NCAA Basketball: 5 best value bets to make 2021-22 Final Four weekend

2. Florida Gators +2000

The Gators managed to make the NCAA Tournament last season without their best player Keyontae Johnson. A scary on-court incident sidelined him for the entire year, but the backcourt of Tre Mann, Scottie Lewis, Noah Locke, and Tyree Appleby propelled the team to a 5th-place conference finish and a top-140 ranking on both ends of the floor. With all this team had to overcome, Florida was only a mere three points away from reaching the Sweet 16.

Although Lewis, Mann, and Locke left the program this summer, head coach Mike White did a good job of revamping his roster without missing a beat. Dynamic guards Brandon McKissic (UMKC), Phlandrous Fleming Jr. (Georgia Southern), and Myreon Jones (Penn State) are set to take their places and provide plenty of scoring pop to the Gators program.

Notably, this group will maintain the perimeter efficiency seen on last year’s team and continue to keep defenses honest. Added contributions from wings Kowacie Reeves and Niels Lane will also benefit this team with versatility on both ends.

While this year’s team will have to work to re-establish chemistry with a new rotation, the expectations are still the same. Johnson has not been cleared to play and the Gators will continue to move forward without having to deal with a catastrophic event weighing on their minds. The team performed well in this scenario last year and while Johnson’s participation has not been publicly ruled upon a return to the court would drastically increase the capabilities of this program.

Any positive news, which we all hope happens for Johnson’s sake, will have secured the value in this line ahead of a likely uptick in Florida’s performances and contention for the conference and national titles.