The college basketball season is still 74 days away from tipping off, but CBS Sports is already looking ahead to the NCAA Tournament field in March. According to Jerry Palm’s latest bracketology update, the Gators are projected to finish the regular season as a 10-seed in the Midwest Region.
That draw puts them up against No. 7 seed Virginia with a likely matchup against Kansas in the second round. Of course, Florida has yet to play a game under Todd Golden. Last year’s club didn’t even make the Tournament, but the addition of several transfers and a new game plan should help the team bounce back under a new head coach.
Conference play will be tough. The SEC has grown into a formidable power in the college basketball world, and Palm projects several teams in the conference to claim high seeds in March. He has Kentucky finishing as the top seed in the South, and Arkansas and Tennessee are both expected to finish as No. 3 seeds. Auburn is a 5-seed, Texas A&M is a 6-seed and Alabama is a 7-seed to round out the group.
Gonzaga, Houston and North Carolina are the other preseason No. 1 seeds, but these lists change drastically throughout the year. However, they are usually a good measure of how teams are expected to perform, and finishing as a 10-seed is a lot better than missing the tournament entirely, as Florida did last year.
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