ESPN Analytics predicts outcome of South Carolina-Florida matchup in Gainesville
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ESPN Analytics believes No. 12 Florida is almost certain to keep rolling on Tuesday night when the defending national champions host reeling South Carolina in a 7 p.m. ET tipoff on SEC Network.
The Gators come in winners of 5 in a row and have been surging for quite a while, winning 10 of their past 11 games. That stretch was capped on Saturday with a home victory over Kentucky, which came into the game ranked at No. 25. The Wildcats are no longer ranked because Florida did to them what it’s done to most SEC teams this winter.
UF is knocking on the door of the top 10 after a slow start to the season and has risen to the top of the league standings at 10-2 to go with its 19-6 overall record.
While the Gators have visions of a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament as they try to win an SEC regular-season title, South Carolina is at the other end of the SEC spectrum as mid-February hits. The 11-14 Gamecocks sit at the bottom of the SEC standings, tied with LSU at 2-10, and they limp into Gainesville on a 6-game losing streak and losers of 9 of their past 10 games.
With Tuesday night’s matchup featuring 2 programs heading in polar opposite directions, it’s no surprise that ESPN’s BPI gives Florida an overwhelmingly great chance to hold serve at home. The BPI says the Gators have a whopping 95.8% shot to keep the Gamecocks’ misery going while continuing that hopeful drive toward a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
