Florida
NCAA Tournament: Top storylines going into Saturday’s Texas Tech vs. Florida Elite 8 game
SAN FRANCISCO — Two days after overcoming a 16-point deficit to stun Arkansas in the Sweet 16, Texas Tech will face its biggest challenge of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday.
The third-seeded Red Raiders will play top-seeded Florida, led by former Saint Mary’s guard and University of San Francisco coach Todd Golden, in the Elite Eight at Chase Center.
At stake: A spot in the Final Four.
Florida has been a juggernaut through the first three rounds of the tournament, defeating Norfolk State, two-time defending champion UConn and Maryland. The Gators (33-4) have won nine in a row and 15 of 16.
Texas Tech understands the challenge that awaits.
“They have a plan that I think they execute as good as anybody in the country,” Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland after his team’s 85-83 victory over Arkansas in overtime on Thursday. “I watched a little bit of the SEC championship and watched them basically just play their best basketball of the year. I’ve heard consistently from coaches that they’re playing the best of anybody in the country.
“This is what you sign up for when you play in the NCAA Tournament and you want the opportunity to play the best, but we’ve got a tremendous amount of respect because I think they play the right way and they can beat you in a ton of different ways. They’ve got grit and fight and a great plan, and they execute.”
On the flip side, Texas Tech is no slouch, either.
Despite being undersized at almost every position against a streaking Arkansas team, the Red Raiders charged back down the stretch behind clutch play on both ends.
The result was the second biggest comeback in Sweet 16 history.
Sacramento native and Texas Tech’s second-leading scorer Darrion Williams struggled to make shots. But he scored 20 points on 26 attempts, hitting a game-tying 3-pointer and the go-ahead layup in overtime to seal the win.
Big 12 player of the year JT Toppin was a force, finishing with 20 points and 10 boards while guard Christian Anderson led all scorers with 22.
“They’re a really good team,” Florida forward Thomas Haugh said Friday. “They have two really good bigs that they play to, and they’ve got a good rim-protector big. And their guards can all shoot. It’s going to be a really good game. We’ve got to stick to the scout, stick to the game plan.”
Here are the game’s top storylines:
FLORIDA’S SIZE
Florida will have the clear height advantage.
The Gators start 6-foot-11 forward Alex Condon and 6-10 center Rueben Chinyelu – two athletic shot blockers who are also proficient in the post. Florida also brings Haugh, a 6-9 forward, and 7-1 center Micah Handlogten off the bench.
The Gators more than doubled Maryland’s rebounding totals, hauling in 42 to the Terps’ 20.
“I feel like their size is one of them things,” Texas Tech forward Federiko Federiko told reporters on Friday. “And they’re aggressive, super aggressive.”
While Federiko is 6-11 and Toppin is 6-9, the duo didn’t play much on the floor together against a similarly big Arkansas team. The Red Raiders often went small to combat Arkansas’ size with quickness.
CAN TECH HAVE A BETTER SHOOTING NIGHT?
For a majority of Thursday’s game, Texas Tech failed to get into any sort of offensive rhythm.
The Red Raiders shot 35.3% from the field in the first half and struggled to get to the rim against Arkansas’ length and athleticism.
Despite his clutch shot making down the stretch, Williams will probably need to be efficient from the field early against a Florida team that plays very well from ahead.
On Thursday, Williams shot 8 of 26 overall and 2 of 10 from 3-point range.
Still, he made an impact.
“I think to play a game like he played yesterday, not being able to make shots early or struggling early, but to keep the confidence to make those shots down the stretch I think is why he’s the heart of the team, just that confidence and his will to go win for us,” teammate Kevin Overton said.
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
While Florida has the size and athleticism to match up with any team in the country, perhaps the Gators’ biggest advantage is their depth.
Six players scored six or more points against Maryland and eight players played eight minutes or more.
“It’s our biggest strength,” Golden said. “We go nine deep. With Micah (Handlogten) coming back, I have equated it to kind of getting a deadline trade deal done. Him coming back when he did was huge for us.
“This time of year, having that depth is incredible.”
WILL CHANCE MCMILLIAN PLAY?
Texas Tech guard and Vallejo native Chance McMillian missed his fourth straight game with an oblique injury on Thursday and will again be a game-time decision, according to McCasland.
