Florida vs Prairie View rankings for NCAA Tournament first round games
· Yahoo Sports
The No. 1 seed in the South Region, the Florida Gators, begin their March Madness run on Friday against the Prairie View A&M Panthers in the latter's first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament.
The matchup is truly a David and Goliath event, as Todd Golden's team comes in favored by 35.5 points according to BetMGM. But the Big Dance is where Cinderellas are cheered and upsets are celebrated, so nothing can be taken for granted.
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Ahead of the tournament's first round, CBS Sports writer David Cobb ranked all 32 games taking place on Thursday and Friday, with Florida vs Prairie View coming in last at No. 32.
"Florida will be angry after getting blown out against Vanderbilt in the second round of the SEC Tournament," he offers. "The Gators are legitimate contenders to repeat as national champions and should cruise here. UF absolutely demolished the handful of teams of this caliber that it played during nonconference action."
That "handful" of dominant wins covers the North Florida Ospreys (104-64), Merrimack Warriors (80-45), St. Francis Red Flash (102-61) and Colgate Raiders (90-60). Florida also obliterated the South Carolina Gamecocks, 95-48, in SEC play, furthering Cobb's point about how mismatched these two first-round opponents are.
Tipoff between the Gators and Panthers is slated for 9:45 p.m. ET on Friday night. The game will be broadcast on TNT, which can also be livestreamed using Sling.
Top 10 matchups in NCAA Tournament first round
- (7) Kentucky vs. (10) Santa Clara
- (6) North Carolina vs. (11) VCU
- (4) Alabama vs. (13) Hofstra
- (6) Louisville vs. (11) South Florida
- (8) Georgia vs. (9) Saint Louis
- (8) Ohio State vs. (9) TCU
- (7) Saint Mary's vs. (10) Texas A&M
- (5) Texas Tech vs. (12) Akron
- (5) Wisconsin vs. (12) High Point
- (4) Kansas vs. (13) Cal Baptist
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: NCAA Tournament first round rankings for Florida vs Prairie View