Florida basketball: Gators have another chance to boost resume this week
By Will Thomas
Florida basketball is coming off of a week with an electric win and a tough, frustrating loss. After beating Tennessee and getting themselves back in the mix for the NCAA Tournament, they fell on the road to Kentucky in what would’ve been another huge win in the Bracketology world.
But the Gators need to have a short memory and move on to this week of games, or else they’ll dig themselves into a deeper hole.
Florida’s next two games come on the road against Alabama, and at home against Vanderbilt. You can’t really find a bigger difference in the degree of difficulty in two games than these.
On Wednesday, the Gators have to visit one of the best offenses in the country. Bama ranks 9th in the country in points per game with 83.1. For reference, the Gators have scored 83 or better just four times this year.
This is a tough matchup for a team that’s looking to bounce back. The Tide are undefeated at home and have their eyes set on a championship. But we saw what the Gators were able to do against Tennessee, so maybe they’ll get up for another big game and give us a show.
Next Saturday, however, the challenge lightens up. Florida hosts 11-12 Vanderbilt in their first home game since the Tennessee win. The Dores pose a much smaller threat offensively, scoring just over 70 a game.
As of now, they’re 4-6 in the SEC and 1-4 on the road in conference play.
This is exactly the bounce-back spot the Gators could use after the Kentucky game, but they’ll have to wait a few more days for it instead.
The game against Vandy is much more of a trap game than anything else. If Florida finds a way to drop it, it will be hard to justify them belonging in the tournament with anything less than winning out the rest of the way.
No reason to think like that, though. We saw what the Gators do to inferior opponents at home against South Carolina, and they’re more than capable of doing it again.
Keep up with Florida basketball at Hail Florida Hail.