The senior is Texas Tech’s third leading scorer and a 41% shooter from the 3-point line.
McCasland said McMillian participated in Texas Tech’s pregame shoot around on Thursday and was expected to play in some capacity. But he was scratched from the lineup after he told McCasland he didn’t feel right.
“We’re just trying to give him confidence that he can do it and trying to support him as best we can,” McCasland said.
Originally Published:
If housing costs went down as development increased, that would already be happening. But it didn’t happen that way in California, and it’s not going to happen in Florida, either.
Can anything fix the US housing crisis?
Will 2026 bring an affordable housing fix, or are high prices the new normal for buyers and renters?
“It’s the economy, stupid,” Bill Clinton famously proclaimed on his way to winning the presidency in 1992. As we approach midterm elections more than 30 years later, a similar catchphrase could be: “It’s affordability, stupid.”
Many Americans consider the cost of living the top issue that needs to be addressed in November elections. While food, gas and health care costs are a big part of this equation, the biggest expense many families have to reckon with every month is their mortgage or rent payments.
With that in mind, it’s instructive to look at what has happened – and is happening – in Florida and California, two large, heavily populated states on opposite sides of our country.
By one metric, these states appear to be headed in different directions. However, they have more in common than their political leaders might imagine.
A tale of two states, more alike than they may realize
In 2025, California experienced a net loss of 150,000 people, according to one estimate. Other estimates indicate slow growth over the past three years, although the state’s population is about where it was in 2019, before significant population losses during the COVID-19 years.
By contrast, my home state of Florida has been growing like a flower in springtime. Florida added almost 200,000 residents from 2024 to 2025, capping a decade with an overall population growth of 16.5%.
If you’re planning a car trip to Disney World or other Orlando area attractions this summer, these growth statistics will become more than an abstraction.
As you’re driving south on Interstate 75 near the Florida Turnpike junction, about an hour north of your destination, there’s an excellent chance you’ll get mired in bumper-to-bumper traffic in what seems like the middle of nowhere.
You’ll actually be passing through two of the nation’s fastest-growing metro areas, Ocala and The Villages, which may be totally unfamiliar unless you’re a horse breeder or you’ve heard tales about senior citizens spending their retirement years engaged in bawdy activities.
What political narratives miss on affordability
In the hyperpartisan shorthand of our times, a simple narrative has emerged: People are fleeing the liberal, tax-and-spend policies of California, a blue state, while they’re flocking to the red state paradise Gov. Ron DeSantis dubbed “the Free State of Florida.”
That surely makes a good applause line at conservative political events, but the reality is much more practical. According to research by the Public Policy Institute of California, high housing costs are most often cited as the reason why people have chosen to leave the Golden State.
According to the institute, about 900,000 people left California from 2015 to 2025 over housing costs. More than 1 in 3 Californians have at least considered leaving the state for that reason.
That should be setting off alarm bells in Florida and other places where fast population growth is seen as a sign of prosperity.
Even with the recent downturn, California’s population has grown from almost 33.9 million in 2000 to 39.3 million, according to U.S. Census data. During many of those years, California was outpacing the national growth rate.
During that time, the median home price nearly quadrupled, from $226,870 in January 2000 to $889,190 this March.
Florida’s housing prices have been rising with its population, too. Median home prices in the Sunshine State are about $420,000 now, up from about $105,500 in 2000.
Some Florida lawmakers apparently think they can grow their way out of a housing affordability crisis. The state legislature has approved a bill that places new limits on local governments’ efforts to control growth and development within their jurisdictions.
The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. David Borrero, a Republican from the Miami suburb of Hialeah, suggested the legislation would drive home costs down by increasing the stock of housing available in the state.
That would be true only if all housing units looked the same, but they don’t. Modern developers aren’t building quaint bungalows for working-class folks anymore. They’re building mega mansions and high-rise oceanfront condominiums, because – as the old saying goes – that’s where the money is.
If housing costs went down as development increased, that would already be happening. But it didn’t happen that way in California, and it’s not going to happen in Florida, either.
‘Build, baby, build’ isn’t an affordable housing strategy
Developers always seem to think the solution is to build more houses – and let the market take care of itself. However, market corrections may take years to take shape, while most regular folks are battling with their household expense budgets on a month-to-month basis.
