Several NCAA Basketball teams have so far failed to live up to expectations. Should we keep believing in them or is it time to move on?
For this edition of my NCAA Basketball “Buy or Sell” early-season series, I wanted to take a look at a group of teams that were ranked fairly high in the preseason polls. Florida (6), Villanova (10), Texas Tech (13) and Oregon (15) were all preseason AP top-15 squads but have each already lost multiple games in November. When it comes to Final Four aspirations, which of them are in trouble and who’s most likely to rebound going forward?
Florida Gators (6-2) – Sell
Myself included, many people had Florida as a Final Four contender and even a dark horse to win it all this season. The addition of grad transfer Kerry Blackshear along with a pair of incoming five-star recruits gave what should have been a deep and talented roster than can win more than the SEC.
But through eight games, there has been very little impressive accomplishments of Florida, outside of a solid win against Xavier in the Charleston Classic finals. They’ve struggled to put away inferior foes such as Marshall, Saint Joe’s and Towson while failing the score 60 points in losses to UConn and Florida State. The Mike White-led offense once again is problematic, ranking 268th in scoring and 280th in three-point percentage (30%).
Blackshear has been solid and sophomores Keyontae Johnson and Andrew Nembhard have improved in year two. The others, however, have not held their weight, including five-star freshman Tre Mann. Defensively, Florida has been good and will keep them in every game going forward. But at the moment, this team looks nothing like a Final Four/national title contender. And unless Coach White can find a way to get this team scoring more, expect this team to have some more unexpected losses.