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Posted Wednesday at 6:00 PM EST.

First Round of NCAA Tournament – American Airlines Center - Dallas, Texas

10:00 PM EST. Where to start with the Gators? This squad has the potential to go to the Final Four or get bounced in the opening weekend. Florida comes into this second round matchup after sitting idle for six days after getting the boot from Arkansas in the SEC tournament. The Gators went 11-8 against their SEC rivals, but not knowing which squad is going to show up makes Florida a dangerous bet. Sure, the Gators had nice wins over Kentucky, Auburn, Cincinnati and Gonzaga, but they also lost stinkers to Loyola-Chicago, Ole Miss, Baylor, Georgia and Alabama all as the betting favorite. In its last game against Arkansas, the Gators were pushed around and offered little resistance as the Razorbacks shot 46.7% from the field while outrebounding Florida 43-28. Offensively, the Gators are a mess and rank 245th in the nation in Feild Goal% and 222nd in assists per game. Those weaknesses play right into St. Bonaventure's strengths which make spotting these points risky business. The reality is, Florida would have been much better off if UCLA had found a way out of Dayton, but instead, the Gators draw a motivated group that many in the market said did not belong in this year's field.

The Bonnies are officially on the big stage for the first time in 48 years after disposing of UCLA in the First Four on Tuesday night. There was some criticism that St. Bonaventure, which is located in upstate New York, made this field of 68, but a closer look at the numbers show the Bonnies not only belong, but they can do some real damage. Since the NCAA made the cash grab to open up the field to 68 teams in 2011, at least one team sent to Dayton has won multiple games in this tournament. The 2011 VCU Rams are the most notable after going from the first round to the Final Four as an 11 seed. While recent history has no bearing here, it does show that having an extra game under your belt isn't such a bad deal. For the Bonnies, they were able to silence their critics after losing the A-10 championship game to Davidson with that smothering W over UCLA. The Bonnies brought a top-60 offense and a top-100 defense into that game with the Bruins, and once they took the lead late in the second half, there was no looking back. Also working for the Bonnies is the fact they have a better three-point percentage (39.8) and free throw percentage (75.4) than any of the successful First Four participants that preceded them. St. Bonaventure is a ball control team, turning the ball over on just 16.3% of its possessions, which ranks 41st in the nation. On the other side of that coin, the Bonnie force their opponents into giving up the rock 20.4% of the time. Those numbers were backed up to the nth degree against the Bruins, as the Bonnies forced a season-high 20 turnovers while giving the UCLA offense fits with their zone defense. According to the KenPom, St. Bonaventure ranks 32nd nationally in experience, which is higher than any other teams forced to play in the First Four. The Bonnies have some nice wins this season over Power Five competition like Maryland and Syracuse, while also finishing the regular season on a 12-game winning streak. This one lines up perfectly for the Bonnies and it is a game they can certainly win outright, but we'll gladly scoop up these points and hope they make it to the weekend. 

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