A win in Rupp Arena against Kentucky on Saturday would have done wonders for Florida’s NCAA Tournament chances. As things currently stand, UF has just one Quadrant 1 win on the season, and that was all the way back in November.
But with a 78-57 loss to the Wildcats, Florida missed another opportunity for a key win to bolster its case to make the dance. For a team that’s currently considered to be on the wrong side of the bubble, UF is running out of chances.
On the latest bubble watch from ESPN, the Gators, who are considered to be the final team among the First Four Out by Joe Lunardi, still have work to do.
The 78-57 final score in Florida’s loss at Kentucky might not have fully captured just how completely the UF defense was dominated by the Wildcats. At 59 possessions, this was one of the slowest games the SEC has seen this season. Mike White‘s team was simply overpowered on its defensive glass, and UK committed just five turnovers. As a “first four out” type of bubble team, Florida will try to play its way onto the correct side of the cut line with a road date versus Texas A&M followed by home games against Auburn and Arkansas. Certainly, the games in Gainesville against the Tigers and Razorbacks offer the possibility for marquee wins. The flip side, naturally, is that an 0-3 mark against the Aggies, Bruce Pearl’s team and the Hogs would extend the Gators’ stay in the most perilous real estate on the bubble.
UF will certainly have its opportunities down the stretch. Its next two matchups against the Aggies and Tigers are considered Quadrant 1 (though beating Texas A&M would probably drop it far enough in the NET to be considered Quadrant 2 after the fact), and Arkansas is no slouch either, being the only SEC team to take down Auburn so far.
If Florida wants to salvage any hope of making the NCAA Tournament, it can’t afford to drop all three of those games.
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