Sports
Why the Florida Gators’ One Fatal Flaw Could Cost Them Another Title
Don’t look now, but with Selection Sunday just four weekends away, the Florida Gators look like they intend to win another national championship.
Thanks to Wednesday’s 20-point win at Georgia…which followed a 19-point win at Texas A&M…which followed a 23-point home thrashing of Alabama…which followed a 47-point win at South Carolina, the Gators (18-6, 9-2 SEC) have built a one-game Southeastern Conference lead heading into Saturday’s first-place showdown with Kentucky in Gainesville, Fla.
They are a top-ten ranked team in the NET rankings as of Friday morning but fifth in KenPom, which is exactly where they were one year ago today. That’s just one of many good signs for the Gators.
Thanks to the nation’s most productive frontcourt — key returnees Thomas Haugh (17.5 ppg, 6.2 rpg), Alex Condon (13.3 ppg, 7.9 rpg) and Rueben Chinyelu (11.8 ppg, 11.8 rpg) — Florida leads the country in rebounding margin at plus-15.3 per game.
Per KenPom.com, the Gators boast the nation’s fifth-best defense as they allow just 91.1 points per 100 possessions. That’s a tad better than last year’s defense (91.8) that was good enough to win the NCAA title.
The sharps believe in the Gators, too. When you take a spin around the nation’s top online sportsbooks, Florida generally holds the fifth-best odds to take it all on April 6 in Indianapolis — trailing only Arizona, Michigan, Duke and Houston.
Long story short, the Gators are the best team in what continues to be college basketball’s best league. So of course they’re in the hunt for the national title.
So why doesn’t Florida have a legitimate shot to go back-to-back? Because they don’t have enough legitimate shooters.
Here’s what we mean: While the Gators enjoyed their best 3-point shooting night in months on Wednesday night at Georgia — going 10 of 26 (38.5%) from long range – they’re still below 30% for the year. Specifically, they’re at 29.2%, which ranks last among all power-conference teams and 353rd out of Division I’s 365 squads.
There’s nothing in modern college hoops history that suggests this is good enough to become the national champion.
Since the NCAA moved the 3-point line back to the international distance (22-foot-1¾) prior to the 2019-20 season, here’s how each NCAA champ has shot.
2025: Florida 35.6% 82nd in nation
2024: UConn 35.8% 72nd
2023: UConn 36.3% 62nd
2022: Kansas 36.1% 51st
2021: Baylor 41.3% 1st
2020: No tournament, but Kansas was the clear No. 1 per KenPom when the season was cancelled due to COVID — and the Jayhawks ranked 132nd nationally at 34.1%
If you look at last year’s Sweet Sixteen, only Michigan State (31.1%) was within a few percentage points of Florida’s current rate. It’s just too much to expect a bad 3-point shooting team to reel off six straight wins — especially when so many of the nation’s other top teams have embraced offenses with four or five shooters on the floor.
The Gators have just three guys who are hitting at least one 3-pointer per game: sixth man Urban Klavzar (49 of 127; 38.6%), Haugh (45 of 130; 34.6%) and shooting guard Xaivian Lee (37 of 145; 25.5%). As a team, Florida makes just 7.4 3-pointers per game.
Now look at the NET’s top 10 through Wednesday’s games. Here’s how they shoot from 3-point range, where that ranks nationally and how many guys average at least one 3-pointer per game:
Michigan: 35.4% 102 Six
Arizona: 35.7% 81 Three
Duke: 34.1% 175 Four
Houston: 34.1% 176 Four
Illinois: 36.1% 65 Seven
Gonzaga: 34.9% 133 Three
Florida: 29.2% 353 Three
UConn: 37.0% 39 Four
Iowa State: 40.0% 5 Four
Purdue: 37.7% 28 Five
One of these things is not like the others. That’s why the Gators won’t be able to separate themselves from the rest for another “One Shining Moment.”
Sports
Mexico makes Liga MX call-ups ahead of pre-World Cup camp
Nov 17, 2025; San Antonio, Texas, USA; Mexico Coach Javier Aguirre Onaindia speaks to the media ahead of his Mexican National Team match against Paraguay at the Alamodome. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Jefferson-Imagn Images Mexico’s FIFA World Cup roster began to take shape Tuesday with a dozen Liga MX players invited to the camp that begins on May 6.
Manager Javier Aguirre’s crew will be joined in training later in the month by players who are based in Europe and elsewhere. His final roster for this summer’s tournament is due at the end of May.
The 12-member Liga MX contingent includes 17-year-old midfielder Gilberto Mora of Club Tijuana, Toluca forward Alexis Vega, Club America defender Israel Reyes and five players from Chivas: goalkeeper Raul “Tala” Rangel, forward Armando Gonzalez and midfielders Brian Gutierrez, Roberto Alvardo and Luis Romo.
