Florida Basketball entered Saturday's contest against Tennessee, hoping to vault into the top four with a victory. What transpired instead is the Gators couldn't make a basket and were blown out 64-44 to fall to 18-3 on the season.
The good news for Florida, however, is that the loss doesn't appear to have hurt them too badly, as the latest AP Top 25 Poll gave the Gators a minimal drop.
Florida Basketball: One Step Back
Florida fell just one spot to 6th in the updated AP Top 25 Poll. Ahead of the Gators are Auburn, Duke, Alabama, Tennessee, and Houston.
What cushioned Florida's fall in the poll was the fact that Iowa State got blown out by Kansas State and dropped five spots themselves.
Interestingly, Houston also lost on Saturday but still moved up one spot.
Based on this AP Poll plus the NCAA Net rankings, which has the Gators 5th, Florida is still in line to earn a two-seed come Selection Sunday. As we noted last week, all but two of the eventual national champions in college basketball since 1998 have been a three-seed at worst.
Florida has a tricky week on deck as the Gators will host Vanderbilt on Tuesday at 7 PM. The Commodores are unranked but did receive votes in the poll as they are pushing to make the NCAA Tournament themselves next month.
Saturday will be the marquee game as Florida travels to Auburn to take on the top-ranked Tigers. Last season, Florida won the regular season contest before losing in the SEC Championship game.
The SEC has four teams in the top six of the AP Poll and nine teams overall in the top 25. Behind Florida is Texas A&M, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi State, and Ole Miss.
Vanderbilt, Texas, and Oklahoma also all received votes in the poll.