Can The Florida Gators Upset The Kentucky Wildcats Tonight in Gainesville?

Can The Florida Gators Upset The Kentucky Wildcats Tonight in Gainesville?  Tonight's game is a very interesting matchup and could be a difficult one for the Gators as their best player,  Colin Castleton is out for the year.  He broke his hand  in Florida's 79-64 win over Ole Miss on Feb. 15.  Lets break down tonight's contest.

Florida's chances of making it to the NCAA Tournament are not looking too good at the moment, with just a 10% chance. However, it's interesting to note that they have a relatively high chance (18%) of winning all of their remaining games in the SEC, which is only surpassed by Alabama and Tennessee, who are likely to be Top-2 seeds in the conference.

Kentucky has improved its position in ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi's projections and has moved into the NCAA Tournament field. The fact that they have just defeated then-No. 10 Tennessee is certainly a positive sign for the team, and it's no surprise that their chances of making the tournament have gone up as a result.

The Wildcats now have a 96% chance to reach the NCAA Tournament per ESPN Analytics.

Kentucky has had such success in recent years when playing in Gainesville against the Florida Gators. Winning four consecutive meetings is certainly a noteworthy accomplishment, and it's interesting to see that this is the longest such win streak since 1995-98, when they also won four straight.

This game could be decided on the boards. Kentucky rebounds 37.9 percent of its own misses this season, the third highest rate in Division I. The Wildcats cash in on those opportunities by scoring 13.9 Second Chance points per game, the ninth-most in Division I.

It's always difficult for a team to lose a key player, such as the Gators losing Castleton, but it's great to see that they have a freshman guard in Riley Kugel who has been stepping up offensively in Castleton's absence.

Scoring in double figures in four straight games is certainly an impressive feat for any player, let alone a freshman. With an average of 15.5 points per game during that span, Kugel has shown that he is capable of taking on a larger role in the team's offense and making a significant impact on the court.

I think Kentucky gets it done tonight however.  My prediction is Kentucky 65 Florida 55.  More on this game and lots more coming up on Shemon and Sheppard 2-6pm today.

If you're one of the many people that believe a zombie apocalypse is inevitable, you need to be prepared. And where you live is part of that preparedness. Best case, somewhere less populated where you could live off the land, and with a weapon stockpile. If you watched 'Last Of Us' that's how Bill and Frank were able to survive. So, a little luck and you’d be likely to make it through the apocalypse, at least until they discover a cure. Unfortunately, Florida is not one of the better options. You'd have much better chances in Wyoming or Alaska. Here's why.

For this study, we turn to data from Insuranks. One of the data points taken into account includes where a zombie outbreak is likely to occur. If you're a Resident Evil fan, you know to steer clear of areas that have a lot of pharmaceutical companies. Florida has a lot. Population is also a big factor. More people = more zombies = more danger. Yep, there's a lot of people in Florida. And lastly, a way to fight off zombies. There's where Florida has an advantage. Do we ever have weapons. But are they the right kind of weapons? There's data on that, too.

So where's the best state to be during a zombie apocalypse? Find you an area that looks like "Yellowstone".

California is last on the list. Especially around heavily populated cities like Los Angeles or San Francisco. Desperate people are just as dangerous as zombies. Keep your core group small. 

There's an old adage in prepping. If you don't have guns, you're prepping for someone who does. Even if you survive not being turned into a zombie, you need to survive the other people, too. A lot of the people surveyed think that Florida is most likely to start the outbreak anyway, so it's possible that none of that matters.

A lot of people say they'd have no problem killing a (former) loved one if they turned. Many also believed that they'd probably be the first to die.

It looks like The Walking Dead is a more likely scenario rather than the Clickers of Last of Us. Hopefully they're slow like Dawn of The Dead and not the speedy zombies Brad Pitt fought in World War Z. Either way, surviving the zombie apocalypse is going to be rough. Physically and mentally. Just remember what Zombieland taught us.

To rank the states, we analyzed 1289 Google search terms relating to zombie apocalypses from January 2019 through December 2022. We looked at the average number of monthly searches and compared it to each state’s population, per 100,000 residents.

In January 2023 we surveyed 1,047 Americans to get their feedback on zombies and preparing for a zombie apocalypse. Respondents were 48% female, 49% male, and 3% non-binary/non-conforming, with an age range of 18 to 79 and an average age of 40.