By: Dan

For each of the past two seasons, the Florida men’s basketball team has missed the NCAA tournament, in part because of poor play in the last month or so of the regular season.

But another reason the Gators have been relegated to the NIT for two straight seasons is because they have played weak teams before getting into conference play. Florida’s strength of schedule was ranked 109th this year, and was ranked 102nd last year, according to the Pomeroy College Basketball Ratings.

It appears that Florida coach Billy Donovan understands that the team needs to play tougher teams in November and December. A story in The Gainesville Sun reported that the Gators will begin a series with Xavier next season. According to the report, the Musketeers, a team that has reached the Big Dance four years in a row, will come to the O-Dome next season, and Florida will end up to Xavier in 2010-11.

The report also said that West Virginia coach Bob Huggins is exploring starting a series with Florida sometime in the near future. Florida spokesman Fred Demarest said that the team will not announce any upcoming opponents until the schedule is finished.
After Florida’s second national championship and the departure of Joakim Noah, Al Horford, Taurean Green, Corey Brewer, Lee Humphrey and Chris Richard, Donovan initially created a soft schedule because he knew how inexperienced his team would be. Rather than feed a group of green freshmen to the wolves, he wanted them to build up some confidence before conference play.

The strategy was understandable, and it seemed to work at first. Florida jumped out to an 18-3 record in 2007-08, but went through a late-season swoon that kept the Gators out of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1998.

Obviously, there is a risk in scheduling more talented teams in the early going. It could have an adverse effect on Florida’s win-loss record, and it could hurt the team’s confidence. But ultimately, the Gators will need to beat these types of teams to make a serious run in the NCAA tournament, and conversely, they need to beat quality teams to make it to the Big Dance.

(AP Photo/Phil Sandlin)