Hoop And Harm

Two at-large teams meet in the first round of the 2010 March Madness tournament as the Florida Gators play the BYU Cougars in Oklahoma City, OK. The Florida Gators grabbed the number 10 seed while the 16-ranked BYU Cougars received the number 7 seed.

The Cougars had a 13-3 Mountain West Conference record and a 29-5 overall record in the fifth year of BYU Head Coach Dave Rose’s tenure. They picked up big wins against the UTEP Miners, the UNLV Running Rebels, the San Diego State Aztecs and the Arizona State Sun Devils.

All five of their losses came to quality teams as they dropped two games each to the UNLV Running Rebels and the New Mexico Lobos and one game to the Utah State Aggies. At five losses, BYU’s RPI is 23rd in the nation and they finished with a record of 4-5 versus teams with an RPI in the top 50.

The Cougars had two standout players this season led by junior guard Jimmer Fredette. Fredette had 21.4 PPG while another junior guard Jackson Emery chipped in 12.6 PPG.

The BYU Cougars pull down 5.2 more rebounds than their opponents which is gives them the 23rd best rebounding margin in Division 1 basketball.

The Florida Gators finished fourth in the SEC’s East Division with a 9-7 conference record and a 21-12 record overall.

The Gators beat the Auburn Tigers in the first round of the SEC Tournament, but didn’t get any further than that falling to the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the second round.

Florida boasts five players with double-figure scoring averages, but they are just 3-8 against teams with top-50 RPIs.

The Cougars have a big advantage over the Gators from beyond the arc shooting 42.1 percent (3rd best) versus the Gators’ 20.1 percent (258th best).

The March Madness odds currently list the BYU Cougars as 4.5-point favorites with a total of 146.5.

The winner of the game plays the winner of the number 2 Kansas State versus number 15 North Texas game on Saturday.