Also on the list are goalkeeper Carlos Acevedo of Santos Laguna, defender Jesus Gallardo of Toluca, midfielder Erik Lira of Cruz Azul and forward Memo Martinez of Pumas.
Mora is rounding into shape after missing two months with a groin injury and has a chance to become Mexico’s youngest World Cup participant, supplanting 18-year-old Manuel “Chaquetas” Rosas in 1930. Seven 17-year-olds have participated in the tournament, including Brazil’s Pele in 1958.
Mexico is co-hosting the FIFA World Cup along with the U.S. and Canada. Mexico is currently ranked No. 15 in the world, one spot ahead of the Americans.
Placed in Group A with South Africa, South Korea and the Czech Republic, Mexico opens the World Cup against South Africa on June 11 in Mexico City.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Pistons aiming to avoid historic early exit vs. Magic
Apr 27, 2026; Orlando, Florida, USA; Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero (5) looks to pass in front of Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (2) during the second half during game four of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Kia Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike Watters-Imagn Images The Detroit Pistons need a three-game winning streak to avoid joining an infamous list. Only six top seeds in NBA history have flamed out in the first round of the playoffs to a No. 8 seed.
The Pistons trail Orlando 3-1 in their best-of-seven series after a 94-88 road loss on Monday. The series resumes in Detroit on Wednesday night.
Detroit has to regain its swagger or join the 2023 Milwaukee Bucks as the only top seed since 2012 to get knocked out this early in the postseason.
The troubling reality for the Pistons, who won 60 regular-season games, is that the Magic — with the exception of Detroit’s third-quarter outburst in Game 2 — consistently have looked like the better team.
The Magic have throttled the All-Star pick-and-roll combination of Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren, leaving Detroit’s offense in tatters.
“The way that we’ve been playing, that stuff’s not good enough to win games in this league,” Cunningham said. “This league’s too good, they’re a good team. They’re outrebounding us, turning me over and we haven’t hit enough shots. Our defense hasn’t caught its footing. It’s not shocking that we’re losing games playing like that.”
With Duren neutralized by counterpart Wendell Carter Jr. and Orlando’s defensive coverage, Cunningham has been left to carry the offense. He’s averaging 29.5 points in the series but shooting just 42.4% overall and 28.6% from 3-point range. Turnovers have been a bigger issue. He’s averaging 6.8 giveaways in the series and committed eight in Game 4.
“Yeah, it’s frustrating,” Cunningham said. “A lot of it was on myself; I was frustrated with my own play. Having numbers, not making plays in transition. Things like that, the things I do best, just not being able to make plays for my team. They killed us on the offensive glass, our defense didn’t hold up. All that stuff. We’re all frustrated with all that stuff. We’ve gotta fix it and come back better.”
The Pistons’ lack of 3-point shooting has come back to bite them — they’re making just 27.5 percent of their attempts in the series.
Orlando realizes that in order to complete the upset, it will have to grind out another victory against a now desperate club.
“This is a team that won 60 games,” guard Desmond Bane said. “I’m sure they will not blink an eye about being able to win three games in a row. They did it multiple times during the regular season. We are going to have to come ready to play. I’m excited about the challenge.”
Paolo Banchero (21.0 points per game) and Bane (19.0) have been the Magic’s offensive leaders in the series. Franz Wagner scored 19 points in Game 4 but left with calf tightness. His availability for Wednesday and the remainder of the series is a big question mark.
In his absence, Jamal Cain made a major impact, including a monster dunk over Duren in the second half. Cain finished with eight points and nine rebounds.
“We’ve put ourselves in position to try to get four (wins),” coach Jamahl Mosley said. “Right now, it means nothing. We have the advantage and now we’ve just got to make sure we’ve try to keep that advantage.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Report: WR Jauan Jennings visiting Vikings
Jan 11, 2026; Philadelphia, PA, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings (15) walks off the field after win against the Philadelphia Eagles in an NFC Wild Card Round game at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images Free-agent wide receiver Jauan Jennings is visiting the Minnesota Vikings on Tuesday and Wednesday, ESPN reported.
The Vikings are looking for depth at the position behind two-time All-Pro Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison after losing Jalen Nailor in free agency to the Las Vegas Raiders. Minnesota did not select a wide receiver in the NFL draft last week.
Jennings had 55 catches for 643 yards and a career-best nine touchdowns in 15 games (all starts) in 2025. Those totals came one season after he put together career-high totals in receptions (77) and receiving yards (975).
Jennings, 28, has 210 catches for 2,581 yards and 22 touchdowns in 75 career games (32 starts) since being selected by San Francisco in the seventh round of the 2020 NFL Draft out of Tennessee.
–Field Level Media
Mexico makes Liga MX call-ups ahead of pre-World Cup camp
Pistons aiming to avoid historic early exit vs. Magic
