Yeah, the game’s tomorrow, not today. But I need to scratch my itch to write.

Fourteen months after the football team won the national championship in Tempe, another UF team travels to Arizona with its own ambitions. Granted, the young Gators will not hoist a crystal trophy if they win. But they could go from being banned from their practice facility to playing in Madison Square Garden. They’re also fighting for respect, and beating a solid Pac-10 team on the road is a good first step.

Both teams are the top two seeds in the same bracket, and somebody’s going to walk away disappointed. On a slightly different vein, let’s look at both teams from various dimensions.

Offense: No-brainer here. Florida is depressingly good on offense. The Gators average 78.1 points per game compared to ASU’s 67.1. At its core, the game will largely be dictated by tempo: Florida’s fast pace versus the Sun Devil’s halfcourt scheme.

Edge: UF

Defense: Devils take the cake. With a slower pace comes a greater emphasis on defensive possessions. Offense-minded Florida has struggled largely due to their play on the other end of the court, something the national champions were second-to-none at.

Edge: ASU

Bench: Donovan has done his best using a nine-man rotation; he had to sign walk-ons just to meet roster requirements. The Gators bench contributed 25.5% of team scoring, the Devils 22.1%. But more importantly, UF has more balanced scoring than ASU: The Devils’ top three scorers (Harden, Pendergraph, Abbott) make up 60% of their scoring offense, but the Gators’ big three (Calathes, Speights, Hodge) only chip in 51.7%.

Edge: UF, barely

Coaching: Donovan has his young squad playing almost otherworldly basketball. Believe it or not, Florida won its second, tougher, game by a larger margin than its first. But judging from the scores, ASU seemed content to just get by against Alabama St. and SIU.

Edge: UF

Intangibles: The Devils will have the crowd on their side. But Nick Calathes came off of a triple-double and will look to continue his strong performance. Speights might have a chip on his shoulder after playing just 19 minutes and grabbing four boards - against an undersized Creighton squad.

Edge: ASU

Prediction: ASU by a nose. But Florida will make it a heckuva fight.

More on the matchup tomorrow.