NCAAB Tournament Game Preview: #10 Florida vs. #7 Nevada

Florida Gators (19-15) vs. Nevada Wolf Pack (29-4)

Game time: Thursday, March 21, 6:50 p.m. ET Location: Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, Iowa Where to watch: TNT Spread: Nevada -2

Seventh-seeded Nevada and tenth-seeded Florida both return for their third-straight year in the NCAA tournament. As a No. 7 seed last year, Nevada reached the Sweet Sixteen, the farthest the school has ever advanced in the Big Dance.

Florida, on the other hand, comes into the tournament matching its lowest seeding in school history. The Gators have been a No. 10 seed in two other tournament appearances; they lost in the first round both times.

Florida owns a far worse record than Nevada with 15 losses compared to the Wolf Pack’s four. But the Gators’ strength of schedule is superior. The Southeastern Conference squad faced the 22nd most difficult schedule in the nation. Nevada’s schedule ranked 111th, and its conference foes in the Mountain West pale in comparison to those in the mighty SEC.

The Wolf Pack won 24 of their first 25 games to begin the season but lost three of their last eight at the close. Florida lost its last three regular-season games to Georgia, LSU and Kentucky before making a surprise run in the SEC tournament. The Gators knocked off LSU 76-73 in the quarterfinal, then fell to SEC tournament champ Auburn by just 3 points in the semifinal.

The Gators only average 68.3 points per game, but they’re allowing just 63.6 points on defense (21^st in the nation) and force an average of 14.8 turnovers. Florida has also won at least one NCAA tournament game in its last six appearances.

Michael White’s team is 4-0 ATS in its last four games overall and 5-0 ATS in its last five neutral-site games. On the contrary, the Wolf Pack are 1-7 ATS in their last eight games overall and 1-5 ATS in their last six games versus a team with a winning straight-up record.

The Play

The Gators upset an experienced Nevada team and move on to play the winner of No. 2 Michigan and No. 15 Montana.

WILLIAMSON: West Region Featured Game – #7 Nevada vs. #10 Florida

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