Florida’s ceiling is elite, so why is the floor so low?

Coming off a series win at Georgia, it is clear Florida has the ceiling to go as deep as anyone in the country. The starting rotation, when locked in, can be one of the best in the country, and Florida’s bats can explode at a moment’s notice, break any game wide open.

But then nights like Tuesday night against Bethune-Cookman happen, and it’s part of a growing pattern for the Gators that also makes their floor come tournament time among the lowest in the country.

Florida drops midweek game against Bethune-Cookman

The Wildcats came to Gainesville with a 25-11 record, so it’s not like Bethune-Cookman is the Bad News Bears. The caveat to the record is that their strength of schedule is 288th, so it’s not exactly like the Wildcats are a mid-major juggernaut ready to roll through the NCAA Tournament.

But one wouldn’t have known it on Tuesday as Bethune-Cookman stood toe to toe with Florida through the first six innings and punished virtually every mistake the Gators made. It looked like though that Florida’s depth in a midweek game was finally going to pull away after a three-run bottom of the 6th made it 5-5 heading into the 7th.

Yet that’s where the wheels fell off, and Florida’s floor continued to loom.

Florida walked a guy, gave up a single, then threw a bunt attempt away to allow a run to score. The inning then featured a hit by pitch, two wild pitches, and another error as Florida gave up seven runs in the inning to doom them.

Throw in the six through nine batters going a combined 3-17, and there is a reason why Florida struggled to cash in on early opportunities and left 11 runners on base.

The adage is that midweek games aren’t really indicative of a team’s true potential, and there is some truth to that. Had this game been best-on-best, Florida would have had guys like Joshua Whritenour, Jackson Barberi (when healthy), and Ernesto Lugo-Canchola to close out the game.

But the reason why games like this cause concern is that once regional play starts, Florida either needs to go 3-0 on the weekend of Regionals or it is going to need the very same guys who blew it on Tuesday to step up and save the season out of the loser’s bracket. 

Florida has more Quad One wins than anyone in the country. That’s why their ceiling is so high once the tournament begins.

Tuesday’s loss also marks their 5th Quad Three or Four loss on the season. That’s the most of anyone in the Top 25 in RPI.

And when tournament play begins, Florida will have to open against a team like Bethune-Cookman and has to prove it can win a game like that.

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