SB Nation Tampa Bay - NCAA 2011 Tournament Bracket: Florida Makes The Field; Marquee Teams Headed To Tampa This Weekendhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/49019/tb-fave.png2011-03-16T09:32:37-04:00http://tampabay.sbnation.com/rss/stream/18127272011-03-16T09:32:37-04:002011-03-16T09:32:37-04:00NCAA Tournament 2011, Florida Vs.UC Santa Barbara: A Look At The Competition
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<p>While we’ve talked about Florida at length these past few days – particularly, about how their <a href="http://tampabay.sbnation.com/florida-gators/2011/3/15/2051691/ncaa-tournament-2011-florida-gators-luckiest-team-history" target="new">seeding helps them an incredible amount</a> in these first few rounds – we’ve given little attention to Florida’s competition in this first round: the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/teams/uc-santa-barbara-gauchos">UC Santa Barbara Gauchos</a>.</p>
<p>The Gauchos made the <span class="caps">NCAA</span> Tournament on the basis of their victory in the Big West Tournament, because otherwise, they look like a less than impressive team. They’re ranked by KenPom.com as <a href="http://www.kenpom.com/" target="new">one of the weakest teams to make the tournament </a>this season, coming in at around the 126th strongest college team. According to the SB Nation blog on the Gators, <a href="http://www.alligatorarmy.com/" target="new">Alligator Army</a>, <span class="caps">UCSB</span> <a href="http://www.alligatorarmy.com/2011/3/16/2053334/who-is-uc-santa-barbara" target="new">doesn’t look like it will fare well </a>against the Gators:</p>
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<p>Overall, <span class="caps">UCSB</span> is 18-13 this season, but was 4-6 in their last ten regular season games. Their best win was against <span class="caps">UNLV</span> in December. The Gauchos only played two games against ranked teams, defeating <span class="caps">UNLV</span> and losing to San Diego State.</p>
<p>Statistically, they do not excel at many things. At the close of regular season play, <span class="caps">UCSB</span> was ranked in the top-25 of one category: they were 23rd in free-throw shooting (75.5 percent). Their leading scorer is 6-foot-5 junior Orlando Johnson. He averages 21.1 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. He is also UCSB’s leading rebounder. Johnson has scored in double digits in all but one of UCSB’s games and the one game that he did not score in double figures, the Gauchos won. In the three Big West tournament games, Johnson averaged 28.3 points per game. Junior <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/52691/james-nunnally">James Nunnally</a> is the second leading scorer with 16.4 points per game.</p>
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<p>As the Gators look to build up momentum after their loss in the <span class="caps">SEC</span> Championship on Sunday night, this match-up is just what they need. While the Gators need to play well, as any team can be a threat in the tournament, this is a perfect chance for them to collect themselves and rebuild their confidence at home.</p>
https://tampabay.sbnation.com/florida-gators/2011/3/16/2053900/ncaa-tournament-2011-florida-versus-uc-santa-barbara-a-look-at-theSteve Slowinski2011-03-15T08:24:17-04:002011-03-15T08:24:17-04:00Florida Gators One Of The 'Luckiest Teams In NCAA Tournament History'
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<p>Since the <span class="caps">NCAA</span> Tournament brackets were released on Sunday evening, there has been endless speculating by pundits, analysts, and fans on which teams got favorable seedings and which got robbed by the Selection Committee. Most fans seem to think their favorite team got robbed, and in some cases this is true: seedings can be unfavorable or favorable based on a team’s talent level, competition, and geography. Good teams will win more games, but good teams that are put in a favorable position to win games will do even better.</p>
<p>This is exactly the argument <a href="http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/14/talent-is-nice-but-luck-is-vital/#more-7131" target="new">statistician Nate Silver</a> is making with his yearly <span class="caps">NCAA</span> selections, claiming that certain teams got misplaced by the Selection Committee and therefore, have either favorable or unfavorable potential match-ups. And despite <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/03/14/2113757/florida-gators-no-2-seed-is-no.html" target="new">local articles</a> that suggest otherwise, by his rankings the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/teams/florida-gators">Florida Gators</a> received one of the, “luckiest draws in the history of the tournament: a combination of weak opponents, favorable geography and overseeding.”</p>
<p>In other words, not only did Florida get overseeded – ranked as a #2 team when their <a href="http://kenpom.com/" target="new">true talent suggests </a>they’re more like a #4 or #5 – but they also play a large portion of their games close to home and face a potentially weak batch of opponents. Even with this advantage, though, Silver’s work suggests that Florida will only go so far: at the moment they’re predicted to possibly advance to the Southeast Region Final but no further. They’re certainly a good team – and a lucky team at the moment – but that still doesn’t make them one of the strongest teams in the tournament.</p>
<p>At the moment, Florida has a 3.3% chance of winning the national championship. While that’s certainly not zero – anything can happen once The Dance begins – it’s going to take a lot more skill and luck for the Gators to get that far.</p>
https://tampabay.sbnation.com/florida-gators/2011/3/15/2051691/ncaa-tournament-2011-florida-gators-luckiest-team-historySteve Slowinski2011-03-14T10:17:02-04:002011-03-14T10:17:02-04:00NCAA Bracket Predictions 2011: Florida Gators To The Final Four?
