Putting the 16 teams that have a realistic shot at the NCAA Tournament title into tiers
We're guaranteeing this year's champion will come from this list
by
Matt Norlander
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Dark horses
-- Dark horses are labeled as such because they're not being put in the national championship conversation even though they've all got the coaching and veteran presence to win six straight in March
Florida Gators
Breakdown: Key to note that the dark-horse category, for our purposes here, is for a few teams that haven't been, and mostly won't be, discussed in the preseason as national championship-caliber despite being nearly universally regarded as top-20 squads this season. Florida,
which we have ranked all the way up at No. 9, qualifies. Which is a bit odd, given that the Gators were crazy close to going to the Final Four last season. Chris Chiozza,
responsible for one of the most famous shots in Gator history, is back -- alongside his super-talented teammate KeVaughn Allen. Florida is going to have the defense necessary to give it a tremendous shot at making the Final Four. Once big man John Egbunu comes back from injury a few weeks into the season Florida can click into a stalwart of defense. What's interesting about this team is how good it is even after losing Devin Robinson to the
NBA Draft. Mike White has adapted with a quickness to keeping UF as a top-25 national program.
Stat to know: White, 40, has won 70 percent of his games in six seasons between Louisiana Tech and Florida. He played at Ole Miss and was an assistant in a few spots along the way. He never was a part of an
NCAA Tournament game until last March.
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Anna Horford @AnnaHorford
