Clouds Parting for Gators in NCAA Tournament

In the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship Tournament this 2014 season, some teams have had pretty daunting matchups early on...I'm thinking of Wichita State having to face Kentucky in just their second game as a prime example.  But the South Region's #1 seed Florida has had a remarkable run with lower seeded opponents.  In their first game they couldn't have had it any better, facing 16th seed Albany.  In their second tourney game they got to play 9th seed Pittsburgh, which had easily handled 8th seed Colorado.  Then they played 4th seed UCLA, the only opponent that didn't upset a higher seed, to get into the Elite Eight.  Yesterday they got to play 11th seed Dayton, which had previously done Florida a double favor by beating both 6th seed Ohio State and 3rd seed Syracuse.  And what became of 2nd seed Kansas, which would have been a formidable opponent to the Gators?  They were handled by 10th seed Stanford, whom Dayton subsequently defeated.  But wait, it's not over...

In the semi-final game in the Final Four, Florida will face the East Region champion.  They will end up facing not top seed Virginia, not 2nd seed Villanova, not 3rd seed Iowa State, not 4th seed Michigan State, not 5th seed Cincinnati, or even 6th seed North Carolina.  No, the upcoming game for them will be against 7th seed Connecticut.  Unbelievable.

Yes, the clouds are truly parting for Florida in this tournament.  But the Gators made it to the Final Four and are in a good position because they were prepared to take advantage of their good fortune and took care of each opponent, closing out each game as it came...