Gators slide several spots in Basketball Power Index standings
What appeared to be an easy win for Florida basketball on Tuesday night turned into a last-second nailbiter, but the Gators still managed to prevail over the LSU Tigers at home, 82-80.
In ESPN’s latest Basketball Power Index update following the victory, the Orange and Blue fell five spots since our previous update, now sitting at No. 27 overall; that nestles them between the No. 26 Villanova Wildcats and No. 28 Clemson Tigers.
It is worth noting that Todd Golden’s team did gain two spots directly following the victory, so the Gators do get some credit for the home win.
Florida’s BPI rating — a measurement of a team’s true strength moving forward — fell 0.2 points to 11.5. The offensive BPI increased 0.2 points to 8.2 and the defensive BPI moved up 0.1 points to 3.3.
The win-loss projection very slightly improved to 21.4-9.6, with an also very slightly boosted 11.4-6.6 prediction for the conference schedule. ESPN gives Florida a distant 1.6% chance to win the Southeastern Conference while the remaining strength of schedule ranks at No. 61.
Golden and the Gators next travel to Athens for a rematch with the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday, Feb. 17. Tipoff is slated for an early 1 p.m. start and the game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
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