Gators go for a seventh straight win on the road tonight at Texas
- Franz Beard
- Feb 25
- 6 min read
Just call them road warriors.
Todd Golden has a team that doesn’t seem fazed by the kind of hostile environments found in venues around the Southeastern Conference. It’s almost as if 7th-ranked Florida (21-6, 12-2) has this thing about going on the road to burst the bubble of fans intent on potentially storming the court to celebrate a win over last year’s national champ.
The numbers bear it out. Since a loss to Missouri in Columbia the first SEC game of the year, the Gators have won six straight, the last four by a whopping 105 points. The six straight road wins is the second longest streak in Florida basketball history. Beating four straight opponents on the road by at least 19 points is something that hasn’t happened among top 25 teams in years. Any win on the road is a good win, particularly when the end of the regular season is in sight, but crushing an opponent in his home arena is something to be savored.
That stick a dagger in the heart of opposing fans mentality gets tested tonight when the Gators take on Texas (17-10, 8-6 SEC) in Austin. There is the added incentive of moving one step closer toward a regular season Southeastern Conference championship. Following Tennessee’s loss on the road at Missouri Tuesday night, only Arkansas and Alabama are within two games of the Gators with four to go.
The magic number for Florida is three. Any combination of two Florida wins and one loss each by Arkansas and Alabama and the Gators clinch their first SEC title since 2014. In the SEC the league champ is determined by the regular season not the tournament. The SEC Tournament champ gets the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament but the best record in the regular season dictates the league championship.
The Gators should also find incentive in the most recent brackets by both Joe Lunardi and CBS, both of whom have UF on their No. 3 line. Also, when the NCAA came out with its early bracket look last Saturday, Florida was No. 9 of their 16 seeded teams, which would mean the Gators are the top team on the No. 3 line. If the Gators continue their winning ways – they have won seven straight games, 12 of their last 13 games and 16 of 18 since a rocky 5-4 start – getting up to the two line is within reach. No. 1 would take a combination of Florida wins and losses by teams ranked above UF right now. The Gators have already gotten help this week when Houston was clocked on its home floor by Kansas.
Golden is keenly aware of what’s going on in the brackets.
“I think we're probably two right now if I was doing the bracket, but I'm not,” Golden said Tuesday before the Gators left for Austin. “I think it's all really close. So I think these next couple weeks are going to really determine who slides up and who drops down. I don't think there's too much of a difference necessarily between being a two and a three. I think once you start going from a three to a four or two to a one, that's when the difference really shows up.
“We obviously want to be the highest we can be. Can we still get to one seat at that? We'll see. I mean, if we run the table, you never know. I think that would be an incredible situation to think about. But again, our goal is … what we need to do, taking care of business day by day to win the league, and then work to play to the highest seat possible for March … We'll see how these things go. Hopefully we can continue to put pressure on them to make it as high as possible.”
Anticipated starting lineups
No. 7 FLORIDA (21-6, 12-2 SEC): Alex Condon (6-11, 236, JR); Rueben Chinyelu (6-11, 265, JR); Tommy Haugh (6-9, 215, JR); Boogie Fland (6-3, 185, SO); Xaivian Lee (6-4, 185, SR)
Texas (17-10, 8-6 SEC): Camden Heide (6-7, 215, SR); Matas Volietaitis (7-0, 255, SO); Dailyn Swain (6-8, 225, JR); Tramon Mark (6-5, 210, SR); Jordan Pope (6-1, 180, SR)
Tuesday’s scores
Missouri (19-9, 9-6 SEC) 73, No. 22 Tennessee (20-8, 10-5 SEC) 69: Despite being outrebounded by 12 (42-30) and shooting only 4-17 from the 3-point line, Mizzou pulled off a stunner in Columbia, upsetting Tennessee and all but ending any mathematical chance the Vols had to tie for the SEC title. T.O. Barrett (28) and Mark Mitchell (23) led Missouri, which got 4-4 from the foul line in the final 18 seconds to seal the win. The Vols were led by Ja’Kobi Gillespie with 18.
Kentucky (18-10, 9-6 SEC) 72, South Carolina (12-16, 3-12 SEC) 63: Kentucky closed on a 13-5 run to avoid its third straight loss. Denzel Aberdeen scored 19 for the Wildcats. Otega Oweh (8) saw his streak of 31 straight double figures scoring games come to an end. South Carolina, which hit four 3-pointers early in the first half, couldn’t buy a basket when it needed points late. Meechie Johnson scored 18 for the Gamecocks who made only 8-29 from the 3-point line.
Oklahoma (14-14, 4-11 SEC) 91, Auburn (15-13, 6-9 SEC) 79: Auburn’s chances of making the NCAA Tournament took a serious hit in Norman because the Tigers couldn’t defend Oklahoma’s 3-point shooters. Oklahoma made 13-19 of its threes with Nijel Pack hitting 6-8 as part of a 22-point night. Keyshawn Hall and Kevin Overton each scored 26 for Auburn.
