Here’s where Florida stands in ESPN’s Basketball Power Index update
It has not been the season that most had hoped for from Mike White‘s squad so far, as Florida basketball took a tumultuous tumble after an encouraging 6-0 start in November. Since then, the Gators had difficulty closing out their non-conference schedule as well as opening up Southeastern Conference play, in which they lost their first three games for the first time in 40 years.
Florida managed to bounce back and earn an SEC win against the South Carolina Gamecocks last Saturday, but it was not nearly enough to receive a single vote in either major polls this week. Curiously, some analytics are a bit higher on UF than the humans, including ESPN’s Basketball Power Index, which ranks the Orange and Blue at No. 28 as of Monday — down five spots from our New Year’s Day update.
The Gators have only won that single game against the Gamecocks since our update, though the three losses came against top-25 teams at the time — including the current No. 2 Auburn Tigers. While the strength of its upcoming opponents lightens up a bit, Florida is about to embark on a brutal stretch of four games in eight days starting this Wednesday.
It’s do-or-die time for this team as it is running out of time to build a worthwhile NCAA Tournament resume. With a Quadrant 3 and 4 loss on its report card, the Gators will need every victory it can get from here on out.
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