Todd Golden score a massive coup on his home court against his mentor Bruce Pearl on Saturday afternoon, giving the Florida Gators a much-needed boost in the NCAA Tournament picture with an 81-65 win over the Auburn Tigers.
The Orange and Blue are now firmly inside the bubble among the major bracketologies, including the latest from Jerry Palm of CBS Sports. Palm has been a bit more bullish on Florida than his peers and continued that trend following the statement win.
The Gators are now a No. 8 seed in the South Region, paired up with the No. 9 St. Mary’s Gaels — Golden’s college alma mater — for an opening-round battle in Memphis, Tennessee. The top-seeded Houston Cougars and No. 16 Southern Jaguars also join them in that sub-bracket.
Florida had been seeded No. 9 in the previous update, facing the Utah Utes to open things up; in the update prior to that, the Gators were again a No. 8 seed facing the Gaels in the same sub-bracket.
Looking around the Southeastern Conference, the latest bracketology update includes the Tennessee Volunteers (No. 2), Alabama Crimson Tide (No. 3), South Carolina Gamecocks (No. 3), Auburn (No. 5), Kentucky Wildcats (No. 7), Texas A&M Aggies (No. 10), Ole Miss Rebels (No. 10) and Mississippi State Bulldogs (No. 11).
Next up for the Gators are the LSU Tigers, who come to Gainesville to take on Florida inside the O’Connell Center on Tuesday, Feb. 13. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
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