Gators Will Take A Bite Out Of South Carolina

Florida vs. South Carolina, 12:00 ET

Does it even matter? Seriously, do the rankings even matter in college basketball? The idea that we sit there and list the teams and keep them fluctuating throughout the season based on wins and losses is fine, we need something to see which teams are better (in theory) than other teams. However, in reality, it feels like every team in Division 1 has been ranked at some point in the season. That should make for an exciting NCAA Tournament as it means there should be more parity between the teams. This afternoon, we get two teams that are in and out of the rankings this season with Florida and South Carolina. 

Florida comes in as the 24th team in the country, with a record of 20-8 and sitting in fourth place within the SEC. They've had an interesting season, so let's take a minute to recap their losses. Against Virginia, they lost on a neutral court in the second game of the season, but it was a really good matchup as they lost the game 73-70. They then fell to Baylor, again on a neutral court, 95-91. The very next game they lost to Wake Forest on the road and dropped that game by 11 points. At that point in the season they put their record at 4-3. After running off six straight wins against inferior opponents, they dropped back-to-back games, one at home against Kentucky, and one on the road to Ole Miss. The Kentucky game was a good one, losing by just two points. Since that point, they have fallen to Tennessee, a loss of 19 points, falling to Texas A&M, a one-point loss, and then dropping a game against Alabama in overtime, 98-93. These were all road games. This hasn't been the toughest schedule in college basketball, but it has been a challenging one nonetheless. Florida is bolstered by their guards. They have very athletic guards that can shoot rather well and find ways to stay involved in the game even if it isn't falling. The team collectively does a good job of getting after the rebounds which keeps opponents to just one possession and extends the Gators possessions. 

South Carolina has had a similar schedule to that of Florida. The Gamecocks are currently sitting as the 18th-ranked team in the country and sport a 23-5 record with four of the losses coming within the conference. Their first loss of the season was at Clemson, one where they dropped the game by five points. After that, they ran six straight wins against mostly garbage opponents. They went to Alabama and lost by almost 30 points in that game. They barely escaped Missouri with a win before coming home and dropping a game to Georgia. The Bulldogs took home a 74-69 win and it must have awoken the Gamecocks because they put seven straight wins together including games over Kentucky and Tennessee. They then dropped back-to-back games, the first was on the road against Auburn, a 40-point embarrassment. Then they dropped the next game, a home game, to LSU. They have been lucky to win their past two games, the Ole Miss one was a bit easier, but the Texas A&M game saw them win by just two on the road. Now they get to come home and face a hungry Florida team. South Carolina doesn't have the same scoring or rebounding Florida does, but they find ways to keep the whole team involved, and their defense helps to make the team effective. 

Most of the time you can just take the home team, especially if they are the better team in these games. I personally like the Gators a bit in this because of their style of play and the involvement from the whole team. Even when South Carolina wins games, it seems like they are not winning by much. In this one, I'll take the Gators to come in and at least keep it close, if not win the game outright. Grab the points with Florida. 

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