When a team has been out of action for a week and a half, it’s hard to evaluate its play. This is the conundrum it seems ESPN’s Joe Lunardi is facing regarding the Gators with his latest bracketology update.
Due to a combination of COVID-19 exposure both within the UF and Texas A&M programs, Florida’s last three games have been postponed. The team hasn’t played since it lost to South Carolina on Feb. 3, and as a result, its positioning hasn’t changed in Lunardi’s bracket.
He still has the Gators as a No. 7 seed with a tough first-round draw in No. 10 North Carolina. It may be a down year for the Tar Heels, but facing a Roy Williams-coached team in the NCAA Tournament is never an easy task.
If Florida were to survive that game as the higher seed, the road would get even tougher, as it would almost certainly take on two-seeded Villanova and another accomplished tournament coach in Jay Wright.
The Gators could face a conference opponent in Missouri, who is the No. 5 seed in the region, in the Elite Eight, but that would require an upset of the region’s top seed, Ohio State.
Other SEC teams in the projected field are No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 Tennessee, No. 9 Arkansas and No. 10 LSU.
Florida remains a seven-seed in the 48-team projection, and the only SEC program from the 68-team field excluded in the smaller one is LSU, who is among the at-large’s First Four Out.
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