logo
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.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Christian McCaffrey: "I feel great" after injury-riddled 2024 season
Christian McCaffrey: "I feel great" after injury-riddled 2024 season

NBC Sports

time22 minutes ago

  • NBC Sports

Christian McCaffrey: "I feel great" after injury-riddled 2024 season

After struggling through multiple injuries in 2024, running back Christian McCaffrey is healthy as the 49ers complete their offseason program this week. A day after head coach Kyle Shanahan called him 'a psycho in a good way,' McCaffrey told reporters that he's feeling great entering the summer break. 'I think this offseason I spent a lot of time kind of building back a base starting from scratch, so a lot of it was rehab,' McCaffrey said, via Nick Wagoner of ESPN, 'and [I] wanted to put myself in a position where I didn't miss a day of OTAs and I could practice and play football again, be healthy and not miss a day, and I did that.' In just four games last season, McCaffrey rushed for 202 yards and caught 15 passes for 146 yards. When he won AP offensive player of the year in 2023, McCaffrey led the league with 1,459 yards rushing, 339 touches, 2,023 yards from scrimmage, and 23 total touchdowns.

With no players left from last season's team photo, Baylor begins summer practice with new roster
With no players left from last season's team photo, Baylor begins summer practice with new roster

NBC Sports

time31 minutes ago

  • NBC Sports

With no players left from last season's team photo, Baylor begins summer practice with new roster

WACO, Texas — Baylor coach Scott Drew had plenty of players for the first practice of the summer Wednesday, about two months after the team photo from last season was widely circulated on social media with an X marked over all 14 of those players since none was returning to the Bears. Only four of those players exhausted their college eligibility. Nine others left in the transfer portal and one-and-done guard VJ Edgecombe could become Baylor's highest pick ever in the NBA draft later this month. 'Guys you didn't want to lose and were valuable, we haven't had many that we've lost. Whenever you do, that just tears at a coach, because you feel like you didn't do your job,' Drew said this week. 'With the portal, I think we've all gotten used to a lot more turnover in a hurry, and not to take things necessarily personal.' The Bears rebuilt their roster with eight transfers and a four-player signing class with a five-star prospect and the son of a NBA champion. Among the 14 players at the first practice was Cameron Carr, the former Tennessee guard who transferred to Baylor in the middle of last season long after that team photo session. One of the former Bears was guard Robert Wright, who averaged 11.5 points and 4.2 assists a game as a freshman last season and had reportedly agreed to a lucrative NIL deal to stay before transferring to BYU for an even bigger package. 'You know people are going to leave. Rob, obviously, was someone we had an agreement with. When you make an agreement, you think you're done,' Drew said, without getting into any specifics. 'Obviously that was a surprise to us, but again, the staff did a great job of putting together a roster and team. That's part of, hopefully, the House settlement, where you get to a point where you know who's on your team and when they're locked in, they're locked in.' The eight incoming transfers have more than 500 of games played combined, including guards Dan Skillings, who played 100 games over three years for Cincinnati, and JJ White, who started 75 of 99 games at Omaha over the same period. Juslin Bodo Bodo is a 7-foot post from Cameroon, started all 71 of his games for NCAA Tournament team High Point the past two seasons. Obi Agbim, a 6-3 guard, was the Mountain West newcomer of the year after averaging 17.6 points and 3.4 assists in 29 games last season for Wyoming. Five-star prospect Tounde Yessoufou, a small forward from St. Joseph High School in California, leads the signing class that also includes Andre Iguodala II, whose father was a four-time champion over 19 NBA seasons with four teams; Italian forward Maikcol Perez and big man May Soyoye. Baylor, Gonzaga and Houston are the only teams to win at least one game in each of the past six NCAA Tournaments, though the Bears have lost in the second round the past four years since their national championship in 2021. Drew and his staff will get an early look at the new squad with Baylor representing the United States at the World University Games next month in Germany. 'Any year you get a foreign tour, it's huge. ... Since we're returning 0.0 (percent of our) scoring, this give us all an opportunity,' Drew said. 'The games will be good for those that can play in it. But the practices will be great for everyone. And then, the one thing everybody leaves out is you do these team-bonding activities. There's nothing better than being overseas, that really brings you together a lot more than when you have all the distractions you do in the United States.'

With no players left from last season's team photo, Baylor begins summer practice with new roster
With no players left from last season's team photo, Baylor begins summer practice with new roster

Hamilton Spectator

time43 minutes ago

  • Hamilton Spectator

With no players left from last season's team photo, Baylor begins summer practice with new roster

WACO, Texas (AP) — Baylor coach Scott Drew had plenty of players for the first practice of the summer Wednesday, about two months after the team photo from last season was widely circulated on social media with an X marked over all 14 of those players since none was returning to the Bears. Only four of those players exhausted their college eligibility. Nine others left in the transfer portal and one-and-done guard VJ Edgecombe could become Baylor's highest pick ever in the NBA draft later this month. 'Guys you didn't want to lose and were valuable, we haven't had many that we've lost. Whenever you do, that just tears at a coach, because you feel like you didn't do your job,' Drew said this week. 'With the portal, I think we've all gotten used to a lot more turnover in a hurry, and not to take things necessarily personal.' The Bears rebuilt their roster with eight transfers and a four-player signing class with a five-star prospect and the son of a NBA champion. Among the 14 players at the first practice was Cameron Carr, the former Tennessee guard who transferred to Baylor in the middle of last season long after that team photo session. One of the former Bears was guard Robert Wright, who averaged 11.5 points and 4.2 assists a game as a freshman last season and had reportedly agreed to a lucrative NIL deal to stay before transferring to BYU for an even bigger package. 'You know people are going to leave. Rob, obviously, was someone we had an agreement with. When you make an agreement, you think you're done,' Drew said, without getting into any specifics. 'Obviously that was a surprise to us, but again, the staff did a great job of putting together a roster and team. That's part of, hopefully, the House settlement , where you get to a point where you know who's on your team and when they're locked in, they're locked in.' The eight incoming transfers have more than 500 of games played combined, including guards Dan Skillings, who played 100 games over three years for Cincinnati, and JJ White, who started 75 of 99 games at Omaha over the same period. Juslin Bodo Bodo is a 7-foot post from Cameroon, started all 71 of his games for NCAA Tournament team High Point the past two seasons. Obi Agbim, a 6-3 guard, was the Mountain West newcomer of the year after averaging 17.6 points and 3.4 assists in 29 games last season for Wyoming. Five-star prospect Tounde Yessoufou, a small forward from St. Joseph High School in California, leads the signing class that also includes Andre Iguodala II, whose father was a four-time champion over 19 NBA seasons with four teams; Italian forward Maikcol Perez and big man May Soyoye. Baylor, Gonzaga and Houston are the only teams to win at least one game in each of the past six NCAA Tournaments, though the Bears have lost in the second round the past four years since their national championship in 2021. Drew and his staff will get an early look at the new squad with Baylor representing the United States at the World University Games next month in Germany. 'Any year you get a foreign tour, it's huge. ... Since we're returning 0.0 (percent of our) scoring, this give us all an opportunity,' Drew said. 'The games will be good for those that can play in it. But the practices will be great for everyone. And then, the one thing everybody leaves out is you do these team-bonding activities. There's nothing better than being overseas, that really brings you together a lot more than when you have all the distractions you do in the United States.' ___ AP college basketball:

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store