The NCAA Tournament has reached the Elite Eight and the first game tonight will see the 11th-seeded Dayton Flyers take on the top-seeded Florida Gators in the South Regional Finals. The game is scheduled for a 6:09 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on TBS. Currently the odds for the game have Florida favored by double digits to end Dayton's season and reach the Final Four.
Dayton has been the Cinderella story of this year's tournament. The Flyers, an 11th seed, knocked off Ohio State by a point in their opening game, then got past Syracuse by a bucket and controlled the entire contest against Stanford, winning by 10, to reach the Elite Eight. Archie Miller's team has gone above and beyond expectations in this tournament, but the Flyers are still hungry for more — the school has only been to one other Final Four, in 1967, where the Flyers lost to UCLA 79-64 in the national championship game.
Florida enters tonight's game with a school-record 29 game winning streak. Billy Donovan has two national championships to his name and this team might be his best coaching job. They have a lot of talent but no bonafide superstar, just a team full of experienced players that do all the little things correctly. This Gators' team wants to get over the hump from previous years as well — Florida has lost in the Elite Eight each of the past three seasons.
Scottie Wilbekin is the leader of the Gators, averaging just under 15 points per game in this NCAA Tournament and taking big shots for Florida when they need it. He will need to control the tempo of tonight's game and have the Gators playing their style of basketball. While many may see this as a game Florida should easily win because of Dayton's 11th seed, it's worth noting that the last two 11 seeds playing a top seed in the Elite Eight got wins.
Both George Mason (over UConn) in 2006 and VCU (over Kansas) in 2011 were 11th seeds that knocked off No. 1 seeds to reach the Final Four.
Dayton has a deep bench, often times playing up to 11 guys in a single game. That kind of depth is going to be critical against Florida tonight, a team that wears you down. Jordan Sibert has led the Flyers in scoring at just over 12 points per game in this tournament while Devin Oliver has been doing the little things to help his team get to this point, rebounding the ball and helping facilitate for other open teammates. Sibert led the charge against Stanford with 18 points while Oliver and Kendall Pollard each had a dozen.
The Flyers had 11 players score against Stanford in the win. Their defense has only allowed 70 points to two separate teams over the last seven games.
But Florida's defense is going to be the key to this contest tonight. The Gators are arguably the best defensive unit in the country and won't let Dayton shoot nearly 50 percent from the floor like they did against Stanford. Florida ranks third in the country in scoring defense, allowing opponents to score just under 58 points per game. They also haven't given up 68 points to a team in the last 10 games.
We like Patric Young and Casey Prather on the interior for the Gators. They'll battle hard on the boards and give Florida some options around the rim to get points. The overall depth by Florida and having so many skilled players on the floor at the same time will be the difference here. Dayton has been a great story for college basketball in this tournament, but we think Florida is just going to be too much for Cinderella tonight.
Free Pick: Florida 71, Dayton 58
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