ESPN Analytics believe in Todd Golden and Florida on Sunday afternoon in an SEC showdown that carries some spice and some real national attention.
No. 23 Alabama will invade Gainesville to take on the defending national champions and 19th-ranked Gators in a 1 p.m. ET tipoff that will get the national spotlight treatment on ABC. As if a prominent basketball program like Alabama facing the defending champs in their building on the first day of February wouldn’t be juicy enough, that’s only half the story to this big-time matchup.
And that’s because a week ago, Golden was asked during his radio show about the whole Charles Bediako saga that has engulfed the Alabama program and really all of college basketball in recent days and weeks. He was specifically asked about his Gators having to beat Bama with Bediako, to which Golden replied “we’re gonna beat them anyways.”
At the time Golden made those remarks, Bediako’s status was uncertain for the Florida showdown. But now, with Bediako’s injunction hearing being rescheduled for Feb. 6, Bediako is good to go for Sunday at the O’Connell Center, which makes this Sunday matinee that much more intriguing. Golden even downplayed any concerns about upsetting Alabama head coach Nate Oats, so it’ll be game on with the SEC rivals colliding and with Bediako front and center.
And what about that huge game? Well, there are the hosts, with Florida bouncing back from that ugly home loss to Auburn with a blowout road win over South Carolina earlier this week. The Gators are 15-6 overall and 6-2 in the SEC as they welcome the Tide, who similarly bounced back from last weekend’s home loss to Tennessee by crushing Mizzou at home earlier this week.
Alabama comes in at 14-6 overall and 4-3 in the SEC, but that ESPN BPI doesn’t believe the Tide have a good chance to get out of Gainesville unscathed. The BPI is giving Florida a 73.2% chance to defend home court and back up Golden’s big words about Bediako.
Whatever happens on Sunday, a lot of eyeballs will be on Gainesville, because it’s a really big SEC game on the first day of February and because of the Bediako backdrop.
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.
