The Florida basketball program has come a long way since its early 2024 struggles, now having won seven of the past eight games — and three in a row — and entering the Associated Press Poll’s top 25 for the first time since Todd Golden took over.
The success over the past month has catapulted the Gators from standing on the outside looking in on the NCAA Tournament to being right in the thick of things with less than a month to go before Selection Sunday. While the Orange and Blue did not gain any ground in USA TODAY Sports’ bracketology since the last update, things are still trending well in Gainesville.
Following the road win over the Georgia Bulldogs, USAT still has Florida as a No. 9 seed but has moved it over from the West Region to the East Region. The Gators are now grouped with the No. 8 Brigham Young Cougars — who represent their opening opponent — along with the No. 1 UConn Huskies and No. 16 Eastern Kentucky Colonels in Brooklyn, New York.
The Southeastern Conference is represented by the second-seeded Tennessee Volunteers, Alabama Crimson Tide (No. 3), Auburn Tigers (No. 5), Kentucky Wildcats (No. 5), South Carolina Gamecocks (No. 7), Texas A&M Aggies (No. 9), Mississippi State Bulldogs (No. 10) and Ole Miss Rebels (No. 12). Ole Miss is also among the last four in the tournament.
Florida travels to Tuscaloosa for its next matchup on Wednesday, Feb. 21, against Alabama. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
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