The bracket has been presented and we know where the Gators lay.
They were given the #7 seed, a pleasantly surprising outcome considering most prognosticators had them as a 8, 9, or 10 seed. Given the resumes of the teams that Florida beat, it’s clear the committee gave the Gators some benefit for missing their best player, and they stay out of the dreaded 8-9 game.
Their opponent–the #10 seed Virginia Tech.
The Hokies have had a steady, reliable season that doesn’t feature bad losses or huge wins. They beat a full strength Villanova team and Virginia in conference play that stands as their best wins, with their worst loss coming to Pittsburgh. Head coach Mike Young is one of the best basketball minds in the country who has gotten the most out of his players and play an efficient, low turnover, responsible rebounding style of basketball.
Their best player is Keve Aluma, a 6’9, 235 forward who is one of the best stories in college basketball. He first committed to Mike Young when he was coaching at Wofford, and while there he was barely able to see the floor as a freshman and then was a role player as a sophomore. Nobody would have projected him to be a high-major caliber player, but when Young took the job at Virginia Tech he needed size and took Aluma with him. For whatever reason, things totally clicked at Virginia Tech and he has become a fantastic player who can both get it done inside or stretch it out to the perimeter where he is a 35% three-point shooter.
Other than Aluma, the Hokies are a balanced team that spreads their offense throughout their top seven players and don’t have any one particular player on the perimeter that can dominate, but several players that play well within a system and can use the sum of their talents to beat you. Coach Young runs fantastic offense that features off ball screening and cutting, and he never gets out-scouted. You better believe he’ll know Florida’s offense and defense intimately, and know what to do to attack it.
If Florida were to win their opening game it’s likely they’d see the #2 seed Ohio State. The Buckeyes are undersized in the frontcourt and ended their season with four straight losses before going on a run in the Big Ten Tournament, and they are definitely a team that the Gators match up with fairly well.
Generally speaking, this is a favorable bracket for the Gators. They stay out of the 8-9 game that many expected them to be in, and they also see arguably the weakest #2 seed who they would also match up with well in Ohio State. Of course, winning the opening game is going to be a challenge and they don’t want to get ahead of themselves, but they’ve got to feel somewhat satisfied about where they landed.
At the current moment dates and times for games have yet to be decided, so we don’t know when the Florida-Virginia Tech game will take place. They simply released the bracket, and the schedule will likely come on Monday so you know when to see the Gators play.
Where do they play?