The Gators had an incredibly strong week of basketball despite battling injuries and absences across their lineup.
Guard Scottie Lewis has missed the last three games, and center Colin Castleton missed the first game of the week on Tuesday night against Tennessee.
Despite missing three starters (including Keyontae Johnson), Florida shocked the then-No. 6 Volunteers, earning a 26-point win. On Saturday, it followed it up with another solid performance, beating Georgia on the road and scoring 92 points in the process.
With those wins, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi feels much better about UF’s NCAA Tournament positioning. In his latest bracket, Florida is now all the way up to the seven-seed line after they were a No. 10 seed in the previous projection.
That means that the Gators not only appear in Lunardi’s projected 68-team field, but also in his 48-team field.
In the larger bracket, Lunardi has Florida drawing Drake in the first round, whereas in the smaller one, it would draw Winthrop. In both brackets, a win in the first round would likely set up a game with No. 2 Iowa. Gonzaga is the No. 1 seed in the region.
In the larger field, other SEC teams projected to make it are No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 Missouri, No. 4 Tennessee, No. 10 LSU and No. 11 Arkansas (who is among the Last Four Byes).
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