Florida at Villanova

Trivia Question: Who has the highest win percentage historically vs the #1 seed in the Elite 8? Answer: the 3 seed. That's right, they have done better than even the number 2 seeds. The 3 seed has an overall record of 6-6 vs the 1 seeds when they face each other here in the Elite 8 and this is the first time in the first 4 rounds that the #1 seeds don't have a winning record against their opponent. The #1 seeded teams that have won less than 9 of their last 10 pre-tournament games are just 1-4 and the rest are 5-2. Villanova has gone 8-2 in their past 10. A closer look shows that the 3 seeded teams who win by less than 10 ppg have gone 0-4 while those 3 seeded teams who have won by more than 10 ppg have gone 6-2. Florida has a winning margin of over 15 ppg. These are two very talented basketball programs and there is no doubt that this game may come down to a final shot in overtime for one of these teams to win by one point as so many other teams have done so far in this tournament. The main difference between these two teams is when you look at their most recent games (all on neutral courts). Nova has played 5 and only covered ATS once, while Florida has played their last 6 games on a neutral floor and has only one loss ATS. When looking at how these team teams match up against one another you will see that Florida edges Nova in ppg, field goal percentage, rebounding and the always important fact that they have a deeper bench. Look for Nova to try and use as many 3-guard lineups as they can and pressure the ball handlers of Florida, but in the end the play of Noah and his supporting cast is going to be too much for Nova. Take Florida getting the points in this game, but don't think of it as an upset of Florida moves on to the final four.