Florida is ultimate bubble team in year 7 under Mike White

Following the departure of Billy Donovan after the 2014-15 season, Florida basketball had huge shoes to fill. Donovan won six SEC titles, four SEC Tournament titles, and went to the Final Four four times in 19 seasons at Florida.

Athletic director Jeremy Foley appeared to use the same hiring blueprint for the next person to lead Florida basketball. Mike White was a former point guard for a power conference program that quickly rose through the coaching ranks and won two C-USA titles in four years at Louisiana Tech.

The Gators hired White at the age of 38, but the Ole Miss alum has not reached the standard set by Donovan despite some good results for an SEC basketball program.

Currently, White is 139-83 (69-48) as year seven in Gainesville begins to come to a close. After an NIT appearance in year one, the Gators have made four consecutive NCAA Tournaments, and that number would be five if not for the COVID-19 cancellation. Florida is 6-4 when entering the tournament, but an upset loss prevented a Final Four trip in 2017. Then, No. 15 seed Oral Roberts beat the Gators last year to stop a potential surprising Sweet 16 appearance.

Hot seat territory could be arriving soon for White as Florida could be the biggest bubble team in college basketball right now.

Florida has a vulnerable resume

The Gators will enter Saturday’s contest with No. 5 Kentucky riding a four-game winning streak. Florida’s best player — Colin Castleton — has returned to the lineup, and his presence gives a team loaded with transfers a chance to win on a nightly basis.

However, the resume must be built by every game. Florida has some missed opportunities.

The Gators are just 1-5 in Quadrant 1 games with the only victory occurring in a neutral court win over Ohio State on Nov. 24. Florida also has a Quadrant 2 loss when Ole Miss hammered the Gators 70-54 on Jan. 24. Meanwhile, a neutral court loss to Maryland on Dec. 12 gets worse with each passing day, and a home loss to Texas Southern on Dec. 6 might be the worst defeat taken by a potential NCAA Tournament team.

Currently, the Gators sit at No. 47 in NET and No. 51 in KenPom. On defense, Florida is good at forcing turnovers and protecting the rim but can give up a lot of open looks in between. On offense, Florida lives and dies by the three. The Gators rank No. 16 nationally in three-point shot rate (47.1%) despite ranking No. 307 nationally in three-point percentage (30.7%).

Mike White has a flawed team that needs quality wins down the stretch to extend Florida’s streak of NCAA Tournament bids. The SEC will give them many opportunities.

Florida draws Kentucky twice to close the year and will host Auburn on Feb. 19. Arkansas will also visit Gainesville on Feb. 22. There will be numerous chances for Florida to bolster that Quadrant 1 win column to earn a bid to the Big Dance.

However, this basketball program has its lowest KenPom ranking to this date under White. If the bottom falls out, there could be a surprising job opening if the Gators wanted to pull the plug.