Florida basketball appears well on its way to its second straight NCAA Tournament appearance under third-year coach Todd Golden.
After rolling through non-conference play unbeaten, the No. 8 Florida Gators (14-1, 1-1 SEC) suffered a 106-100 loss to No. 7 Kentucky in its SEC opener at Rupp Arena. But UF rebounded with a historic win in its SEC home opener, routing No. 1 Tennessee 73-43 for just its first regular-season win against a No. 1 team in program history.
Florida will look to carry that momentum back on the road when they play Saturday at Arkansas (4 p.m., ESPN) in Fayetteville, Ark.
"I'm incredibly proud, but now our biggest thing is this can't be the highlight of our season," Florida basketball coach Todd Golden said. "It's awesome in the moment … but it certainly won't feel as good if we don't go and find a way to win in Fayetteville on Saturday."
Here's a look at UF's NCAA Tournament resume in the first full week of January:
How Florida basketball fared this week:
No. 8 Florida 73, No. 1 Tennessee 43: The Gators picked up a huge statement win, beating a No. 1 team for just the third time in school history and first time in the regular season. UF's 30-point margin of victory was the most lopsided against a No. 1 opponent since UCLA beat No. 1 Houston 101-69 in the 1968 Final Four.
Florida basketball's NET ranking
Though games of Jan. 8.
-
NET Ranking: No. 5 (No. 3 SEC)
-
Quad 1 record: 3-1
-
Quad 2 record: 2-0
-
Quad 3 record: 3-0
-
Quad 4 record: 6-0
-
Florida basketball's KenPom ranking
Though games of Jan. 8
Net Rating: +29.86 (No. 5)Offensive efficiency: 124.2 (No. 4)Defensive efficiency: 94.4 (No. 16)
Here's where Florida sits in other metric rankings:
BPI: No. 13
Bart Torvik: No. 6
Evan Miya: No. 6
Florida basketball's Bracketology projections
-
ESPN (as of Jan. 7): No. 2 seed, South Region (Atlanta)
-
First-round matchup: 15-seed Akron
-
-
CBS Sports (as of Jan. 6): No. 5 seed, East Region (Newark, N.J.)
-
First-round matchup: 12-seed Lipscomb
-
Next up for Florida basketball
-
Matchup: No. 8 Florida (13-1, 1-0 SEC) at Arkansas (11-4, 0-2 SEC).
-
Tipoff: 4 p.m. EST Saturday; Bud Walton Arena, Fayetteville, Ark.
-
TV/Radio: ESPN; WRUF AM 850, FM 98,1 Gainesville and state-wide on the Gator Radio Network.
Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun's Florida beat writer. Contact him at kbrockway@gannett.com. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida basketball NCAA Tournament resume for March Madness
