The 2021-22 season will be one with major implications for Florida basketball. Though it seems coach Mike White, who was just extended through the 2026-27 season, isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, UF is coming off back-to-back seasons where the team underachieved based on its talent.
And now, the team is going to look a lot different. Six players from last year’s squad are gone, and the Gators will rely on a roster that was patched together this offseason through the transfer portal. It’s a talented group, but this will be the least continuity White has had from one team to the next during his career in Gainesville.
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In spite of these changes, it seems ESPN’s Joe Lunardi expects Florida to return to the NCAA Tournament, though as a lower seed than it was last season. In his early bracketology, he has UF as the No. 8 seed in the West Region, drawing Indiana in the First Round and, potentially, No. 1-overall seed Gonzaga in the second.
It seems Lunardi expects the SEC to continue its strong run from a year ago, as he predicts that six other league teams will crack the field: No. 3 Alabama (the favorite to win the SEC, in Lunardi’s eyes), No. 4 Arkansas, No. 4 Tennessee, No. 4 Kentucky, No. 6 Auburn and No. 10 LSU, who is among the Last Four Byes.
The SEC is quickly becoming one of the better conferences in college basketball with a wealth of talented, up-and-coming coaches, and securing a tournament bid from the league is as competitive as ever. UF has a lot of work ahead of it this season if it wants to keep its streak of four-straight NCAA Tournament appearances alive.
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