Florida Gulf Coast Eagles vs North Florida Ospreys Prediction, 2/26/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Florida Gulf Coast Eagles vs North Florida Ospreys

Date: Thursday, February 26, 2026

Location: UNF Arena in Jacksonville, FL

TV: ESPN+

The Florida Gulf Coast Eagles (14-15) are en route to UNF Arena on Thursday where they will play the North Florida Ospreys (6-23).

The Florida Gulf Coast Eagles played Central Arkansas and took home the win by a score of 75-71 in their last game. In relation to personal fouls, the Eagles ended up finishing with 17 and Central Arkansas accumulated 13 personal fouls. They buried 11 of their 32 attempts from 3-point range. Central Arkansas shot 77.8% when shooting free throws by knocking down 14 of their 18 shots. In addition, Central Arkansas grabbed 35 rebounds (6 offensive, 29 defensive), but didn't record a block for the team. Central Arkansas earned 10 assists and had 6 steals in this contest. In terms of defense, Florida Gulf Coast allowed the other team to go 37.7% from the floor on 23 of 61 shooting. They also recorded 15 dimes in this game in addition to forcing 10 turnovers and having 8 steals. When discussing hauling in boards, they earned a total of 34 with 9 of them being of the offensive variety. From the free throw line, the Eagles made 7 of 13 attempts for a rate of 53.8%. Florida Gulf Coast finished having earned a 42.9% field goal percentage (30 of 70) and converted 8 of their 30 three-point attempts.

Jordan Ellerbee is a player who came through in the game. He accumulated 23 points on 9 of 21 shooting. He played for 37 mins played and also collected 5 rebounds. He went 42.9% from the floor and also totaled 1 assist.

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Florida Gulf Coast heads into this one with a win-loss record of 14-15 on the campaign. They are giving up possession 11.4 times per game and as a team they commit 19.2 fouls on a nightly basis. As a unit, Florida Gulf Coast is pulling in 37.1 boards per contest and has totaled 440 assists on the year, which ranks 73rd in college hoops in terms of passing the rock. The Eagles are shooting 34.0% from downtown (243 of 715) and 71.6% from the free throw line. They average 78.9 points per game (113th in Division 1) while connecting on 45.8% from the field.

On the defensive end, the Eagles are able to force 11.7 turnovers on a nightly basis and they draw 16.8 personal fouls. They give up 35.5% from 3-point land and they are ranked 292nd in college in opponents PPG (77.9). The Eagles are allowing and opponent field goal percentage of 44.7% (752 of 1,681) and they surrender 34.1 rebounds per game as a unit. They are ranked 248th in the country in allowing assists to the opposition with 394 conceded on the year.

The last time they took the hardwood, the North Florida Ospreys took a loss by a score of 76-71 against Stetson. In reference to team rebounding, North Florida allowed Stetson to collect 35 in total (13 offensive). They shot 40.6% from three-point range by connecting on 13 out of 32 and ended up going 7 of 13 at the free throw line (53.8%). The Ospreys allowed Stetson to knock down 28 out of 61 tries from the field which had them shooting 45.9% for the matchup. When the final whistle blew, the Ospreys finished shooting 26 out of 57 from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 45.6%. Pertaining to shooting from beyond the arc, North Florida converted 10 out of 27 tries (37.0%). They were able to knock down 9 of them for a percentage of 64.3%. Stetson was called for 16 fouls in this game which got the Ospreys to the charity stripe for a total of 14 attempts. They coughed up the ball 10 times, while getting 6 steals for this contest. The Ospreys recorded 20 defensive boards and 10 offensive boards totaling 30 in the matchup.

Kamrin Oriol was important for the Ospreys for this game. He buried 7 out of 14 in the matchup giving him a rate of 50.0%, and earned 1 rebound. He totaled 17 points in his 32 mins on the hardwood and tallied 4 assists in this matchup.

North Florida has a mark of 6-23 for the season. As an offense, the Ospreys are hitting on 45.2% from the field, which ranks 188th in the nation. North Florida has scored 2,325 points this year (80.2 per game) and they grab 32.6 boards per game. Their rate of dishing out assists is at 14.4 times per contest (150th in Division 1) and they are giving up possession 12.9 times per contest. The Ospreys are committing 18.3 fouls every game and they connect on 77.3% from the charity stripe.

The Ospreys are ranked 365th in the country in PPG allowed with 88.7. They have forced 10.0 turnovers per game and allow teams to shoot 49.0% from the field (357th in college hoops). The North Florida defense gives up 35.1% on 3-point attempts (266 of 758) and opponents are converting on 70.0% of their shots from the charity stripe. They give up 17.0 assists and 38.8 rebounds per contest, which ranks them 352nd and 354th in those categories.

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take North Florida

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