Florida is strong and powerful atop the SEC. The Gators just clinched the SEC regular season crown over the weekend. With only one league game left before conference play, Florida is thinking about how high of a seed it can get in March Madness. ESPN's Joe Lunardi had Florida as the highest-ranked No. 2 seed in Tuesday's edition of Bracketology. Could they get a No. 1 seed? There is a way!
CBS Sports' Gary Parrish firmly believes Florida will be a No. 1 seed if the Gators win the SEC tourney.
"They are getting better and better. They are playing extremely well. And if they win out, they will be the fourth No. 1 seed, regardless of what anybody else does. And that's because if they win out, they would be the outright SEC champion and the SEC Tournament champion, and that's going to be worthy of a one seed."
He did mention that Florida will have to overcome losing to UConn head-to-head earlier this season.
"Right now, I know most people favor UConn over Florida in this moment. And I'm okay with that. It's totally reasonable, but Florida does have two more Quadrant 1 wins than UConn. Florida is higher in the NET, higher KenPom than UConn. I know Florida has more losses, and a loss to UConn at MSG way back early in the season."
Parrish finished with this statement, hoping that we see a meeting between these two teams again.
"I don't think there's a wrong answer between the two in this moment. I look forward to them settling it on the court."
Here is everything Parrish said on the CBS Sports analyst desk about why Florida should be a No. 1.
"If [Florida] wins out, they will be the fourth No. 1 seed regardless of what anybody else does."@GaryParrishcbs says Florida certainly deserves the last No. 1 seed if they win out. pic.twitter.com/OjpVaT1ErS
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 4, 2026
Florida is chasing Duke, Michigan, and Arizona right now, battling for the last No. 1 seed with UConn.
Florida can play its way to No. 1 seed with SEC Tournament championship
On the season, Florida is 24-6 overall and 15-2 in SEC play. The Gators are 11-5 in Quad 1 games, 5-1 vs. Quad 2 opponents, and 7-0 vs. everybody else. Assuming they beat Kentucky in Lexington on Saturday like they did Mississippi State on Tuesday night, it is going to be so difficult for the Selection Committee to prevent the defending national champions from getting a No. 1 seed if they win out.
Of course, we could take a page out of college football. If Duke wins the ACC, Michigan wins the Big Ten, Arizona wins the Big 12, and UConn wins the Big East, where does that leave Florida after presumably winning the SEC Tournament? In this scenario, the Gators would be the highest-ranked No. 2 seed in the same region as the lowest-ranked No. 1 seed in UConn, with a rematch for the ages.
The other interesting wrinkle in this is if Florida did get a No. 1 seed. There is a non-zero chance the Gators could face a No. 2-seeded Houston Cougars team ... in Houston. That is possible because crosstown rival Rice is hosting the South Regional on March 26 and 28. Since U of H has only played one game at the Toyota Center this year vs. Florida State, they could be playing just up the road here.
Overall, Florida can only control what it can control. If the Gators take care of business and win out as SEC Tournament champions, the chances of them being a No. 1 seed should go up. Of course, it would probably serve them to root for Houston over Arizona in the Big 12, as well as for UConn to take a dive in the Big East. Duke and Michigan seem to be too far ahead of them for this to matter.
Ultimately, Parrish's CBS Sports colleague Jon Rothstein is right. We are firmly in another golden age of Florida basketball under the guidance of head coach Todd Golden. He is doing things in year four on the job coaches at most other traditional powers could never hope to dream of. With it being a deep conference top to bottom, Florida has more than risen to the occasion to claim this league.
As stated above, all Florida can do is beat everyone it plays the rest of the way and hope for the best.