Wednesday’s games
No. 12 FLORIDA (21-6, 12-2 SEC) at Texas (17-10, 8-6 SEC)
Georgia (19-8, 7-7 SEC) at No. 19 Vanderbilt (21-6, 8-6 SEC)
Texas A&M (19-8, 9-5 SEC) at No. 20 Arkansas (20-7, 10-4 SEC)
Mississippi State (13-14, 5-9 SEC) at No. 25 Alabama (20-7, 10-4 SEC)
LSU (14-13, 2-12 SEC) at Ole Miss (11-16, 3-11 SEC)
Saturday’s games
No. 20 Arkansas (20-7, 10-4 SEC) at No. 7 FLORIDA (21-6, 12-2 SEC)
No. 25 Vanderbilt (21-6, 8-6 SEC) at Kentucky (18-10, 9-6 SEC)
No. 17 Alabama (20-7, 10-4 SEC) at No. 22 Tennessee (20-9, 10-5 SEC)
Texas (17-10, 8-6 SEC) at Texas A&M (19-8, 9-5 SEC)
Missouri (19-9, 9-6 SEC) at Mississippi State (13-14, 5-9 SEC)
South Carolina (12-16, 3-12 SEC) at Georgia (19-8, 7-7 SEC)
Ole Miss (11-16, 3-11 SEC) at Auburn (15-13, 6-9 SEC)
Oklahoma (14-14, 4-11 SEC) at LSU (14-13, 2-12 SEC)
SEC in ESPN (Joe Lunardi) bracketology
East: 1. Duke; 2. Purdue; 3. Kansas; 4. Alabama (SEC: 9. Georgia; 11. Missouri)
South: 1. UConn; 2. Houston; 3. Nebraska; 4. Texas Tech (SEC: 5. Arkansas; 8. Kentucky; 10. Texas)
Midwest: 1. Michigan; 2. Iowa State; 3. FLORIDA; 4. Virginia (SEC: 5. Vanderbilt; 9. Texas A&M)
West: 1. Arizona; 2. Illinois; 3. Gonzaga; 4. Michigan State (SEC: 5. Tennessee; 10. Auburn)
SEC in CBS bracketology
East: 1. Duke; 2. Houston; 3. Nebraska; 4. Alabama (SEC: 5. Vanderbilt; 9. Auburn; 11. Missouri)
South: 1. UConn; 2. Purdue; 3. Kansas; 4. Michigan State (SEC: 5. Tennessee; 8. Georgia; 10. Texas A&M)
Midwest: 1. Michigan; 2. Iowa State; 3. FLORIDA; 4. Virginia (SEC: 5. Arkansas)
West: 1. Arizona; 2. Illinois; 3. Gonzaga; 4. Texas Tech (SEC: 7. Kentucky; 10. Texas)
BEDIAKO LOSES IN COURT … AGAIN
Tuscaloosa circuit judge Daniel Pruet denied Charles Bediako’s request for injunctive relief, which would allow him to play the rest of the season while the Alabama Supreme Court hears his case. Pruet is the same judge that ruled in favor of the NCAA, taking off the temporary restraining order that allowed Bediako to play in five games. The appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court won’t be heard until after the season ends.
SEC FINES THE POPE OF ST. RUPP’S ARENA
Kentucky coach Mark Pope was fined $25,000 by the Southeastern Conference for his remarks about the officiating in the Wildcats’ loss to Auburn. Pope was incensed by an offensive foul call on Collin Chandler when the Wildcats were trying to inbounds the ball with seconds remaining in the game. The ball turned over to Auburn which got a tip-in with a little more than one second remaining that gave the Tigers a 75-74 win.
Leaving the press conference afterward, Pope was caught on a hot mic shouting at UK athletic director Mitch Barnhardt, “Mitch, if those MFers try to fine me, they can’t. I didn’t say a word about how they cheated us.”Well, the SEC did fine him quite a bit of money.
Two things to take into consideration here. 1. The call on Chandler had all the feel of retribution against Pope, who had been in the ear of the officiating crew of Todd Austin, Courtney Green and Lucas Santos many times during a very physical game. This was the only pushing off call the entire game but especially there at the end but it is also a call that could have gone the other way. 2. It shouldn’t have come down to one call by one of the zebras to influence the outcome of the game anyway. Kentucky had chances to expand the lead to four points but blew layups and stickback bunnies that could have made what Auburn did at the end of the game irrelevant.
for years kaintuck got favorable calls - now the shoe is on the other foot- poor babies
Whenever KY gets a "bad" call they cry like babies. As I always say, the "fans" of KY think every foul that is called against them is a bad call. They have yet to have correct foul called against them. As I shouted at their bench when the players were jawing about a non-foul call on Rueben, I said, if the refs called every foul you made against Rueben on every possession, you would not have a player left in the game by halftime. 2 of the players turned around and looked at me and smiled. Too bad the pope didn't react the same way.