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<p>The <span class="caps">NCAA</span> brackets haven’t even been out for a full day yet, but analysts are <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/2011/3/14/2049170/ncaa-bracket-2011-march-madness-predictions" target="new">already making their first wave of predictions</a>. With so many possible outcomes and so many variables in play, every analyst has a different opinion and trying to sort out all the noise can be a nightmare.</p>
<p>With that in mind, there seems to be one area that analysts are in near agreement on: that the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/teams/florida-gators">Florida Gators</a> got a <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/2011/3/14/2048855/march-madness-2011-ncaa-tournament-bracket" target="new">very favorable bracket placement </a>on Sunday. After losing to Kentucky in the <span class="caps">SEC</span> Tournament Championship Game on Sunday, the Gators still received a No. 2 seed while Kentucky received a No. 4 seed. This seeding means that the Gators will play its first two games in Tampa, which is a huge advantage as home teams gain <a href="http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/11/in-tournament-theres-no-place-like-close-to-home/" target="new">around a 2-3 point boost</a> over their competition.</p>
<p>Anything can happen once March Madness begins, but Florida appears to be one of the favorites in the Southeast Region. SB Nation’s expert Chris Dobbertean predicts the Gators will beat No. 5 Kansas State in the Regional Final, while the New York Times’ Nate Silver has designed statistical models that suggest the Gators will <a href="http://ncaabracket.nytimes.com/2011/bracket/men/fivethirtyeight-forecast" target="new">reach the Regional Final game but lose to Pittsburgh</a>.</p>
<p>The Gators did just suffer a hard loss to Kentucky, but their bracket placement should provide the team with a large boost going into the <span class="caps">NCAA</span> Tournament. Make sure to give them plenty of consideration when filling out your <a href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/564166/2011_ncaa_basketball_bracket.pdf" target="new">printable office bracket</a>.</p>
<p><em>For more coverage of the Gators, check out <a href="http://www.alligatorarmy.com/" target="new">Alligator Army</a>, SB Nation’s Florida blog.</em></p>
https://tampabay.sbnation.com/florida-gators/2011/3/14/2049758/ncaa-bracket-predictions-2011-florida-gators-to-the-final-fourSteve Slowinski2011-03-13T21:02:26-04:002011-03-13T21:02:26-04:00NCAA 2011 Tournament Bracket: Florida, FSU Make The Field; Marquee Teams Headed To Tampa This Weekend
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<p>On Sunday, the Selection Committee unveiled the 68 teams that will compete in the 2011 NCAA men's basketball tournament. Both the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/teams/florida-gators">Florida Gators</a> and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/teams/florida-st-seminoles">Florida State Seminoles</a> are in the field, and the committee also provided Tampa's St. Pete Times Forum with a dream of a subregional, filled with big-name programs and intriguing matchups.</p>
<p>The Gators (26-7) won the SEC East division title with a 13-3 record and reached the SEC Tournament final, so their spot in the bracket was secure. But to most people's surprise, Florida rose all the way up to a #2 seed in the Southeast Regional. They will be one of the eight teams playing in Tampa on Thursday, facing the 15th-seeded <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/teams/uc-santa-barbara-gauchos">UC Santa Barbara Gauchos</a>, who won the Big West's conference tournament and received an automatic bid to the NCAAs.</p>
<p><i>(To read more about the Gators, check out <a href="http://www.alligatorarmy.com" target="_blank">Alligator Army</a>, SB Nation's Florida blog.)</i></p>
<p>Florida State was also fairly safe heading into Selection Sunday. The Seminoles finished 21-10 overall and third in the ACC at 11-5, including a win in Tallahassee over the then top-ranked <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/teams/duke-blue-devils">Duke Blue Devils</a> in January. Even though their ACC tournament run ended in the quarterfinals after a game-winning basket against the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/teams/virginia-tech-hokies">Virginia Tech Hokies</a> was disallowed, FSU made the cut as a #10 seed in the West Region. The Noles are headed to Chicago to play the #7 seed Texas A&M Aggies, and will probably face the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/teams/notre-dame-fighting-irish">Notre Dame Fighting Irish</a> with a win.</p>