There are certainly ways to encourage more specific types of affordable housing. For example, by offering tax breaks or other incentives for more “live-work” spaces, where apartments or condos are located above businesses, or so-called “mother-in-law” units, where small guest houses are permitted on lots with larger primary homes.
Small-lot houses, apartments or condominiums clustered around commercial areas can create walkable neighborhoods, where more people can walk to work or shopping rather than commuting long distances between urban centers and the suburbs.
But if developers just get a free hand to do whatever they want, wherever they want, they’re going to keep building more expensive homes on large land tracts until the real estate bubble bursts.
At that point, people are going to start voting with their moving vans, leaving Florida, much like they did in California.
These two large states, ranked first and third in population, should serve as a cautionary tale for the rest of the country. Trying to grow your way out of a housing affordability problem just won’t work.
Blake Fontenay is USA TODAY’s commentary editor.
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) — A Florida gunman allegedly hunted down a family on the road, firing into their SUV with a child inside in a miles-long road rage fueled pursuit.
Deputies with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office say they responded to a 911 call at 3:14 p.m. Wednesday near Highway 92 and Wiggins Road, where a man, later identified as 33-year-old Nicolas Totherow, was reportedly following a family in an SUV and firing at them.
According to an HCSO news release, the caller told dispatch that one of the four people in the vehicle was a child and stayed on the line as the situation unfolded. Investigators say Totherow continued following the family northbound on Park Road before both vehicles entered Interstate 4. He allegedly kept firing as the pursuit moved eastbound on I-4, ending when the victims exited at County Line Road.
See also: Wasserman Schultz says she’ll run again despite tough districts created by Republican map
The victims were located shortly after and confirmed that their vehicle had been struck multiple times by gunfire, shattering the windshield, rear window, and even reporting that one bullet had gone through the seat where they child was located.
At 6 p.m., deputies say they located Totherow through investigative efforts, recovered his firearm, and took him in custody. During an interview, he allegedly admitted to firing multiple rounds at the victims’ vehicle and stated he intended to kill the driver.
Totherow was subsequently booked into Hillsborough County Jail for counts of:
- Attempted Murder in the First Degree Premeditated Firearm – Discharge
- Aggravated Battery Great Bodily Harm Firearm – Discharge (x4)
- Discharge Firearm from a Vehicle
- Shooting at Within or Into a Vehicle
- Armed Possession of Controlled Substance
- Driving While License Canceled, Suspended, or Revoked
“This reckless and violent behavior put multiple innocent lives at risk on our roadways,” said Sheriff Chad Chronister. “Thanks to the quick actions of our Communications Center and the coordinated response of our deputies and detectives, this suspect was taken into custody before anyone was killed. We will not tolerate violence in our community.”
JOIN THE CONVERSATION (1)
The investigation is ongoing, anyone with information is urged to contact HCSO at 813-247-8200.
Army Corps and St. Lucie County spent $15 million on placing new sand on Fort Pierce Jetty Park beach.
The Army Corps of Engineers and St. Lucie County are working on a new solution to fix Florida’s most-eroded beach.
Here are 5 things to know about the T-groin project:
- They plan to place a half-dozen T-groins at the Fort Pierce Jetty Park beach by 2030.
- T-groins are designed to reduce wave energy and trap sand, but the county did not cite any data or studies that prove they will work.
- The groins, which are typically like rock jetties, will run perpendicular from the dune line with the T part in the ocean.
- The Army Corps said the two biological opinions it received “resolved” the state’s environmental concerns about sea turtle nesting and other impacts, so the project is moving forward.
- The Army Corps and county plan to split the $900,000 cost.
Fixing Florida’s most-eroded beach in Fort Pierce
Fort Pierce Jetty Park costs taxpayers about $15 million every two years for beach restoration projects to replace lost sand, the Army Corps said during an April 28 ribbon-cutting ceremony for its latest effort. St. Lucie County officials hope the T-groins will reduce the need to add new sand to every four years instead of every two year.
Sand has been placed at the Jetty Park beach 14 times since 1971, said Joshua Revord, St. Lucie County Department of Port, Inlet & Beaches director.
The current project, expected to be complete by mid-May, is placing 400,000 cubic yards of sand on a one-mile stretch from the jetty south, according to Col. Brandon Bowman.
Tim O’Hara is TCPalm’s environment reporter. Contact him at tim.ohara@tcpalm.com.
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