Florida is surging at just the right time.
Here’s everything you need to know entering the SEC tournament this weekend in Nashville.
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Can Florida run it back?
Florida is back, right?
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The Gators, after last year’s national championship win, struggled to start the season. They lost out of the gate, and then ended up falling out of the national rankings completely by early January.
But now, this team feels like a completely different story. The Gators ended the season on an 11-game win streak, capped with an 84-77 win over Kentucky on Saturday. They’ve lost just twice since the turn of the new year, too, and ended the season with a 25-6 record and their first regular-season SEC title since 2014. They won it by three full games as the rest of the conference just sort of beat itself up.
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Now, this isn’t to say that nobody else in the SEC can compete with Florida. Arkansas has looked solid at times, though Florida beat it by more than 30 points last month. Alabama won nine of its last 10 games to jump back up in the league standings and earn a double bye after a 23-point loss at Florida. And Vanderbilt, after a 16-0 start, leveled out a bit but still held its own in the SEC.
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But all eyes this week in Nashville will be on the Gators, who suddenly look capable of winning back-to-back national titles again. As long as it doesn’t slip early, Florida may actually end up with a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, which will only help in that quest.
That idea just a few months ago didn’t even seem possible.
SEC men’s basketball tournament basics
When: March 11-15
Where: Bridgestone Arena | Nashville, Tennessee
TV: ESPN, SEC Network
The SEC men’s basketball tournament bracket is set. (SEC)
SEC men’s basketball schedule, results
All times ET
Wednesday, March 11 – First Round
Game 1 | No. 9 Kentucky 87, No. 16 LSU 82
Game 2 | Auburn 77, Mississippi State 61
Game 3 | Ole Miss 76, Texas 66
Game 4 | Oklahoma 86, South Carolina 74
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Thursday, March 12 — Second Round
Game 5 | Kentucky 78, Missouri 72
Game 6 | Tennessee 72, Kentucky 62
Game 7 | Ole Miss 76, Georgia 72
Game 8 | Oklahoma 83, Texas A&M 63
Friday, March 13 — Quarterfinals
Game 9 | Florida 71, Kentucky 63
Game 10 | Vanderbilt 75, Tennessee 68
Game 11 | Ole Miss 80, Alabama 79
Game 12 | Arkansas 82, Oklahoma 79
Saturday, March 14 — Semifinals
Game 13 | No. 1 Florida vs. No. 5 Vanderbilt | 1 p.m. | ESPN
Game 14 | No. 15 Ole Miss vs. No. 3 Arkansas | 3:30 p.m. | ESPN
Sunday, March 15 — Championship
Game 15 | G13 winner vs. G14 winner | 1 p.m. | ESPN