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Florida basketball maintains top seeding in 3 major bracketologies ahead of LSU matchup

Florida basketball maintains top seeding in 3 major bracketologies ahead of LSU matchup

USA Today23-02-2025

Florida basketball maintains top seeding in 3 major bracketologies ahead of LSU matchup
Five games remain on the regular-season schedule for the Florida basketball program as Todd Golden and his team barrel their way toward the postseason. Now standing at 23-3 overall with 10 wins in 13 tries against other Southeastern Confernece schools, the Gators are ostensibly a lock for a high seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The Orange and Blue sit second in both the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll and AP Top 25 this week while the NET rankings and KenPom has them ranked fourth, and ESPN's Basketball Power Index at fifth as of Friday. Florida also remains a top seed in the West Region in all three bracketologies provided by USA TODAY Sports, ESPN and CBS Sports.
USA TODAY Sports bracketology
USA TODAY Sports writers Eddie Timanus, Erick Smith and Paul Myerberg once again contributed to this update and kept Florida at the No. 1 seed in the West. However, its opening-round opponent in Raleigh, North Carolina, has changed back to the Norfolk State Spartans, who reclaim the No. 16 seed in this bracketology.
The SEC maintained its 12 member school mentions this time around. Florida (West), the Auburn Tigers (South) and Alabama Crimson Tide (Midwest) remained in their respective top seeds while the Tennessee Volunteers moved from the East to the West as a No. 2 seed; the Texas A&M Aggies fell from a No. 2 to a No. 3 seed in the South.
ESPN bracketology
ESPN's bracketology guru Joe Lunardi also kept Florida as the top seed in the West for the third straight week. However, instead of facing Norfolk State like in the previous update, the Gators are now matched up with the No. 16-seeded Quinnipiac Bobcats in Raliegh.
The SEC lost one team from its total representation this time around to a dozen mentions, with the trio of Florida (West), Auburn (South) and Alabama (Midwest) standing pat in their top seeds. Similarly to the USA TODAY Sports bracket, Tennessee held onto its second seed in the East while TAMU fell from No. 2 in the West to a No. 3 seed in the same region.
CBS Sports bracketology
Finally, CBS Sports basketball expert Jerry Palm kept Florida (West), Auburn (South) and Alabama (Midwest) as No. 1 seeds in their respective regions while lining the Gators up with a new team in the No. 16 Bryant Bulldogs. In the previous update, they were matched up with the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils.
Palm once again has 13 SEC schools mentioned in his bracketology, and along with the usual suspects occupying three of the top four seeds, he also has both the Volunteers and Aggies as No. 2 seeds in the East and Midwest, respectively. That gives the conference five of the top eight overall seedings.
Next up for Florida
The Gators travel to Baton Rouge on Saturday, Feb. 22, to face the LSU Tigers. Gametime is slated for 6 p.m. ET and the action can be followed on the SEC Network.
Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

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Sublime Stanley Cup Final rolls on tonight. Plus: PWHL expansion draft anticipation
Sublime Stanley Cup Final rolls on tonight. Plus: PWHL expansion draft anticipation

New York Times

time41 minutes ago

  • New York Times

Sublime Stanley Cup Final rolls on tonight. Plus: PWHL expansion draft anticipation

Red Light newsletter 🏒 | This is The Athletic's hockey newsletter. Sign up here to receive Red Light directly in your inbox. Good morning to everyone except front offices that say 'as per team policy, terms were not disclosed' when they make transactions. It's game night, let's get into it. … you didn't miss any hockey. The weekend delivered our first three-day break of the Stanley Cup Final. We'll get another before Game 4, and again before Games 6 and 7 (if necessary). Weirdly, the only two-day break left on the schedule is between Games 4 and 5, which have travel in between. Edmonton is close to Sunrise, right? Advertisement The good news is that the extra night off gave everyone one more day to get rested and healthy for a crucial Game 3 … The series shifts to Florida, tied 1-1 after the Panthers' Friday night win. We've got a lot of moving parts here. In fact, let's break out the bullet points: Game 3 is tonight at 8 p.m. ET on TNT, truTV, Max and Sportsnet. I think it has been. 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MLB Could Limit Playoff Viewers With Apple TV+ Deal: Report
MLB Could Limit Playoff Viewers With Apple TV+ Deal: Report

Newsweek

timean hour ago

  • Newsweek

MLB Could Limit Playoff Viewers With Apple TV+ Deal: Report

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Major League Baseball is enjoying strong growth this year, though a major aspect of the near future is in doubt. After ESPN announced it would be ending its partnership with MLB three years early, questions about how commissioner Rob Manfred would make up that revenue going forward have risen. "Major League Baseball is off to its best start in years," according to Lucas Shaw and Hannah Miller of Bloomberg, who reported that ESPN, TBS and Fox are all enjoying double-digit viewership lifts this year, while game attendance hit a seven-year high in 2024. "And yet, the league is scrambling to find a buyer for a major TV package that includes 30 regular season games, the Home Run Derby, the Wild Card playoff round and up to 10 spring training games." Without ESPN, MLB is left to scramble for a new partner to broadcast some of its most popular events, particularly the wild card playoff round. And it might have found that new partner in a broadcaster whose reach is not nearly as wide as ESPN's. NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 11: Rob Manfred, Commissioner, Major League Baseball speaks onstage during the Growing the Game panel, at the Fortune Global Forum on November 11, 2024 in New York City. (Photo... NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 11: Rob Manfred, Commissioner, Major League Baseball speaks onstage during the Growing the Game panel, at the Fortune Global Forum on November 11, 2024 in New York City. (Photo byfor Fortune Media) More Countess/Getty "Major League Baseball is close to announcing a new TV deal for the package that ESPN opted out of from 2026-2028, and a source indicates that Apple TV+ is currently the highest bidder," per Boston Red Sox reporter Sean McAdam of MassLive. "Baseball is, like most sports, out to make a deal for the most revenue possible, but if MLB puts an entire round of its postseason on a streaming service with just 45 million subscribers, it deserves all the grief it's going to catch." MLB and Apple TV+ recently partnered on a "Friday Night Baseball" package that gives the streamer exclusive rights to high-profile matchups each week. Those broadcasts can frustrate fans of the involved teams as they require a subscription to watch. But as Manfred seeks a profitable replacement for ESPN, he seems likely to move the package to whichever partner makes the highest offer. Soon, that could mean some of baseball fans' favorite moments will require a new subscription. More MLB: Phillies 'Bench Bat' Becomes One of Team's Best Pitchers Amid Downward Skid

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