Harry Fodder: Bright Lights, Big City for Florida at the Sweet 16

NEW YORK — The chartered flight from Gainesville was delayed for more than an hour, putting the Florida basketball into Newark Airport around 5:40 p.m.

From there, it was a bus ride through New Jersey and into Manhattan, up 42nd Street, past Broadway and to the team's headquarters for the next few days at the Grand Hyatt at Park Avenue Central.

The Chrysler Building is right next door.

Madison Square Garden, site of Friday night's East Region semifinal between the No. 4-seed Gators (26-8) and eighth-seeded Wisconsin (27-9) is about 15 blocks away (or one mile or so).

After dinner at the hotel, the UF players were given a couple hours to bounce around midtown before reporting back at 9:30 p.m. for a team meeting, followed by (hopefully) a good night's sleep (assuming it's not a big siren night). The Gators will need their rest, given the full plate that awaits them Thursday.

Let's fly. See you soon @TheGarden ????????#MarchMadness #Sweet16
??: @courtnerz pic.twitter.com/YZm3ntWebp
— Gators M-Basketball (@GatorsMBK) March 22, 2017

After breakfast in the morning, the team will hold a closed practice at -- get this -- Terminal 23, Nike's swank Manhattan gym (Google it), and then head to Madison Square Garden, where they'll have a quick snack before their NCAA obligations commence.

UF's media segment — head coach and select players at the podium, while the locker room is open — will be from 2-2:30 p.m. After that, there will be an open-to-the-public practice on the Garden floor from 3:10-4 p.m. The "practice," basically, will be an informal shoot-around for the players to get used to the surroundings, even though the Gators were here in December for the Jimmy V Classic against Duke.

A late lunch at the hotel is set for 4:15 and dinner at 7:30. Yes, these guys eat a lot. They need it.

A team meeting will follow Thursday night at 9:30 (with more food).

As far as Friday, the Gators will get to practice on the Garden court for probably 45 minutes or so in the afternoon when they'll revisit some things about the scout and game plan. They'll return to the hotel for lunch, hang out a bit and have their pre-game meal the standard 4 1/2 hours before tipoff.

The regional opener between seventh-seeded South Carolina (24-10) and Baylor (27-7) tips at 7:29 p.m. The Gators depart for the arena at 8:20 p.m.

* Check out our Sweet 16 'Digital Guide here

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Harry Fodder: Bright Lights, Big City for Florida at the Sweet 16

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Harry Fodder: Bright Lights, Big City for Florida at the Sweet 16

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