CBS Sports ranks Florida among top-25 NCAA Tournament teams

Now that we know what the 2024 March Madness brackets looks like, CBS Sports has re-ranked all 68 teams invovled in the tournament.

The NCAA Tournament field is set and the Florida Gators are the No. 7 seed in the South Region, but how does the Orange and Blue stack up against the rest of the competition?

The fine folks at CBS Sports asked that question for all 68 teams after taking a gander at the bracket, and the result is another re-rank featuring this year’s NCAA Tournament field.

Basic math says that Florida should fall in the 25-28 range as a No. 7 seed, but the Gators check in at No. 23 on this list. That might not surprise many after the Gators claimed the same spot in the most recent USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, but there are extenuating circumstances to consider.

“The Gators have been one of the hotter teams of the past month, but they’re also entering the tournament down a big man,” the excerpt reads. “Micah Handlogten suffered a broken leg in the SEC title game, which lowers UF’s ceiling, of course.

“Todd Golden’s bunch can get buckets in a variety of ways and through a lot of guys, but to me, it’s Walter Clayton Jr. who will dictate this team’s chances at making the second weekend. The never-satisfied guard has a tough competitive streak. His addition this season altered Florida’s trajectory.”

The loss of Micah Handlogten isn’t great, but the Gators do have SEC All-Freshman forward Alex Condon to step into his role. Fellow freshman Thomas Haugh will step up as a bigger piece in the rotation, too, but there’s no reason to expect Florida to lack a competitive drive without Handlogten.

The full re-rank can be found here.

Florida begins tournament play against either Boise State or Colorado on Friday, March 22 at 4:30 p.m. ET. The game will broadcast on TBS.

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Former Duke star JJ Redick announces new podcast with LeBron James

JJ Redick, Duke’s all-time leading scorer, announced on Monday that he’d be starting a new podcast with NBA legend LeBron James. The first episode will drop on Tuesday morning.

Duke legend JJ Redick will get some pretty historic company on the microphone soon.

The Blue Devils all-time leading scorer announced on Monday that he’d started a new podcast with NBA legend LeBron James called “Mind the Game.”

The first episode of the podcast will be released on Tuesday, Redick added in the reveal.

Redick finished his four-year Duke career, which began in the 2002-03 season and continued until 2005-06, with 2,769 career points, the most in program history. He averaged 19.9 points per game across his career, reaching a program-record 26.8 points per game as a senior when he was named the consensus National Player of the Year. Only five other Duke players have ever earned that honor.

Redick’s 457 career 3-pointers are by far the most of any Duke player ever. No other Blue Devil has even made 350. The guard also holds program records in free-throw percentage (91.2%), 20-point games (70), and 30-point games (20). He’s the only Duke player to score 900 total points in a single season (964 in 2006).

Redick was drafted 11th overall by the Orlando Magic in the 2006 NBA draft, and he played in 940 NBA games across 15 seasons.

Duke freshman Jared McCain announced as ambassador for SKIMS, Kim Kardashian’s clothing brand

Duke freshman Jared McCain was announced as one of the six NCAA basketball players sponsored by SKIMS, the clothing line started by Kim Kardashian, on Monday.

Star freshman Jared McCain has another big-time NIL sponsorship.

McCain was announced as one of six collegiate basketball players sponsored by SKIMS, the clothing line started by Kim Kardashian, on Monday.

The reveal is part of the brand’s March All-Star campaign advertising a new loungewear line.

McCain was joined by Connectict’s Donovan Clingan, Kansas’s Hunter Dickinson, Kentucky’s Rob Dillingham, Arizona’s Caleb Love, and North Carolina’s Paxson Wojcik.

According to On3’s NIL valuation, McCain, who has two million followers on TikTok, is worth more than $1 million in name, image, and likeness compensation. That’s the third-most of any collegiate basketball player behind only USC’s Bronny James (the son of NBA legend LeBron James) and Austin Peay’s Hansel Emmanuel.

The Duke freshman is averaging 13.4 points and 4.9 rebounds through the ACC Tournament, and he finished second in ACC Rookie of the Year voting. He was listed as an Honorable Mention for the all-conference teams, narrowly missing out on Third Team honors.

He tied a Duke freshman record with 35 points against Florida State earlier this year, and he’s scored at least 20 points in six other games since December 9.

