It would benefit Florida Basketball to lose early in the SEC Tournament

Following its loss to Vanderbilt, Florida Basketball will enter into the SEC Tournament as the 6th seed in the tournament. Failing to earn a top four seed means that Florida will have to play the winner of Missouri vs Georgia, with the winner of that moving on to play Alabama.

Even with the extra game, the bracket for the Gators sets up well, as Florida would feed into Kentucky for a potential semi-final game and wouldn't have to see Tennessee until the finals.

However, history shows us that while making a deep run in the SEC Tournament might be fun for the fans, it doesn't bode well for making a deep run in the subsequent NCAA Tournament.

Florida Basketball: Have Fun, But Not Too Much

In order for Florida to win the SEC Tournament, they would have to play four games in four days. It is far from an ideal pathway, but since 2014 there have been eight teams from a Power Six conference that played four games in their respective conference tournament and won the title.

Another six teams won three rounds of their tournament but wound up losing in the finals.

The problem isn't whether or not Florida can make a deep run in the tournament, the debate is whether or not they should.

Of the last 14 teams that played four games in their conference tournament, only two wound up making it to at least the Elite Eight.

In fact, of the last six teams that played four games in their conference tournament, four lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, one lost in the second, and one (Texas A&M) didn't even make the tournament.

Each team is unique and each situation is different, but the prevailing belief is that fatigue catches up to teams. Playing four games in four days is brutal on the body. If Florida were to go all the way in the SEC Tournament, they would play on Sunday and fly home, rest on Monday, maybe have a light shoot around on Tuesday, then have to fly out to whatever tournament site they get picked for on Wednesday and play a game on either Thursday or Friday.

The best case scenario for Florida this week is to win the first game against either Missouri or Georgia, then play Alabama close but let the Crimson Tide have this one.

In the road to March Madness, sometimes it's better to play chess and not checkers.