Gators await verdict on NCAA Tournament bid

<p>Florida junior forward Chandler Parsons said he was “concerned” about Florida's NCAA Tournament chances.</p><p>Later tonight, the Gators will find out if their body of work will make up for losing four of their last five games down the stretch. Florida (21-12) will sweat out the NCAA Tournament Selection show, hoping to make the field of 65 for the first time since 2007.</p><p>On Saturday night, ESPN.com bracket guru Joe Lunardi had Florida as the second team out of the tournament behind Illinois and in front of Ole Miss and Seton Hall, with Virginia Tech, Washington, Minnesota and Mississippi State as the first four in.</p><p>“We've played a very competitive schedule,” Florida coach Billy Donovan said. “We've had some quality wins. If that's good enough, then so be it. We'll wait and see.”</p><p>If Florida gets in, it will be because of a critical stretch in November when it beat Florida State and Michigan State in the span of four days. That accounted for two of Florida's three wins against RPI Top 50 teams. Florida is 3-8 against teams in the RPI top 50 and hasn't lost by more than 12 points this season.</p><p>There were mixed results on the bubble Saturday. Houston beat UTEP in the Conference USA Tournament finals, taking away a potential at-large bid. But Duke ended Miami's run in the ACC Tournament, Temple beat Rhode Island in the Atlantic 10 semifinals and Ohio State outlasted Illinois in double overtime. All three wins helped the Gators.</p><p>“We just gotta hope for no upsets,” Florida junior forward Alex Tyus said.</p><p>Mississippi State (SEC) and Minnesota (Big 10) continued their runs to their respective conference tournament finals, two teams that could knock the Gators off the bubble. On Saturday, ESPN.com had Florida with an RPI of 54 and strength of schedule of 31.</p><p>Donovan said he feels like the Gators are a better team than a year ago, despite going into Selection Sunday with a similar record. Florida finished with the same Southeastern Conference record (9-7 regular season, 10-8 overall) as it did last season.</p><p>“Our league is so much better than it was a year ago,” Donovan said. “And I think that says a lot for our team and these guys because to me, last year, at this time, only two teams from the SEC were definitely going in. Certainly, I think there's more now.</p><p>“And plus, with who we have played in the nonconference, I don't think last year's team would have come close to the record this year's team has.”</p><p><i>Contact Kevin Brockway at 352-374-5054 or brockwk@gvillesun.com</i></p>