Seed Watch: Florida Gators Basketball (March 7)
Florida (18-13, 9-9 SEC) earned a much-needed win on the road this past weekend against Missouri to close the regular season slate and snap a four-game losing streak, but the Gators' chances of reaching the Big Dance at this point look slim with the SEC Tournament in Nashville, Tenn., coming up this week.
No. 8 seed UF is set to square off against ninth-seeded Arkansas on Thursday at 1 p.m. ET, with the winner facing No. 1 seed Texas A&M on Friday at 1 p.m. ET for a spot in the semifinal. (You can view the full SEC Tournament bracket here.)
It's up for debate now how many wins UF will need in the SEC Tournament this week in order to have a good enough resume to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. A loss to either Arkansas or Texas A&M (if UF were to advance to the next round) would certainly have the Gators NIT-bound and out of the NCAA tourney for the second straight season.
It basically comes down to this: Win against the Aggies and advance to the semifinals, and the chances of being a player in March Madness aren't necessarily a sure thing but look better. Win against Arkansas, Texas A&M and the semifinal opponent, and Florida's shot at reaching the Big Dance becomes a whole lot stronger. If Florida goes 4-0 this weekend and wins the conference crown, obviously it earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
"Beat Arkansas. That's all we can worry about really," Florida basketball head coach Mike White said Monday. "I mean, at the end of the day, it comes down to those people in that room, those decisions that they make. I can make arguments for us right now in terms of our schedule strength. Not only non-conference schedule strength but the strength of the schedule that we played within the league, the number of top-100 wins and so on and so forth. But I think it's fruitless to waste time and energy on any of that. It takes away from your focus on the Hogs."
However, White admits that he has thought about the scenarios - although he hasn't and won't let it distract from his focus.
"I looked at it this morning," explained White. "I'll look at it again tomorrow morning. When you're sitting there watching film all day, you find little ways to get away from it, 20-second breaks here and there. There's certain websites we all check every day. Whether I was coaching or not coaching, I'd be looking at it. Other than checking it out, I'm not focused on it. Other than that brief moment, I'm not worried about it. I know if we don't beat Arkansas, our chances decrease for sure."
Currently, ESPN's Joe Lunardi has UF as one of his next four out in the latest version of his Bracketology. In the March 7 edition of CBS Sports' Jerry Palm's Bracketology, he has Florida as one of his first four out.
In Ken Pomeroy's advanced statistics rankings, Florida sits at 44th overall. The Gators are currently 55th in the nation in RPI, 36th in BPI but ranked fifth overall in strength of schedule.
Today, we take another look at UF's resume and what lies ahead with our weekly Seed Watch:
WINS (18 overall, 9 SEC)
(10 in RPI) Win vs. West Virginia – 88-71
(33) Win vs. Saint Joseph's – 74-63
(72) Win vs. Georgia - 77-63
(72) Win at Georgia – 57-53
(88) Win vs. Ole Miss - 77-72
(88) Win at Ole Miss – 80-71
(90) Win vs. LSU – 68-62
(120) Win vs. Arkansas – 87-83
(124) Win vs. Richmond – 76-56
(139) Win vs. Vermont – 86-62
(143) Win vs. Mississippi State – 81-78
(162) Win vs. Auburn – 95-63
(164) Win vs. Oklahoma State – 72-70
(213) Win at Navy – 59-41
(215) Win vs. FGCU – 70-50
(218) Win at Missouri - 82-72
(289) Win vs. Jacksonville – 89-65
(339) Win vs. North Carolina A&T – 104-54
THESE WINS WILL HELP
Nov. 21 - Florida’s 74-63 win against Saint Joseph’s at the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament
Jan. 2 – Florida’s 77-63 home win over Georgia
Jan. 30 - Florida’s 88-71 home victory over then-No. 9 West Virginia
LOSSES (13 overall, 9 SEC)
(7) Loss at Miami - 66-55
(13) Loss vs. Kentucky – 88-79
(13) Loss at Kentucky – 80-61
(14) Loss at Michigan State - 58-52
(16) Loss vs. Purdue - 85-70
(22) Loss at Texas A&M - 71-68
(49) Loss at Vanderbilt - 60-59
(49) Loss vs. Vanderbilt - 87-74
(53) Loss at South Carolina – 73-69 (OT)
(69) Loss vs. Florida State - 73-71
(76) Loss vs. Alabama - 61-55
(90) Loss at LSU - 96-91
(150) Loss at Tennessee - 83-69
THESE LOSSES WILL HURT
Nov. 22 - Florida's 85-70 loss to then-No. 21 Purdue at the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament
Jan. 6 - Florida's 83-69 road loss to unranked Tennessee
Feb. 6 – Florida’s 80-61 road loss to then-No. 20 Kentucky
Feb. 13 - Florida's 61-55 home loss to Alabama
Feb. 23 - Florida's 87-74 home loss to Vanderbilt
Feb. 27 - Florida's 96-91 road loss to LSU
RECORDS
Home: 12-4
Road: 4-8
Neutral: 2-1
vs. RPI 1-50: 2-8
vs. RPI 51-100: 5-4
vs. RPI 101-150: 4-1
vs. RPI 151-200: 2-0
vs. RPI 200+: 5-0
UP NEXT:
(120) vs. Arkansas (Thursday 1 p.m. ET, SEC Network)
TEAMS ON THE BUBBLE TO WATCH
(Via ESPN's Bracketology)
NO. 8 SEEDS
USC (20-11, 9-9 Pac-12) (45th in RPI)
Saint Joseph's (24-7, 13-5 Atlantic 10) (33rd in RPI)
Texas Tech (19-11, 9-9 Big 12) (26th in RPI)
Colorado (21-10, 10-8 Pac-12) (29th in RPI)
NO. 9 SEEDS
Pittsburgh (20-10, 9-9 ACC) (56th in RPI)
Syracuse (19-12, 9-9 ACC) (60th in RPI)
Providence (22-9, 10-8 Big East (44th in RPI)
Vanderbilt (18-13, 11-7 SEC) (49th in RPI)
NO. 10 SEEDS
South Carolina (24-7, 11-7 SEC) (53th in RPI)
Saint Mary's (26-4, 15-3 West Coast) (35th in RPI)
VCU (22-9, 14-4 Atlantic 10) (41st in RPI)
Butler (21-9, 10-8 Big East) (46th in RPI)
LAST FOUR IN
Connecticut (21-10, 11-7 AAC) (57th in RPI) (No. 11 seed)
Oregon State (18-11, 9-9 Pac-12) (30th in RPI) (No. 11 seed)
Michigan (20-11, 10-8 Big Ten) (68th in RPI) (No. 12 seed)
St. Bonaventure (22-7, 14-4 Atlantic 10) (27th in RPI) (No. 12 seed)
OTHER BUBBLE TEAMS LISTED AS NO. 11 SEEDS
Cincinnati (22-9, 12-6 AAC) (40th in RPI)
Temple (20-10, 14-4 AAC) (54th in RPI)
FIRST FOUR OUT
Gonzaga (24-7, 15-3 West Coast) (64th in RPI)
Tulsa (20-10, 12-6 AAC) (51st in RPI)
Ohio State (19-12, 11-7 Big Ten) (77th in RPI)
LSU (18-13, 11-7 SEC) (90th in RPI)
NEXT OUT
Alabama (17-13, 8-10 SEC) (76th in RPI)
Florida (18-13, 9-9 SEC) (55th in RPI)
George Washington (22-9, 11-7 Atlantic 10) (63rd in RPI)
Washington (17-13, 9-9 Pac-12) (82nd in RPI)
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