TAMPA, Fla. — The Florida Gators tip off the NCAA Tournament tonight at Benchmark International Arena when they take on Prairie View A&M. Needless to say, the reigning national champs are excited to play in their own backyard.
"There might be a few more distractions, but I don't think that's anything our team can't handle," Gators head coach Todd Golden said Thursday. "We're just excited to be able to play in our home state and play in front of a lot of Gators and hopefully do what we need to do and take care of business again on Sunday. We'd much rather play in a place like Tampa than get on a plane and have to fly somewhere else."
Australian Rules Football is king in Florida forward Alex Condon's home country, but he definitely found time to watch the Big Dance.
"I started watching when U Conn did their little back-to-back. As soon as a I saw it and saw the environment, it's unbelievable," Condon said before Thursday's practice. "Fans go crazy here. Definitely hungry to get back to that big stage because I've experienced it once now. I think all of us are really keen to get back."
Florida started the season 5-4, but the Gators never took their eyes off the goal of trying to go back-to-back.
"People are second-guessing us. Just saying all these different things. Like they're saying now- we're the easiest 1 seed to take out. I think we do a good job of using it as motivation," Condon added. "We've got to go out there and try to win six in a row. We've got to take every practice, every game, every time that we're all together as a group. We can't take it for granted."
For Prairie View A&M, a team that won five games last year, this weekend is about playing with house money and playing hard.
"Defend the basketball, share the basketball, and try to be the hardest playing team on the court that particular night. That doesn't change if we're playing the Florida Gators, if we're playing Lehigh, if we're playing the Boston Celtics. It's all the same," Panthers head coach Byron Smith said. "So I definitely think they're looking forward to this opportunity. I don't sense any nervousness or any jitters with our guys."
The Gators, the top seed in the South region, and Panthers, the 16th seed, will tip off at 9:25 at Benchmark International Arena. The game will air on TNT.
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