Gators Take 30 Game Win Streak Into Final Four
What are the odds of the Florida Gators wining 32 straight games? What are the odds of the Gators beating the preseason #1 ranked team four times in a season? Five months ago, not too good. Now however they are two wins away from accomplishing both as long as the Kentucky Wildcats beat the Wisconsin Badgers in the second semifinal. What are the odds the Gators will beat every team they play this year? At the start of the season, those would have been long odds. But if they can beat the Connecticut Huskies in the first semifinal and the Badgers beat the Wildcats in the second game, they are pretty good.
Could you have made these prop bets at the start of the season? Maybe. If you had found these props at the start of the season and bet $10.00 on these bets, you’d have a lot riding on this weekend. So the lesson here is to check for props at the start of a season and find some ridiculous ones and place a small bet. Before the season, the Gators were not even ranked in the top ten. Kentucky was number one. The odds the Gators would beat them even three times had to be astronomical.
The longest win streak in Florida history before the season was 17 in a row by the 2006 national championship team of Corey Brewer, Joakim Noah, and Al Horford, three NBA Lottery picks. This Florida team has nearly doubled this streak and most feel they have no lottery picks. Patric Young may be a first round pick, but likely late first round. Scottie Wilbekin may go in the second round. Wil Yeguete and Casey Prather are probably bound for the D-League or Europe. So how did these Gators do all this? Defense. Great team defense. These Gators held the UCLA Bruins, who averaged over 80 points per game, to 68. They then held Dayton, who averaged over 70 points, to 52,
The Gators also have a great bench. They have guys like Dorian Finney-Smith, Kasey Hill, Chris Walker, and Davon Walker who would start for most SEC teams. One would think a team with a 36-2 record would be blowing teams away. But these Gators typically play close games, then make a big play at the end to win it. Scottie Wilbekin will make a driving layup off the glass or Michael Frazier will hit a dagger from three points to put them on top.
So this Florida team, with not a lot of top-notch talent, has a chance with two more victories to be the greatest team in Gators history. And they have a shot to put Florida in the most elite of college basketball company. They can join their fellow Final Four participants Kentucky and UConn as three time (or more) NCAA Tournament Champions.
I am not going to pick this game because I am a life long fan of the Gators, and therefore may not be the most objective person. So with that in mind, GO GATORS!!
