3 Teams Duke Wants to Avoid in the South Region

#7 Florida

The entire Southern region in the NCAA Tournament is riddled with injuries. Florida lost its starting center Micah Handlogten to a gruesome, season-ending injury in the SEC tournament championship game. They ended up not being competitive in that loss against Auburn, but the Gators have the blueprint of a hidden juggernaut.

According to KenPom College Basketball Ratings, Florida has the 15th-best offense in the country. Since they are led by three transfers Zyon Pullin, Walter Clayton Jr, and Tyrese Samuel, it took them a while to get going. But once they meshed, they became very difficult to stop.

They finished the SEC regular season on a 10-4 streak and won three straight in the SEC tournament to make it all the way to the final. They regularly put up over 90 points during this span.

The Gators have a very deep, versatile, and experienced team. They go eight-deep regularly without much of a decline in talent level when they have their bench units out there. This is in stark contrast to Duke, who has to rely on their stars to play heavy minutes.

Florida's versatility thanks to their depth will be their biggest strength. It is a team too good to be a #7 seed and every team in the region would like to avoid them if possible.