How national title results will affect both Florida and Houston
Paul Meyerberg and Dan Walken will analyze what will happen in both Florida and Houston after meeting in the national title.
Sports Pulse
With the end of the men’s basketball season, Florida can add one final achievement to their ledger for the championship season. The Gators were not ranked number one in the USA Today Sports Coach poll during the season. However, after cutting down the nets in San Antonio, the Gators get caught up in the pinnacle of the most important polls.
This was Florida’s first No. 1 ranking since the 2014 season, and also marked the last four appearances of the program. Naturally, the Gators were voted first by all 31 voters, with runner-up Houston being second in the unanimous choice.
From there, opinions on the voting began to differ slightly, but Duke closes the campaign with 17 voting points over Auburn, the fourth semi-finalist in the highly skilled quartet.
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Tennessee will check in at No. 5. This is the best finisher of the region’s finalists, and has won besides San Antonio. Alabama finished sixth, followed by the rest of the Elite Eight, Michigan and Texas Tech. Maryland will land in 9th place, Terrapin’s first top-10 finish since the 2002 championship season. St. John’s is the only top 8 seed that doesn’t make 16 rounds, making it the top 10 final vote for the first time since 1999.
The Gators Championship was the culmination of the SEC’s Banner Year, where eight teams won in the final vote, with Sweet 16 attendee Arkansas in 25th place. The ACC came in third, with Clemson coming in 23rd despite exiting the first round tournament. The Big East and West Coast each land a pair of teams in the final rankings.