The team that wins this game will do so by limiting their opponents strength. Florida has to get in the chest of BYU's guards and prevent them from nailing 3-pointers. BYU has to keep the Gators out of the paint.
The Gators will secure their first NCAA bid since 2007 with a victory tonight over Mississippi State. But it will be a struggle as the teams are very similar to each other.
Florida has benefited from a weak bubble this season as teams like Memphis, Seton Hall and USF fell early enough in their conference tournaments to knock themselves out.
On February 18, Florida defeated Auburn 78-70. Since then, UF has gone 2-3 and Auburn has gone 3-2, with each team playing inconsistently.
The best player on the Gators is not their leading scorer or their second leading scorer. It's not their senior or their center.
For the third consecutive season, the Gators could have sealed an NCAA bid by winning 10 conference games but failed. Why does this keep happening? Here are our theories;
On February 23, the Gators were 9-4 in the league after defeating Tennessee. Needing to win one of their next two games to clinch an NCAA bid, the Gators lost both by a combined score of six points. Today, barring a miracle, they will lose their third straight game, with a loss at Kentucky.
Ten conference wins gets you in the tournament. The Gators forgot this Saturday when they took a dump on themselves for 30 minutes before rallying and losing. Florida (20-9, 9-5 SEC) cannot forget how important ten wins are when they face Vanderbilt (22-6, 11-3) in the O'Dome tonight.
Tonight is Senior Night for Dan Werner the only remaining player from the Class of 2006.
Ten conference wins is a magic number for any at-large team. With a win today at Georgia, the Gators would get to ten wins and firm up their chances of an NCAA bid.
