
Bulldogs point guard Dee Bost will miss the first 14 games, coach Rick Stansbury said. The NCAA suspended him for nine games for failing to remove his name from the NBA draft in time, and he's academically ineligible for fall semester.
Renardo Sidney will serve a nine-game suspension and must repay extra benefits he received as a high school player in Los Angeles.
Kentucky is awaiting word from the NCAA on the status of 6-foot-11 signee Enes Kanter, who played for a professional club in his native country of Turkey.
''Depending on what happens with Kanter, Kentucky certainly probably moves ahead of everybody,'' Donovan said. ''Bruce has got a deep team. He's got one of the best players in the league back in Scotty Hopson. All this talk about Florida is great, but it's not all reality. A lot of it is perception.''
Donovan said this group of players hasn't always handled prosperity well after creeping back into the rankings. His team will start this season trying to manage the attention.
''No matter what we're ranked, we've got to stay humble, we've got to stay hungry,'' forward Chandler Parsons said. ''Rankings really don't mean anything until you go out there and play. There's a lot to be proven. We've been there before. We're a mature team.''
There might also be a little more hoops hype on campus with Florida's football team struggling lately.
''You'll hear some people talking. People write crazy stuff about the football team on Twitter and Facebook,'' said Parsons, a friend of quarterback John Brantley. ''Our football team is not used to that and people will walk by and be like, 'We can't wait for basketball season.'''
