Florida Gators on upset alert due to disturbing trend against upcoming March Madness opponent
The Florida Gators made the round of 32 with a big-time 95-69 win over Norfolk State on Friday night. After winning the SEC Tournament and earning a number one seed, the Gators saw some struggles, including allowing the Spartans to finish the first half on an 11-0 run.
Those struggles saw head coach Todd Golden break a whiteboard in the locker room at halftime, waking up the Gators in the second half. With their first game out of the way, they head into the second round where they face the winner of the 8-9 matchup: UConn.
Gators looking for second win against UConn in program history
The Gators are looking to make their fourth National Championship Game and win their third national championship. They also had a stretch of four-consecutive Elite Eight appearances from 2011-2014, five if you only include tournament appearances with an appearance in 2017.
Their last Final Four appearance for the Gators came in 2014 when that team went 36-3, but lost in the national semifinals. Who did they lose to? The UConn Huskies. In fact, of their three losses in 2014, two of them were to the Huskies with the other being to Wisconsin.
Over the course of their history, the Gators and Huskies have met just six times. Of those six matchups, the Gators have won just one of them, coming in 1994 as a three seed, beating number two seed UConn 69-60 in the Sweet 16. Since then, the Gators have lost every matchup with the latest matchup coming on December 7th, 2022 by a score of 75-54. The Huskies won the National Championship that season.
The Huskies have been a thorn in the side of the Gators over the last 15 years, including eliminating them from the Final Four just one game away from making the National Championship Game.
This isn’t the same UConn team that won their second-consecutive National Championship last season, but they will be ready to play on Sunday afternoon. The Gators need to find a way to slay their demon to make the run that many expect them to make.
