Florida’s first weekend of March Madness is now bracketed out. The Gators are going to open on Friday against the winner of Prairie View A&M and Lehigh, and barring an all-time upset, they are going to face the winner of Iowa and Clemson.
But no matter who the Gators face over the weekend in Tampa, all four potential opponents have one glaring weakness that Florida should be able to exploit to cruise on to the Sweet 16 in Houston.
Florida is a matchup nightmare for everyone in the first two rounds
It’s no secret that Florida is an elite rebounding team. All season long, anyone who hasn’t been able to match the size of the Gators has been eviserated in a heartbeat.
The good news for the Gators is that all four teams Florida could face in Tampa are atrocious rebounding teams:
- Prairie View A&M - 345th in defensive rebounding and 206th in offensive rebounding
- Lehigh - 290th in defensive rebounding and 349th in offensive rebounding
- Clemson - 23rd in defensive rebouding and 244th in offensive rebouding
- Iowa - 87th in defensive rebouding and 191st in offensive rebounding
In case one needs a reminder, Florida is in the top ten in both categories.
So Clemson is the one team that could possibly slow Florida down on the glass, but they are such a poor shooting team and don’t actually defend the paint that well that Florida should still feel solid. Iowa’s calling card will be creating turnovers, and while they are a much more efficient team shooting the ball than Clemson, they are far worse at defending the paint.
Whoever shows up in front of Florida, the Gators have next to no excuses to not make it out of Tampa and get on a plane that heads to Houston for the Sweet 16 and beyond.