Bracketology: Florida is on a clear path to getting screwed in March Madness

The Associated Press poll voters and ESPN Bracketology is setting up to royally screw Florida over. The Gators knocked off No. 1 ranked Auburn on the road this weekend, yet are still ranked lower than the Tigers. 

I get Auburn has better wins, fewer losses and rankings really don’t mean much in the grand scheme of March Madness, but it’s more of a respect thing. Florida has wins over No. 1 ranked teams twice this year. The best the AP voters could do is tie them Duke at No. 3, which just lost to Clemson, who wasn’t ranked at the time. 

The disrespect is crazy. And the biggest thing rankings do at this point is help us decide where teams could be seeded in the 68-team NCAA Tournament playoff field. Even then, a top-four ranking wasn’t good enough to give the Gators a No. 1 seed. 

To make matters worse, their path to even getting to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament isn’t favorable at all. Here’s where ESPN’s Bracketology has Florida seeded and what it could mean. 

Florida Gators get short end of stick in latest bracketology, despite momentous road win over Auburn

In the latest ESPN Bracketology, the Gators are a No. 2 seed with a game against Towson out of the Coastal Athletic Association. Towson is currently atop the CAA with UNC Wilmington as its biggest threat to missing the tournament. 

Towson shouldn’t give Florida too much trouble, if at all. But the next round is where Florida’s path out of the opening weekend gets tough. As of right now, they’d play the winner of Louisville and Texas. Not an ideal path at all for a team that might be the best in the field. 

Assuming there are no upsets in their portion of the bracket, the Sweet 16 would be against Maryland or Texas Tech. Texas Tech might be the toughest team in the East quadrant of the tournament, even with Duke as the No. 1 seed. 

Texas Tech has a ranked win over Houston, a one-point loss to Iowa State and a nine-point loss to Arizona. They’ve been a surprise in the Big 12 this season and could be a tough game for Florida as a No. 3 seed. 

ESPN created havoc for Florida, and getting rewarded for their biggest win of the season by being ranked outside the top-two behind the team you just beat is an insult to injury. The icing on the cake is ESPN Bracketology giving them the death group as a No. 2 seed. 

There’s more than enough games left for Florida to prove the AP voters and Joe Lunardi wrong. With four ranked games left – two of them being in the top 10 – the No. 1 seed is wide open for the Gators to take.