The First Round of the NCAA Tournament isn’t even halfway over, and the excitement has already been through the roof. Another great matchup comes our way as #10 Florida – a late bloomer in the SEC this season – takes on a #7 Nevada squad that’s almost fully intact from their Sweet Sixteen run a year ago.
How to Watch the NCAA Tournament First Round:
Florida vs. Nevada
Date: Thursday, March 21
Time: 6:45 p.m. ET
Location: Des Moines, IA
TV Channel: TNT
Live Stream: fuboTV – start your 7-day free trial to watch every NCAA Tournament game
#10 Florida
There may not be a more unpredictable team in the tournament than Florida. With a little luck, the Gators could’ve easily been a top 5 seed and with a little bit of bad luck could’ve just as easily been left out of the tournament. Their 19-15 record was a rollercoaster ride that featured two wins over LSU, including in the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament (knocked out in the semis). The bad side is the amount of losing streaks they encountered after such wins. Just as it seemed as if they were ready to go on a run of great form, they would lose three in a row. March Madness is all about getting hot at the right time and Florida has the capability to do that. The Gators are reliant on great team defense. They only have one player who averages double digits in points scored, but they were 14th in the country in defensive efficiency with only 91.9 allowed every 100 possessions.
#7 Nevada
A team with only four losses to their name only getting a No.7 seed may seem out of place, but for Nevada, their weak strength of schedule and even weaker conference hindered their cause greatly. Losing to San Diego St. in the Mountain West tournament only made matters worse as Selection Sunday came and went. At one point this season the Wolf Park was ranked fifth in the entire nation, the highest they’ve ever been ranked. Losses to New Mexico, San Diego St., and Utah St. saw them slip all the way down to 20th. The potential is obviously there for Nevada as their early season success shows, but they’ll need to regroup quickly if they are to live up to it. Their success will be heavily dependant on their star forward duo of Caleb Martin and Jordan Caroline, who average 19 and 17 points respectively. Caroline is a massive presence in their front-line, but after a recent achilles injury that kept him out of the Mountain West conference, coach Eric Musselman likely can’t expect 100% from him.
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