'They're legit': Why ESPN analyst thinks Florida basketball can win NCAA Tournament

Count ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas as someone who thinks Florida basketball will cut down the nets in San Antonio in April.

Bilas picked the Florida Gators to win the national championship on Selection Sunday and explained why in a post on X.

The case for @GatorsMBK to win the National Championship: pic.twitter.com/PTXV5s3wTv
— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) March 20, 2025

"Todd Golden has, I think, the best team in college basketball right now heading into the tournament, the Florida Gators," Bilas said. "They have tremendous size, Alex Condon, Rueben Chinyelu, Thomas Haugh, Micah Handlogten, they are big. They are skilled and they offensive rebound like crazy, they get 38% of their misses that get them a lot of extra possessions."

Bilas also gushed over UF's guard play.

"Their guards are the equal of any core of guards in the country, led by Walter Clayton Jr., who played for Rick Pitino at Iona before transferring to Florida," Bilas said. "He's just a certified bucket-getter. He can drive hard to his right, really good off pick and rolls, when he drives it left, he's gonna pull up, and he can pull up and knock down shots from range, mid-range, he can finish around the rim even though he's small.

"And then Alijah Martin and Will Richard are a great complement to Clayton, both of them can shoot it. I think Richard is a great cutter, Alijah Martin is tough as nails and he's their best on-ball defender. Then Denzel Aberdeen comes in off the bench to provide them a guy who can really step in and defend, he's good with the ball and then when their were guys out earlier in the year, he had 22 and 20 points in back-to-back games.

"They're legit. And right now, I don't think in a seven-game series anyone is beating Florida"

Celebrate Florida basketball's SEC title with a commemorative poster

Florida has won 12 of its last 13 games and will open NCAA Tournament play on Friday against 16-seed Norfolk State at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, N.C. (6:50 p.m., TNT).

Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun's Florida beat writer. Contact him at kbrockway@gannett.com. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: ESPN basketball analyst makes case for Florida basketball to win NCAA Tournament

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