Roll SEC Champs Florida Gators

Christopher Lambert

Staff Writer

The March Madness tournament always lives up to its name and every year, there is a crazy upset that leaves people wanting more basketball. College basketball is easily the best basketball product on the planet and this year will be no different.

My early pick this year is the Florida Gators and for good reason. They have  beaten two number one ranked opponents this year in Tennessee and Auburn. It’s clear that they have generated an offense that has been built to destroy.

Their star player, Walter Clayton Jr., has an unguardable sidestep three that has put the dagger in almost every close game this year. On Sunday, he showed that move time and time again, and went 3/3 from three-point range, all within the last five minutes of the game to knock off the two-time defending champs UConn.

The speed of Florida’s guards wore down the UConn defense and kept the pressure on them for the whole game. While the Gators were down early, they showed resilience and took a late lead and never gave it back.

Another huge key to winning in March Madness is coaching, and throughout the Gators’ season, that has been prevalent. After some teams have been eliminated, the coaching carousel begins. Three of the Gators’ assistants have been taken off the board already and we are not out of the tournament yet. The Gators are relentless at scoring throughout the game, and one win over Tennessee this year showed that. They beat the number one ranked Tennessee team by 30 points.

In the SEC conference tournament, the Gators came out on top and in their conference was the number one team in the country, Auburn. The SEC champs are primed for a run in March Madness. They have made it to the sweet sixteen for the first time in seven years and have beaten the unbeatable, Dan Hurley and the UConn Huskies. The Gators have the best chance this year and Cooper Flagg will not get in the  way.