2/15/2016 basketball Edit

Seed Watch: Florida Gators Basketball (Feb. 15)

Florida basketball head coach Mike White (Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports)

Landon Watnick

Senior Writer

After falling to Alabama 61-55 on Saturday in the O'Connell Center - as the Gators lost to the Crimson Tide at home for the first time in 21 years - Florida moved closer to the bubble.

Now, the journey through conference competition gets tougher from here on out. Four of Florida's final six regular season games are on the road, with two contests this week at Georgia on Tuesday (9 p.m., ESPN) and South Carolina on Saturday (12 p.m., SEC Network).

Keep in mind, Florida has gone just 2-6 in road contests this season while going 12-2 at home.

“I wouldn’t call it the deciding week, but it’s a huge week for us," Florida basketball head coach Mike White said Monday. "It’s two big opportunities, two very, very difficult challenges. And sure, we’d like to have success, but more importantly right now I look at Georgia and I just want to have a chance, I just want our guys to be within striking distance midway through the second half, that’s first order of business. Get out and get in a decent defensive rhythm, make a couple shots, be somewhat effective versus their changing defenses and just hope to have a shot on the road against a good team, who’s playing as well as they are at home.”

Currently, ESPN's Joe Lunardi has UF as a No. 9 seed in the latest version of his Bracketology, facing No. 8 seed Wichita State in the South bracket. In the Feb. 15 edition of CBS Sports' Jerry Palm's Bracketology, he has Florida projected as a No. 11 seed against 6th-seeded Texas in the West bracket.

In Ken Pomeroy's advanced statistics rankings, Florida dropped six spots from last week to 34th overall. The Gators are currently 31st in the nation in RPI (eight spots lower than last week), 27th in BPI and ranked eighth overall in strength of schedule.

These next six contests present opportunities for UF to build on its resume. Five of its final six opponents are ranked in the top 100 nationally in RPI, with two of those games this week coming against the Bulldogs (67th in RPI) and the Gamecocks (27th in that category). During this span, Florida will have opportunities to try to sweep Georgia and LSU for the regular season while hoping to even the score with Vanderbilt and Kentucky.

“I’m not looking at it as far as separating from the pack at all. In this league, you have to go into survival mode and really hope you can play well enough to have a chance on Tuesday night," White explained.

"It’s that simple. It’s going to be a very difficult challenge for us. The next one will be difficult for us, the following one will be difficult as well, but especially on the road with these two this week, starting with Georgia. They’re playing really well, especially at home. We’ve had offensive struggles. We’re coming off a game where we shot 29 percent at home and now we’re on the road playing a defense that is just as good - and different, of course. That’s my biggest concern right now. Not the league standings, not our RPI numbers. It’s how the heck do we score at Georgia?”

Presumably, at least four wins during this stretch would put the Gators in good standing for the NCAA Tournament. Three of fewer victories to close out the regular season, and UF may need to win at least 1-2 contests in the SEC Tournament - obviously depending on various factors.

Today, take another look at UF's resume and what lies ahead with our weekly Seed Watch:

WINS (16 overall, 7 SEC)

(11 in RPI) Win vs. West Virginia – 88-71

(28) Win vs. Saint Joseph's – 74-63

(67) Win vs. Georgia 77-63

(72) Win vs. LSU – 68-62

(86) Win vs. Ole Miss - 77-72

(86) Win at Ole Miss – 80-71

(117) Win vs. Richmond – 76-56

(118) Win vs. Arkansas – 87-83

(144) Win vs. Auburn – 95-63

(145) Win vs. Oklahoma State – 72-70