Florida Basketball has moved on in the SEC Tournament to the semifinals after knocking off Missouri 95-81. The win moved Florida to 28-4 on the season, and they will take on Alabama today at 3:30.
With Selection Sunday looming less than 48 hours away, here are three rapid reactions about where the Gators stand.
If You Take A Swing At Florida Basketball, Don't Miss
One of the things that has become apparent about the Gators is their ability to adapt to any style of play an opponent wants to throw at them. For example, given the number of big men on the roster for Florida, old-school thinking would dictate that an opponent would want to push the pace against Florida and speed them up.
But Florida thrives up-tempo, and even with 16 turnovers on the night, they still scored 95 points.
Todd Golden and company will also punish you if you can't match their size. After Missouri tried to taunt Florida in the 1st half for being "too small," a weird thing happened to the Tigers in the 2nd half:.
They ran out of big men.
The ultimate kill shot for Florida was with Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh on the floor with no one of size on Missouri to stop them. When Missouri center Josh Gray fouled out, the Gators led by six. Within three minutes, the lead ballooned to 13.
It's been 11 years...
Florida is now in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament in back-to-back seasons. That used to be automatic for the Gators but in the ten years prior, the Gators had only made it to the semifinals or better twice.
This isn't to rehash what we already know about the previous coach in Gainesville, but Florida only made it to the semifinals of the SEC Tournament once under Mike White.
Not since 2014 has Florida made back-to-back semifinal appearances in this tournament.
Is a number one seed locked up?
One thing we learned last year from the NCAA Tournament committee is that they don't seem to really value deep runs in conference tournaments. Despite making it to the finals of the SEC Tournament last year, Florida was given zero bump in their seeding. The prevailing wisdom is that they will have the bulk of the bracket set today and will only make alterations if something drastic happens.
As it stands right now, virtually every Bracketology prediction has Florida as a one-seed, with Alabama, Tennessee, Michigan State, Texas Tech and St. John's chasing.
Michigan State, Texas Tech, and St. John's are well back in NET, which Florida is ranked 4th in. Alabama and Tennessee are right behind Florida in this category, but Tennessee finished two games back of Florida in the SEC standings.
This leaves Alabama, who the Gators play today. Even if the Crimson Tide were to win today, Florida would still have a win on the road against them, a better overall record, and a better NET.
It would take some major flip-flopping compared to what the committee did last year to bump Florida off being a one-seed at this point.