Alligator Army

Philo named starter

He was awesome. Cannot wait to see how it translates.

Sumrall at SEC Media Days

Baseball

Well this past weekend sure was something.

Softball

Isaiah Brown is also returning

Urban is coming back

Boogie Fland is returning!

On a 1-10 scale I'd say I'm at a .01 just because anything is possible.

Do you have ANY worry that Golden will leave?

a blue background with the word degree on it

Another night tip for our boys. How’s everyone feeling today?

Florida Gators vs Iowa Hawkeyes Game Thread

The Florida Gators had arguably the most impressive first-round performance of the NCAA Tournament, beating Prairie View A&amp;M 114-55. Now, they have a date against the Iowa Hawkeyes to try and advance to the Sweet Sixteen. Tale of the TapeFlorida -10.5O/U 145.57:10 pm ET, Sunday, March 22ndLocation: Benchmark International Arena, Tampa, FloridaWhat Gator fans hope to seeIn a perfect world, Florida fans get to have as stress free of a viewing experience on Sunday as they did on Friday. But it’s safe to assume that Iowa puts up a little more of a fight.The Gators won just about every statistical category by a wide margin against Prairie View, but one aspect where they tied with the Panthers was in turnovers. Both teams gave it away 7 times.&nbsp;Now that number isn’t too high, but going up against a Hawkeyes team that was second in the Big Ten in steals per game (7.0), it’s going to be important for Florida’s guards, Boogie Fland and Xaivian Lee, to take good care of the basketball.Down low, the Gators will have the size advantage over Iowa. The Hawkeye’s three big men with the most minutes are Alvaro Folgueiras (6’10’’), Cooper Koch (6’8’’), and Cam Manyawu (6’9’’). So the Hawkeyes aren’t quite as vertically challenged as Prairie View was, but Florida will still have the height advantage no matter who is on the floor.What Iowa could do to make it a gameThe most popular concern in this matchup is the disparity in pace of play. Florida likes to get out and run up and down the floor, but Iowa is the most deliberate and slow team in the country. They rank 365th in the country in possessions per game, at just 64.6. For comparison, Florida is 29th in the nation at 74.1So which style will prevail? Can the Gators speed the Hawkeyes up, or will Iowa be able to turn it into a rock fight? If Florida can speed Iowa up and control the pace of the game, I love their chances to pull away and win with some cushion.However, it’s very hard to speed up Iowa’s star point guard, Bennett Stirtz. The senior from Missouri, and former Drake Bulldog, is averaging 19.9 points on 48.3% shooting, and 4.4 assists per game.His natural skill set paired with his experience make him a very tough guard, but Clemson was able to hold him to just 4/17 from the field and two assists in round one. If Golden and his staff can copy that defensive blueprint, the Gators should be just fine.PredictionIowa is a very good team, but I don’t see them being able to hang with Florida for all 40 minutes. I trust the Gator guards on defense to contain Stirtz, and don’t think the Hawkeyes can suppress Florida’s tempo all game.Give me the Gators to move on to the Sweet Sixteen.

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