Three years ago — really, it was just three years ago — Florida and South Carolina met in the Elite Eight, with the Gamecocks prevailing to earn passage to the Final Four.
The teams that meet this Saturday night in the O’Connell Center (7 p.m., ESPN or WatchESPN) bear very little resemblance to those ones.
Sure, the Gators still have KeVaughn Allen and Kevarrius Hayes, and the Gamecocks still have Chris Silva. But Florida is also still poised to make noise in SEC play after an uneven non-conference campaign that ended with the Gators playing some inspired ball.