Bracketology: Florida Gators basketball moves up to No. 13 in AP Top 25

Basketball

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Image Credit: ESPN Images

The Florida Gators returned to the AP Top 25 in late November after nearly two years out of the college basketball rankings, and now they are focused on the upcoming 2017 NCAA Tournament.

At 22-5 and riding an eight-game winning streak with an average margin of victory of 21.6 points, Florida has jumped to a season-best No. 13 in the rankings with 530 votes.

The Gators will face the Wildcats and South Carolina again before the month of February is out, giving them seven games against top 25 opponents entering March (currently 1-4).

AP Top 25

1. Gonzaga (59)
2. Villanova (5)
3. Kansas (1)
4. Arizona
5. UCLA
6. Oregon
7. Louisville
8. North Carolina
9. Baylor
10. Duke
11. Kentucky
12. West Virginia
13. Florida
14. Purdue
15. Cincinnati
16. Wisconsin
17. SMU
18. Virginia
19. Florida State
20. Saint Mary’s
21. Notre Dame
22. Butler
23. Creighton
24. Maryland
25. Wichita State

Style key: Red = loss, italics = team remaining on the schedule

Tournament resume

By Jake Sillick

RPI: 10th | Nonconference RPI: 8th
SOS: 20th | Nonconference SOS: 8th
vs. Top 25 RPI: 1-3 | vs. Top 50: 5-5 | vs. Top 100: 14-5
Major quality wins (1-25 RPI): vs. No. 9 Kentucky
Minor quality wins (26-50 RPI): at No. 34 Arkansas, vs. No. 45 Miami (FL), vs. No. 47 Seton Hall, vs. No. 50 Tennessee
Major bad losses (101+ RPI): None | Minor bad losses (51-100 RPI): None
Road record: 8-2 | Road + neutral-site record: 15-4

Major quality win opportunities: at No. 9 Kentucky (Feb. 25)
Minor quality win opportunities: vs. No. 30 South Carolina (Feb. 21), vs. No. 34 Arkansas (March 1)

Other computer rankings

KenPom: No. 5 (No. 26 offense, No. 4 defense)
Sagarin: No. 9 | ESPN BPI: No. 6

S-Curve (as of Feb. 20)

Team (Region) — First Round Site
1. Kansas (Midwest) — Tulsa
2. Villanova (East) — Buffalo
3. Gonzaga (West) — Salt Lake City
4. Baylor (South) — Tulsa
5. North Carolina (South) — Greenville
6. Louisville (Midwest) — Indianapolis
7. Oregon (West) — Sacramento
8. Arizona (East) — Salt Lake City
9. Florida State (South) — Orlando
10. Florida (East) — Orlando
11. Kentucky (Midwest) — Indianapolis
12. Duke (West) — Greenville
13. UCLA (West) — Sacramento
14. Virginia (East) — Buffalo
15. West Virginia (South) — Milwaukee
16. Butler (Midwest) — Milwaukee

Remaining a No. 3 seed or better will guarantee that the Gators play in Orlando for the first and second rounds. Being a No. 4 seed would make that more difficult but still likely because of few top teams that are close to Orlando.

Why are the Gators at No. 10?

+ Tough strength of schedule
+ Similar top 50 record to other No. 3 seeds
+ Quality win over Kentucky
+ Ranked high in metrics and computers
+ Eye test (win vs. Kentucky in front of major national audience)
+ Great road record
– Not enough of those major quality wins to warrant a No. 2 seed
– Losses to teams ahead of them in rankings (Gonzaga and Florida State)

Coaches Poll

1. Gonzaga (29)
2. Villanova (3)
3. Kansas
4. Arizona
5. UCLA
6. Louisville
7. Oregon
8. North Carolina
9. Baylor
10. Kentucky
11. Duke
12. Florida
13. West Virginia
14. Purdue
15. Wisconsin
16. Cincinnati
17. Notre Dame
18. Saint Mary’s
19. Virginia
20. Florida State
21. SMU
22. Butler
23. Creighton
24. Maryland
25. Wichita State