Florida basketball limped to a losing season in 2022-23, leaving a lot to be desired from Todd Golden’s first season as head coach. The Gators hovered just over the .500 mark for most of the second half of the campaign, with the loss of star center Colin Castleton all but assuring a disappointing finish.
To add insult to injury, the Orange and Blue were bumped by the Central Florida Knights in the National Invitation Tournament back in March — the same school that also beat the football team in the Gasparilla Bowl the year prior.
In the opening salvos of ESPN writer Joe Lunardi’s bracketology updates following the end of March Madness, things were looking buoyant at best for Florida, landing a No. 8 seed in the first update before falling a spot to the No. 9 seed in the last submission — both of which were set in the Midwest bracket based in Detroit, Michigan. However, the third time is not the charm for the Gators as Lunardi now has them on the outside looking in.
The May 9 update of ESPN’s bracketology now has Florida first among the last four byes, ahead of the Virginia Cavaliers, Indiana Hoosiers and Memphis Tigers.
The Southeastern Conference is represented by seven schools in the bracketology, behind the Big 12 and Big Ten’s eight schools in the tournament. The Big East has six entries among the field of 68, both the ACC and Pac-12 have five teams, and the American, Southwest and WCC all have two.
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