Duke slips down in USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll before March Madness

The Blue Devils dropped in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll after last week’s loss to NC State, but how far did they fall?

Duke basketball suffered in the eyes of coaches after the NC State upset loss in the ACC Tournament.

The Blue Devils dropped three spots down to 14th in the poll released on Sunday after the quarterfinal loss to the Wolfpack, even though the in-state foes went on to win the conference crown.

Duke now sits 24-8 on the year after back-to-back losses against UNC (who dropped one spot to fifth in the rankings) and NC State.

The Blue Devils dropped below Auburn, Illinois, and Baylor.

Connecticut, the defending national champion, retook the top spot in the rankings just as they did in the AP Poll released on Monday. The Huskies received all 32 first-place votes.

Houston, Purdue, and Iowa State took the next three spots in the ranking.

No other ACC teams appeared in the top 25, but NC State and Pittsburgh both received votes. The Panthers were one of the committee’s First Four Out.

Associated Press releases pre-tournament Top 25, Duke firmly out of top 10

The Associated Press released one more top 25 before the NCAA Tournament is set to tip off, and the Blue Devils slid even farther down.

With March Madness finally here and the tournament field set, the Associated Press released one last top-25 ranking on Monday before the festivities really begin.

The Blue Devils, after the upset loss to NC State in the ACC Tournament, dropped two more spots down to 13th. The ranking reflects their position as the No. 4 seed in the South region, outside of the top 12 overall teams.

Duke finished the regular season and conference tournament with a 24-8 record, finishing with 834 points in the voting.

Defending national champion Connecticut moved back atop the rankings with Houston in second, followed by Purdue. Iowa State, despite being a No. 2 seed in the bracket, took the fourth spot ahead of North Carolina, who dropped to fifth.

Tennessee, Auburn, Marquette, Arizona, and Illinois made up the lower half of the top 10, with Creighton and Kentucky taking the spots ahead of Duke.

Intriguing freshman with Oregon basketball ties to enter transfer portal

Stanford freshman Andrej Stojakovic has entered the transfer portal and will look for a new school to continue his career at.

While the Oregon Ducks are preparing for their first-round matchup in the NCAA Tournament later this week against the South Carolina Gamecocks, part of the coaching staff is also being asked to keep an eye on the transfer portal, which opened on Monday for college basketball players.

One intriguing name popped up when the portal opened, with some Oregon ties over the last year as well.

Stanford small forward Andrej Stojakovic is reportedly looking to transfer to a new school for his sophomore season after averaging 7 points and 3 rebounds per game in 2023. Stojakovic shot 40% from the field and 32% from deep as a freshman with the Cardinal, and had one 20-point game to go along with a pair of 18-point showings.

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Stojakovic, the son of former NBA All-Star Peja Stojakovic, had the Ducks among the final schools in his recruitment last year as a 5-star player who was ranked as the No. 25 player in the nation. He took a trip out to Eugene for Oregon’s football game vs. BYU in 2022 and spent some time shooting around with his dad inside Matthew Knight Arena. 

We will see if he takes another look at the Ducks this time around, but we do know that there is at least a prior relationship there with the program.

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Where Florida landed in final KenPom rankings before NCAA Tournament

Florida finishes the SEC Tournament among the top 30 teams in the nation according to KenPom.

It was not the ending that the Gator Nation had hoped for, but Florida basketball’s run through the Southeastern Conference Tournament was something to behold. Unfortunately, all good things come to an end — as they did for Todd Golden’s team against the Auburn Tigers on Sunday, who beat them for the title, 86-67.

Following the SEC finals loss, the Pomeroy College Basketball Ratings dropped the Orange and Blue from its No. 24 overall ranking on Sunday to No. 29, putting it between the No. 28 Nebraska Cornhuskers and the No. 30 Mississippi State Bulldogs.

The Pomeroy rankings use adjusted efficiency margin — the difference between adjusted offensive efficiency and adjusted defensive efficiency — to rank all teams.

Golden’s gang finished with a margin of plus-18.19 (down 0.44 points) which means the team is expected to score 18.19 more points than the average opponent. They rank 14th in adjusted offensive efficiency (119.3) while coming in at 83rd (101.1) in defensive efficiency.

