COLUMBIA, SC (352today.com) – Gator fans can grab their popcorn Saturday for a Top 25 matchup between Florida and South Carolina.
Both teams are entering the month of March in the Associated Press (AP) Top 25 poll with the Gators (20-8) securing their win over Mizzou Wednesday night.
The team securing their 20th win in the month of February marked the second time it’s been done in the last ten years. They are still holding the 24th spot in the poll.
The Gamecocks (23-5) also won their most recent game on Wednesday defeating Texas A&M within the last seconds of their game with a final score of 70-68 and claim the 18th spot in the poll.
Florida is currently tied with Auburn and Kentucky for fourth place in Southeastern Conference (SEC) standings while South Carolina holds the third spot.
The University of Florida (UF) leads the all-time Gators vs. Gamecocks series 48-28 and won their last matchup 81-60 in January of 2023.
Florida also beat South Carolina 71-63 the last time they played in Columbia in January of 2022.
“I think going on the road and playing in a really good environment will be beneficial for us. Two ranked teams and on top of that, really great opportunity for seeding in SEC tournament play,” said Gators head coach Todd Golden in a news conference on Friday.
He added that this game could really help them ahead of the tournament.
“Not much you can lose by going out there, but you can win a lot; you can gain a lot,” said Golden.
He says South Carolina is an extremely physical team and knows that his guys have to match that physicality.
“We’ve got to take care of the ball. We’ve got to be super tough physically. I think that’s going to be the recurring theme in terms of what we’re talking about with our guys,” added Golden.
South Carolina is in pretty great shape with leadership under head coach Lamont Paris. Paris could arguably take much credit for a complete turnaround with his program in the last year. He has led his team to a 23-5 record so far this season after finishing the 2022-23 season with an 11-21 record.
“Lamont and his staff did a really good job adding the right pieces and then also growing guys within his program,” commented Golden on the Gamecocks’ rebuild.
Golden says if they don’t win their game against South Carolina, then they cannot win the rest. He hopes a win in Columbia could give them a chance at being a top four seed in the tournament, securing them an automatic ticket to the quarterfinals meaning they wouldn’t have to play until Friday, March 15.
“There’s a lot that can happen between now and then, there’s a lot of different ways that it can shake out depending upon how these games go,” said Golden.
For now, they are taking things day by day and focusing on each task at hand, and for them, that’s South Carolina this weekend. The Gators and Gamecocks will face off at 12:00 p.m. eastern in Columbia. You can catch the game on ESPN.