The Florida basketball team returns to the collegiate parquet on Friday night to host the Southern Illinois Salukis for its sixth game of the 2024-25 campaign. So far, the Gators own a perfect 5-0 record with every coming in double-digits.
Using the Basketball Power Index, ESPN predicts another dominant victory for the Orange and Blue, giving Florida 94.2% odds to beat Southern Illinois with a 17.5 predicted point differential. ESPN also gives the matchup a quality rating of 57.7, putting it among the upper third of Friday night’s hoops schedule.
“BPI is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of performance going forward,” the site reads. “BPI represents how many points above or below average a team is… Game predictions account for opponent strength, pace of play, site, travel distance, day’s rest and altitude, and are used to simulate the season 10,000 times to produce season projections.”
ESPN BPI Season Projections
The Gators are currently ranked 32nd on the Basketball Power Index with a 12.8 index, while the Salukis are 159th with a -0.4 BPI. SIU is better defensively than offensively — but both are very middle-of-the-pack — while Florida features a top-25 offense (8.1, 22nd).
ESPN projects Florida to finish the season with a 19.1-10.9 overall record and an 8.7-9.3 record in conference play based on results to date and BPI-based projections for remaining scheduled games. The Gators only have 0.8% odds to win the conference, down from 1.3% a week ago.
Todd Golden’s gang faces the 26th-toughest schedule moving forward with two weak non-conference opponents out of the way.
How to watch Florida-Southern Illinois
The Gators and Salukis tip off at 7 p.m. ET inside the O’Dome on Friday night. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network and can be heard on the Gators Sports Network.
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