Bracketology Update: Where Do the Gators Stand a Month Before Selection Sunday?
With only seven games left before the SEC Tournament, madness begins to creep into focus in college basketball. The Florida Gators (18-6) are in the forefront of all conversations as the reigning National Champions.
The Gators extended their winning streak on Wednesday night with a 86-66 win to sweep rival Georgia. This marks the fourth time this season Florida has a win streak of at least four games.
Despite their six losses, the Gators are one of the strongest teams in the nation analytically. Florida moved up to 14th in the AP poll on Monday afternoon, marking its highest ranking since Nov. 24. The Gators are top ten in the NET, KenPom, and Torvik rankings, with Bart Torvik having the Gators fourth overall.
All of these rankings are factored in when the selection committee sets the field on March 15. Each major media network has its own bracketologist who creates weekly projections until the bracket is official.
Joe Lunardi-ESPN: 3 Seed in West Region
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has the Gators as the highest-seeded SEC team at a three seed. Lunardi projects Florida will play the projected Big South champions, Winthrop, in round one. The Gators would then possibly match up with either Clemson or Miami (OH) in the second round. The Gators would have to get through Arizona and Nebraska to return to the Final Four in this projection.
CBS Sports: 3 Seed in West Region
CBS agrees with Lunardi as the Gators would grab a three seed, while their first round matchup would be against projected Big Sky champions Portland State. Florida would then face either Tennessee or Santa Clara in the second round. The top two seeds in its region would be Arizona and Purdue.
Andy Katz-NCAA.com: 3 Seed in West Region
Katz agrees with CBS as he has Florida facing Portland State in round one of the west region. The Gators would have a second round matchup with either Iowa or Santa Clara in this projection. Once again, the projected top seed in the region is Arizona, with Nebraska holding the two seed.
Mike DeCourcy-Fox Sports: 3 Seed in Midwest Region
DeCourcy is the only bracketologist to have the Gators playing in the midwest region of the bracket, once again matching up with Winthrop in the first round. Louisville and UCLA would be possible second round opponents for Florida. In this projection, the Gators would have to work past top-seeded Michigan and Iowa State to win the region.
James Fletcher III-On3: 3 Seed in South Region
The final projection sees the most unique projection as Florida would find themselves in the south region against the projected SoCon champion, ETSU. Florida would then draw either North Carolina or Ohio State/San Diego State in the Round of 32. The Gators could possibly get a National Championship rematch with top-seeded Houston or a showdown with Illinois, according to Fletcher.
Florida is currently a unanimous three seed, looking to try and break into a top-two seed by the end of the season. The Gators were most recently a three seed in 2013, where they fell in the Elite Eight to four seed Michigan.
The next test for Florida comes at home on Saturday against No. 25 Kentucky. The Wildcats are currently projected between a six and seven seed in projected brackets. The game will air on WRUF 98.1FM/850AM starting at 2:30 p.m.
Category: College Basketball, Gators Men's Basketball
