Florida Gators

Chris Low takes a look at Will Muschamp's second spring practice at Florida.

BRADENTON, Fla. -- Delray Beach (Fla.) American Heritage offensive linemen Rod Johnson became Florida's 11th verbal commitment for Florida's 2013 recruiting class on Sunday.

The 6-foot-5, 302-pound prospect visited Florida on Saturday, and after watching the Gators scrimmage Johnson said he knew that's where he wanted to go.

"I saw the scrimmage Florida had yesterday. It was pretty intense and high tempo," Johnson said. "I really like that kind of offense. It was kind of like the intensity we have at my high school. So I kind of fell in love with the program and the weight room and how they handle the kids in the offseason."

Johnson, who becomes Florida's first offensive line commit of the 2013 class, called Florida head coach Will Muschamp on Sunday morning and informed him of his decision.

"Coach [Will] Muschamp was really fired up about my commitment," Johnson said. "He was real excited."

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PHOENIX -- There is nowhere to hide. There are no secrets to keep and no shocking, revolutionary game plans to unveil.

With Louisville and Florida, this would also be the case in November: Is there a high-profile coaching duo as familiar with one another as Rick Pitino and his former star player and pupil, Billy Donovan? No.

That familiarity will play a factor, no doubt ... but it's also the default situation for any two teams squaring off with a Final Four berth on the line. By this point, the Cardinals and Gators are what they are. Both teams have revealed themselves in their three NCAA tournament victories to date. And both coaches will prepare their teams accordingly.

What do those preparations entail?

There's the obvious strength-on-strength matchup: Over the course of the season, Florida's offense has been one of the best and most efficient in the country. As of Friday's pregame press conferences, the Gators ranked No. 3 in adjusted efficiency, per KenPom.com. Louisville, meanwhile, has likewise been a great defensive team all season -- after Thursday night's historically brutal lockdown of No. 1-seeded Michigan State, the Cardinals rank No. 1 in the nation in defensive efficiency.

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Billy Donovan talks about his seventh-seeded Gators' matchup with No. 4 Louisville on Saturday and about facing mentor and former coach Rick Pitino with a Final Four berth on the line.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Here are five things to watch for in Saturday's Florida-Louisville matchup in the Elite 8 (4:30 p.m. ET on CBS) in Phoenix, Ariz.

Man in the middle: Louisville center Gorgui Dieng presents the same kind of trouble for the Gators as Kentucky's Anthony Davis. He's a shot-blocking machine who should make smaller guards Erving Walker (5-foot-8) and Kenny Boynton (6-1) think twice about driving the lane. The 6-11 Dieng already has Louisville's single-season blocks record (123 and counting) and is averaging 9.2 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. Against Michigan State on Thursday, Dieng tied his career high with seven blocks and added nine rebounds, five points and three steals. He's had at least five blocks in a game 11 times this season. Florida can't allow him to control the paint the way he did against the Spartans. It'll be up to 6-9 center Patric Young to make Dieng guard him and try to get him in foul trouble.

Defense, defense, defense: Louisville isn't particularly big, but the Cardinals are long and athletic, and those are the kind of teams the Gators have struggled with the past few seasons. Louisville has been thriving because of its defense. The Cardinals are third nationally in field goal percentage defense (37.7 percent) and have been fantastic in the NCAA tournament, limiting Davidson to 35 percent from the field and holding New Mexico to 56 points, which was its fourth-lowest point total of the season. Michigan State managed just 44 points, including 18 in the first half. Florida's defense has held its three NCAA tournament opponents to an average of 51.0 points and Virginia, Norfolk State and Marquette shot a combined 20.6 percent from 3-point range (13-for-63) and 31.5 percent from the field. The Gators are also averaging 43.0 rebounds per game in the NCAA tournament, which has limited opponents' second shot opportunities.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida's first scrimmage will be business as usual for the defense, but things are going to be a lot different for the offense.

UF's defensive staff will handle the scrimmage as if it's game day, with most of the staff up in the Florida Field press box. The offensive staff, however, will be on the field because of injuries and unfamiliarity with the new offense and new coaches Brent Pease and Tim Davis.

"Offensively we're still working through some things, so obviously they'll be involved as far as getting some guys aligned in some situations, make sure the huddle procedure is right, the quarterbacks are managing the huddle and managing our football team," Muschamp said. "I told Brent this morning, if you gotta get out there and get 'em lined up, let's just get a functional play off, let's not be uncertain about where we are, where we're lining up and what we're doing."

The Gators will be without three receivers because of injury -- Stephen Alli (groin), Solomon Patton (groin) and Ja'Juan Story (ankle) -- and the players have had only six practices in Pease's offense. Muschamp said the plan is to have most of the offensive staff in the press box for next Saturday's scrimmage.

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PHOENIX -- The No. 7 seeds in the 2012 NCAA tournament were as follows:

Notre Dame. Saint Mary's. Gonzaga. Florida.

Sing it with me now: One of these things is not like the others.

For starters, Florida was the only No. 7 seed to survive the first weekend of the NCAA tournament, and the only one -- after Thursday's 68-58 victory over Marquette -- to reach the Elite Eight and the one-game-from-the-Final-Four precipice it so intensely entails.

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PHOENIX -- A quick recap of Florida's 68-58 win over Marquette Thursday night:

Overview: Maybe Florida can defend after all. The Gators' defense has been their chief deficiency all season, the one major factor keeping such a talented team -- and such a high-powered offense -- from truly breaking through. But after two huge defensive performances in their first two tournament wins, the Gators kept it up, holding Marquette stars Jae Crowder and Darius Johnson-Odom to a combined 29 points on just 10-of-30 shooting from the field.

Turning point: As usual, Florida's shooting made the difference. The Gators maintained a six-point lead for the first six minutes of the first half when Erving Walker and Bradley Beal made back-to-back 3s, opening a 12-point advantage the Gators more or less maintained until the final three minutes. That's when Marquette -- thanks to a steal, a timeout call, a made 3 and a fast-break layup, all from Todd Mayo, all in the matter of 50 seconds -- drew the game back to 58-52.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Miramar (Fla.) linebacker prospect Jermaine Grace is no stranger to recruiting. After all, he watched his highly sought-after teammates Tracy Howard and Malcolm Lewis go through the tireless process last year. Both signed with Miami.

Grace's recruitment is just starting to heat up. He claims offers from Miami, Florida, Florida State, South Florida, Texas A&M and Texas. Grace said he is planning to visit Gainesville for Florida's Friday Night Lights camp in July.

He talked with ESPN.com's Florida recruiting writer Corey Long about the latest in his recruitment.