<p><i>(<a href="http://www.tomahawknation.com" target="_blank">Tomahawk Nation</a>, SB Nation's Florida State blog, is the place to go to get ready for the Noles' Tournament run.)</i></p>
<p>Now, about that Tampa subregional. Here are the four matchups scheduled for the St. Pete Times Forum on Thursday, March 17. If you don't have tickets already, you'll need to hurry because they're going to go really fast now:</p>
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<b>East Regional:</b> #5 <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/teams/west-virginia-mountaineers">West Virginia Mountaineers</a> (Big East at-large) vs. the winner of Tuesday's "First Four" game in Dayton between the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/teams/uab-blazers">UAB Blazers</a> (Conference USA at-large) and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/teams/clemson-tigers">Clemson Tigers</a> (ACC at-large)</li>
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<b>East Regional:</b> #4 <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/teams/kentucky-wildcats">Kentucky Wildcats</a> (SEC tournament champion) vs. #13 <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/teams/princeton-tigers">Princeton Tigers</a> (Ivy League champion)</li>
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<b>Southeast Regional:</b> #7 <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/teams/ucla-bruins">UCLA Bruins</a> (PAC-10 at-large) vs. #10 <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/teams/michigan-st-spartans">Michigan State Spartans</a> (Big Ten at-large)</li>
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<b>Southeast Regional:</b> #2 Florida Gators (SEC at-large) vs. #15 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (Big West tournament champion)</li>
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<p>Just a loaded group of teams with rich histories that are likely to bring large, rabid groups of fans to Tampa with them. The obvious highlight on Thursday will be the UCLA-Michigan State matchup. Even though the Bruins (22-10) crashed out of the PAC-10 tournament early, they have wins over BYU, St. John's, and Arizona (by 22 points), and they lost in the final seconds at Kansas. Meanwhile, the Spartans fell a long way from their preseason #2 ranking. Struggles during their usual tough non-conference schedule, plus some puzzling Big Ten results (a bad loss at Iowa, and narrow wins over Indiana and Northwestern) had some whispering that Michigan State may be relegated to the NIT. But a decisive win over Purdue in the Big Ten tournament might have been what put the 19-14 Spartans over the top. And with their tendency to pull it together for March Madness, they could well be a sleeper.</p>
<p>Either one of those teams playing Florida in the second round on Saturday, March 19 would be a big-name matchup. But even bigger would be a rematch between Kentucky and West Virginia. Last season the Wildcats were speeding towards the Final Four with their trio of talented freshmen (who all promptly left for the NBA). But in the East Regional final, they ran into the Mountaineers, whose tough-nosed defense held Kentucky to 34% shooting and 4-for-32 from three-point range. Even though the names on both teams have changed, Kentucky will want to avenge<a href="http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201003270292" target="_blank"> last year's 73-66 loss</a> if the teams meet again in the second round.</p>
<p>Make sure to follow SB Nation and its network of team blogs throughout the NCAA Tournament for complete coverage as the field of 68 is narrowed down to the Final Four in Houston. For your office-pool convenience, <a href="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/564166/2011_ncaa_basketball_bracket.pdf" target="_blank">this link will give you a printable bracket</a>.</p>
https://tampabay.sbnation.com/2011/3/13/2331474/ncaa-2011-tournament-bracket-florida-fsu-make-the-field-marquee-teamsJamie DeVriend