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al demarco 30 dime pick for today it is floida The Pick: 30 Dime pick on Florida
The Line: The Gators are -10 1/2 at 5:30 am Eastern
Today's Analysis
Florida had won 12 straight before getting bushwhacked by Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament semifinals, 91-74, in Nashville last weekend. Makes me wonder if Todd Golden and the Gators really cared as reigning national champs? They had been to the proverbial mountaintop last April. Did claiming a piece of SEC hardware make any difference to this veteran-laden team?
The Gators certainly played the part of defending champs by destroying little sister of the poor Prairie View in Friday's opener, 114-55. Nice that the tournament committee gave them a defacto home game in Tampa, a tidy two-hour drive from Gainesville.
Iowa obviously presents a stiffer challenge today, but the Hawkeyes are not a top-tier Big Ten team. Sure, they played Michigan tough at home in a three-point loss, and knocked off visiting Nebraska, too, but they also lost by 21 at home to Purdue, by 19 at Michigan State, and by nine in Lincoln. Yes, I'm just cherry-picking games, but the point is that Florida presents a far bigger challenge, literally and figuratively.
I simply don't see Iowa effectively dealing with a Gator front line of 6-9 Thomas Haugh, 6-11 Alec Condon, and 6-10 Rueben Chinyelu. Those guys are going to own the glass.
Iowa outrebounded Clemson 40-27 in Friday's 67-61 win. That number is a bit skewed because the Hawkeyes grabbed 15 offensive rebounds since they shot so poorly (38%). They're not going to have near that success today because of the aforementioned trio
Remember how I said Utah State was undervalued against Villanova on Friday, and Michigan State the same against Louisville on Saturday? I feel the same way regarding Florida.
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