The pressure is on both the Gators and Texas A&M tonight

Todd Golden knows the importance of a win against the Aggies (Photo by Chris Spears)

Must win. Desperation time. Pressure’s on. Can’t afford to lose this one. Got to have it.

Too often, particularly at this time of the year in college basketball, we hear those cliches in a variety of creative ways, and too often it’s nothing more than hype. Tonight, however, those sayings and maybe every other one you’ve heard apply to both 12th-ranked Texas A&M (20-8, 9-6 SEC) and 3rd-ranked Florida (24-4, 11-4 SEC). It cannot be overstated how both these teams need a win when they square off at the O-Dome (8:30 p.m., SEC Network).

Only a week ago, the Gators seemed like a lock for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Then came a disastrous loss at Athens Tuesday night, a game in which the Gators trailed in the first half by 26 points. Although their rally to take the lead before succumbing to Georgia in the final 47 seconds is admirable, no one on the selection committee is going to pay attention to how close a loss it was and that the Gators had a chance to win the game. The only thing they’re going to see is a loss in a game the Gators had no business whatsoever in losing.

And now, the Gators need a win. Yeah, they’re desperate. They haven’t had a 2-game losing streak all season, so that’s one good reason right there. They can still get back to a No. 1 seed if they go 3-0 the rest of the way, starting with tonight against the Aggies. That’s another good reason.

Here is the most important reason of all. By losing to Georgia the Gators lost their 2-game cushion over No. 5 Tennessee (23-5, 10-5 SEC) and No. 14 Missouri (21-7, 10-5 SEC) in Southeastern Conference play and the race for the coveted double bye at the SEC Tournament in Nashville. If the Gators go 2-1 and both the Vols and Mizzou win out in their last three, the Gators could find themselves odd man out for the double bye and forced to play on Thursday in Nashville.

A year ago, the Gators were outside the top four in Nashville but they won three straight games to reach the championship game with Auburn. The Gators not only lost the game, but they lost Micah Handlogten to a compound fracture of his leg. Who knows how much exhaustion played into both the loss and the injury. Four games in four days takes a toll, and that played into the Gators’ first round NCAA loss to Colorado.

Go 3-0 with wins next week at No. 6 Alabama (23-5, 12-3 SEC) and home against Ole Miss (19-9, 8-7 SEC) and it’s a no-brainer. The Gators finish second in the SEC, get the double bye, and almost certainly clinch a No. 1 seed in the NCAA.

“We can get a double bye and still get to two, though, for sure,” Florida coach Todd Golden said Friday when asked the importance of the double bye. “I think that's realistic, especially depending on the outcome at Alabama next week, but I like the double bye. I think that not playing until the Friday of the SEC Tournament gives a little time in a great problem of having to play three games – you don't have to play fourth. I think we would have the opportunity to stay a little fresher for the NCAA Tournament, but yeah, that'd be my answer. I'll take double bye, double bye for 500 please."

Right now, the Aggies stand in the way. A week ago the Aggies were on everybody’s No. 2 line for the NCAA Tournament and thought to be knocking on the door for a No. 1. Now they’ve lost three straight, there’s no shot at the double bye and their NCAA seeding is about to nosedive to a five or a six. Those 5-12 or 6-11 NCAA first round games are notorious for upsets. The Gators were a No. 6 last year when they faced No. 11 Colorado and lost.

Three straight losses are bad enough. Four would make it a bad day at Black Rock for this Aggie team that at one point was playing like it could take on and win against anyone in the country.

So tonight the Gators can expect Texas A&M to come out with the understanding that their season is on the brink. You always know you’re going to get a rock fight when you play a Buzz Williams-coached team, so that’s a given. Now throw in the desperation factor and the Gators can expect to play a team that understands what might have been is slip-sliding away.

But, the losing skid can stop and a furious finish could still keep the Aggies among the top four seeds. Somebody once said that winning cures a lot of ills. Nobody needs a win more than the Aggies and that’s what the Gators are up against tonight.

So what is Golden’s message to the Gators?

“We’ve won six out of seven,” Golden said. “We have a really good team. The message and what we talk about all the time in our program is just being consistent. I think we prepare very well. I think we have a very mature group, and I'm not worried about this group in terms of competing the right way. So, we're playing against a very good A&M tomorrow that's lost three in a row in this league. You got to be able to deal with some adversity and trust what this team has shown over the last 28 games and I'm still thrilled to be the coach of this team. I think this team has a chance to have a great end of the year, and I still feel that way even if we don't win tomorrow. I think we've done enough to prove to ourselves that we have a chance to play deep into March.

“And, as you know, covering college basketball for a long time, the tournament is a lot of variation, a lot of things can happen. But we have a really good team that has a chance to make a run, and we'll just continue to get as good as we can before that, and let the chips fall wherever they may.”

ANTICIPATED STARTING LINEUPS

No. 3 FLORIDA (24-4, 11-4 SEC): Tommy Haugh (6-9, 205, SO); Rueben Chinyelu (6-10, 255, SO); Will Richard (6-4, 206, SR); Alijah Martin (6-2, 195, GR); Walter Clayton Jr. (6-2, 195, SR)

No. 12 Texas A&M (20-8, 9-6 SEC): Andersson Garcia (6-7, 220 SR); Henry Coleman III (6-8, 250, SR); Solomon Washington (6-7, 220, JR); Zhuric Phelps (6-4, 190, SR); Wade Taylor IV (6-0, 180, SR)

SATURDAY IN THE SECNo. 12 Texas A&M (20-8, 9-6 SEC) at No. 3 FLORIDA (24-4, 11-4 SEC)No. 1 Auburn (26-2, 14-1 SEC) at No. 17 Kentucky (19-9, 8-7 SEC)No. 6 Alabama (23-5, 12-3 SEC) at No. 6 Tennessee (23-5, 10-5 SEC)

No. 14 Missouri (21-7, 10-5 SEC) at Vanderbilt (19-9, 7-8 SEC)LSU (14-14, 3-12 SEC) at No. 24 Mississippi State (19-9, 7-8 SEC)Oklahoma (17-11, 4-11 SEC) at Ole Miss (19-9, 8-7 SEC)Georgia (17-11, 5-10 SEC) at Texas (16-12, 5-10 SEC)Arkansas (17-11, 6-9 SEC) at South Carolina (11-17, 1-14 SEC)