GAINESVILLE -- The University of Florida men's basketball team has two games left in the regular season against the two best teams in the Southeastern Conference.
A win against either Vanderbilt (7 p.m. Tuesday) or Kentucky (noon Sunday) would strengthen the Gators' NCAA Tournament resume. A win against both would help the Gators' seeding. A loss against both would leave Florida 0-3 to finish the season and 5-5 in its last 10 games. UF went 3-7 in 2008 and missed the tournament. UF went 4-6 in 2009 ... and missed the tournament. Seems like finishing flat is frowned upon.
Of course, knocking off Kentucky in Lexington on the final day of the regular season seems unlikely for the Gators. That means one thing: UF need to upset Vanderbilt at the O'Connell Center on Tuesday. Dan Werner's NCAA Tournament hopes might depend on it.
ABOUT THE LOSS TO GEORGIA...
I'm not into bashing college athletes, especially dudes as seemingly generous as Werner, so that's not going to happen here. Should Dan Werner have taken the shot at the end of the game against Georgia or passed it? Considering the situation, a shot certainly seemed like an option.
Werner passed it, a Georgia defender made a nice play and the Gators lost. Time ran out. Georgia 78, Florida 76. Maybe that was the play UF coach Billy Donovan drew up, for Werner to pass. Either way, the ball was in the hands of the only senior on the team with the game on the line. That's usually a good thing.
The loss to Georgia, the worst team in the SEC East, makes Tuesday's game against Vandy all the more important. Vanderbilt manhandled UF earlier this season in Nashville and, considering Tennessee's victory against Kentucky over the weekend, the Gators could use a quality win. Of the four teams in the SEC East with a chance to make the NCAA Tournament, Florida seems like the team on the bubble.
Tennessee is currently ranked 14 in the RPI, according to RealTimeRPI.com. Florida is 46.
CHANDLER PARSONS, GET'N FANCY ...
-jo-
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