It’s going to take a lot more than a 30-point win over a bad UNF team, which ranks No. 328 in the NET, to get Florida’s season back on track after its disastrous 15-point home loss to Texas Southern on Monday night. But it’s a start, and with the 85-55 victory over the Ospreys, UF is slowly working its way back up the net, rising to No. 52 from No. 58 in the latest update.
Florida’s Quadrant 1 win over Ohio State in Fort Myers, which appears likely to stay that way for a while, is doing a lot of work for the team’s resume, especially as the win against the Seminoles looks less and less impressive each week. FSU is now 5-3 on the year and ranks No. 72 in the NET, meaning that victory is going to be considered a Quadrant 2 win, at least for a while.
However, the Gators are going to be weighed down heavily by the loss to the Tigers, which is considered a Quadrant 4 loss. However, TSU ranks No. 186 in the NET by virtue of its upset over Florida, and it would just take a rise into the top 160 for that loss to count as a Quadrant 3 slipup, instead, which would help Florida quite a bit.
There isn’t much left the team can do in conference play to rise in the rankings. It plays a Quadrant 3 game against a struggling Maryland team going through a coaching change in Brooklyn on Sunday followed by Quadrant 4 matchups in Sunrise against South Florida and at home against Stony Brook to close out non-conference play.
UF will have to wait until conference play, when it opens with three Quadrant 1 matchups in the first five games, to really start to rebuild its tournament resume. The Gators will certainly have the chance to do so, as they are currently projected to play seven Quadrant 1 games in SEC play.
The league is better than it’s ever been, and Florida will certainly have its work cut out for it in conference play. But all hope is not lost, and this can definitely still be a tournament team if it can win the games it should and a few it shouldn’t down the stretch.
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