Florida’s road to the Final Four appears to have gotten easier on paper with the upset of the no.1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, Villanova, but it might not be as easy as they think.
Who: 4-seed Florida vs. 8-seed Wisconsin
When: Friday, March 24 at (approximately) 9:59 EST on TBS
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
The Gators are taking on a Wisconsin team that’s been here before. This the Badgers’ fourth straight Sweet 16 appearance, and their sixth Sweet 16 appearance in the last 7 years.
Florida’s basketball program has been here plenty of times in recent years, but this year’s team has not. To paraphrase Rick Pitino’s rant when he coached the Boston Celtics, Al Horford and Joakim Noah are not walking through that door.
The Gators made four straight Elite 8 appearances from 2011 to 2014 and made it to the Final Four in 2014. The only player remaining from that Final Four squad is Kasey Hill. Hill was a second team All-SEC selection this season and was also named to the All-Defensive team. He was the Gators fourth leading scorer at 9.7 points per game, while also averaging 4.5 assists and 1.7 steals.
And not only do the Gators not have experience on their team, this is also head coach Mike White’s first trip to the NCAA Tournament as a head coach.
Must Read: Mike White in the NCAA Tournament for the first time... As a coach
Florida’s leading scorer, KeVaugn Allen, was the Gators’ only first team All-SEC selection. And Canyon Berry was named the SEC’s sixth man of the year after averaging 11.8 points and shooting 88 percent from the free throw line.
The Gators are 36th in the nation in steals with 7.6 per game and 37th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 65.7 points per game.
The winner of this game will face the winner of 3-seed Baylor and 7-seed South Carolina.
What you need to know about Wisconsin
Wisconsin is an example of a team that’s all substance, no flash.
They play solid defense and take care of the basketball. They have the 11th ranked scoring defense in the country, allowing 61.8 points per game. And they rank 26th in the nation in turnovers, turning the ball over just 11 times per game.
The Badgers are tied with Gonzaga with the fourth longest active NCAA Tournament streak, making it to the Big Dance 19 consecutive seasons, dating back to 1999.
This year’s team comes in with a 27-9 record and has plenty of experience.
The Badgers started the same lineup in 34 of their 36 games this season, including four seniors that have been apart of all four of their consecutive Sweet 16 appearances and two final four appearances.
The lone non-senior starter is sophomore Ethan Happ. Happ was a first team All-Big Ten selection after averaging 13.8 points, 9.1 rebounds, 1.8 steals, 1.2 blocks, and shot 58 percent from the field.
Bronson Koenig is Wisconsin’s leading scorer at 14.5 points per game and was a second team All-Big Ten selection.
But the guy who is the glue that keeps everything together is Nigel Hayes. Hayes does everything for the Badgers. After leading them in scoring last season, Hayes averaged 13.8 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 2.7 assists this season.
Florida is going to have to overcome the lack of experience on the court and on the sideline if they’re going to keep this run going.