Florida's Next Hurdles in NCAA Tournament

Tonight in the NCAA Tournament the University of Florida men's basketball team will attempt to match their level of advancement for the past few years when they try to get back into the "Elite Eight".  Last year they performed well in the tournament until they got completely clobbered by Michigan as they tried to get into the Final Four.  This year, they will first have to get by UCLA tonight and then on Saturday beat the winner of the game between Stanford and Dayton, two low-seeded bracket-busting surprises.  The Gators were fortunate in that those two teams were able to upset more formidable opponents like Kansas, Syracuse, and Ohio State on the way to their showdown against each other tonight to determine "Cinderella 2014" (last year's big Cinderella team was Florida Gulf Coast...whom Florida finally knocked out of the tourney after falling behind early in their game).  Florida should win both games against UCLA (which begins late tonight at 9:45) and the Stanford-Dayton winner.  It will be the Final Four lineup that could present the Gators with some real problems...including a possible rematch with Michigan.  But the favorites to join UF in the Final Four are defending champion Louisville, ACC regular season and tournament champion Virginia, and Wisconsin...which beat Florida earlier in the season.  As a matter of fact, my own bracket is still in play, but only starting with that possible Final Four lineup. I had Florida then going on to beat Virginia, Louisville beating Wisconsin, and the Gators winning the championship game, 66-62.  But who knows what will really happen...

Besides the men's team, the University of Florida women's basketball team merits praise for getting into the NCAA championship tournament and winning their first game against Dayton with a spunky come-from-behind performance in spite of their low #11 seeding in their region.  Unfortunately, Penn State beat them handily in the next game.  Still, congratulations to head coach Amanda Butler and her team for making it this far...