KenPom also has Florida’s overall strength of schedule rated at plus-10.72, which is 29th in the nation; its non-conference schedule rating received a score of plus-2.05 which has the Gators at No. 132.

Florida is the No. 7 seed in the South Region this year according to the official NCAA Tournament bracket and will face the winner of the Boise State Broncos-Colorado Buffaloes play-in game.

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Gators remain in Basketball Power Index rankings top-25 after SEC Tournament

Florida lost two spots in ESPN’s Basketball Power Index following the SEC Tournament Finals loss to Auburn.

The only team standing between the Florida Gators and the Southeastern Conference Tournament title on Sunday was the Auburn Tigers.

Unfortunately, Todd Golden’s gang was unable to overcome that final hurdle, falling to their opponent in the championship game, 86-67, after a fine postseason showing. But not all was lost in the double-digit defeat.

In ESPN’s latest Basketball Power Index update following the loss, the Orange and Blue fell two spots from Sunday’s pregame ranking to No. 25. That puts Todd Golden’s team between the No. 24 St. John’s Red Storm and No. 26 TCU Horned Frogs, keeping them among the top 25 schools in the index.

Florida’s BPI rating — a measurement of a team’s true strength moving forward — fell 0.3 points to 12.1 since the last update. The offensive BPI fell 0.3 points to 8.6 while the defensive BPI rose 0.1 points to 3.5.

Florida is the No. 7 seed in the South Region this year according to the official NCAA Tournament bracket and will face the winner of the Boise State Broncos-Colorado Buffaloes play-in game.

Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

Where Florida stands in NET rankings following SEC finals loss

Florida is a top-30 team entering the NCAA Tournament according to the NET rankings.

Florida basketball made a tremendous run in the Southeastern Conference Tournament this month, but alas, hit a roadblock in the championship game against the Auburn Tigers, who prevailed over the Gators to earn the crown, 86-67.

Following the loss, the Orange and Blue fell three spots overall in the NET rankings from before Sunday’s game to No. 29. Todd Golden’s gang now sits between the No. 28 Indiana State Sycamores and No. 30 Texas Longhorns.

Here’s how the quadrant system breaks things up:

  • Quadrant 1: Home 1-30, Neutral 1-50, Away 1-75
  • Quadrant 2: Home 31-75, Neutral 51-100, Away 76-135
  • Quadrant 3: Home 76-160, Neutral 101-200, Away 135-240
  • Quadrant 4: Home 161-353, Neutral 201-353, Away 241-353

The Gators are now 6-8 against Quadrant 1 opponents, 4-2 against Quadrant 2 opponents, 9-1 against Quadrant 3 opponents and 5-0 against Quadrant 4 opponents. They finished the SEC Tournament with a 24-11 record overall and a 14-8 mark against Southeastern Conference opponents.

Florida is the No. 7 seed in the South Region this year according to the official NCAA Tournament bracket and will face the winner of the Boise State Broncos-Colorado Buffaloes play-in game.

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Duke and their Tobacco Road counterparts lead the way as ACC lands five teams in the tournament

Duke and the rest of the ACC ready to roll in NCAA Tournament.

Duke was never in danger of missing the NCAA Tournament, but in the last two weeks, they had the chance to solidify themselves as a No. 2 seed.

That didn’t come to fruition, however, as Duke lost to their rivals, UNC, on senior night and then to NC State in the quarterfinals of the 2024 ACC Tournament.

Those two teams met Saturday night in the ACC Championship game, and NC State pulled off an improbable win to cap off one of the most incredible ACC Tournament runs in the league’s illustrious history. They won five games in five days to punch an automatic ticket to the Big Dance.

All of the Tobacco Road schools are going dancing. UNC is the fourth No. 1 seed in the West region, while Duke is the fourth seed in the South region. NC State is an 11-seed in the South region with Duke.

Clemson and UVA made five teams for the ACC in this year’s tournament.

The ACC was unusually weak this year, with Louisville and Syracuse unable to live up to their usual standards. For stretches of the season, it looked like Duke and UNC were the only locks to make the tournament. Yet, when the dust settled, the ACC still found a way to produce five teams.

The ACC has had at least one team reach the Elite Eight in 34 of 38 tournaments and at least one Final Four team in 26 of 38 tournaments.

We will see which of this year’s ACC participants makes the most significant run.