The latest monthly bracketology update from ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has Florida staying put as a projected 9-seed in the East (Newark) Region.
Lunardi has remained firm that Todd Golden has an NCAA Tournament-caliber team in Gainesville, but he’s wavered a bit on how strong that team truly is.
Florida was a No. 6 seed in Lunardi’s way-too-early bracket and held on to that projection through the first update. He dropped the Gators to a No. 7 seed in the mid-May update and again to a No. 9 seed before June.
After moving up to an 8-seed in the June update, Florida fell back down to the 9-seed to close out July.
Lunardi has Florida facing No. 8 Michigan in the first round, although it’s exceedingly unlikely that the matchup will come to fruition. Bracketology projections should be used as rough guides rather than taken as fact.
Golden has transformed the program in just a few short years to where the national expectation is a March Madness run. Gator Nation would like a deeper run this year, but it’s hard to deny the progress made over two seasons.
Where does the rest of the SEC stand?
The Southeastern Conference boasts 10 projected playoff teams and is tied with the Big Ten for the most. The Big 12 is close to that mark with nine followed by the ACC and Big East with six apiece.
Alabama leads the way as the projected No. 1 seed in the South (Atlanta) Region, but Auburn is a threat to overtake its in-state rival as a No. 2 in the Midwest (Indianapolis) Region.
should immediately establish itself as a conference power on the hardwood. Lunardi has SEC-newcomer Texas as a No. 4 seed in the West (San Francisco) and the Tennessee Volunteers also claim a 4-seed, in the Midwest Region.
Arkansas and Texas A&M are No. 5 seeds in the East and South, respectively, while Kentucky and Mississippi State are the No. 6 seeds in those regions. Ole Miss is the No. 9 seed in the Midwest, rounding out the projected Field of 64 teams in the conference.
Lunardi also included [anyclip-media thumbnail=”undefined” playlistId=”undefined” content=”dW5kZWZpbmVk”][/anyclip-media] in his Next Four Out.
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