The Wildcats are 19-6 overall and 1-2 in the conference after losing the series at Auburn last weekend.   Gators Softball Celebrates! Photo credit UAA The Wildcats won game one 8-3 on The Plains. Then they lost game two 6-2 and game three 6-5 in 13 innings. They have been balanced in the circle with Hailey Nutter starting 8 games and McKenzie Oslanzi and Sara Haendiges starting 7 each. Nutter has a 7-1 record and 4 shut outs in 12 appearances with a 1.88 era. Haendiges is 7-2 in 11 appearances with two  shut outs and a 2.18 era. Oslanzi only has a 3-2 record but has appeared in 12 games for the Wildcats with a 1.63 era to lead the staff.   Expect to see all three get a start this weekend and probably see them all in relief if necessary. Karissa Hamilton leads the team in hitting at .432. Carly Sleeman is next at .410. Allie Blum and Peyton Plotts are the only other Cats hitting above .300. However, every player in the lineup is hitting above .200. Plotts leads the Wildcats in HRs with 9. Madison Anson is next with 6 followed by Hamilton and Blum with 5 each.   They have hit 33 as a team or a little over 1 per game. The top four hitters all have over 20 RBI. Their offense has scored 159 runs or over 6 runs per game.   The Gators swept the feisty Missouri team in Gainesville to start their SEC schedule. Taylor Shumaker took over the lead for the Gators in batting average now sitting at an even .500. Jocely Erickson is right behind her at 4.88 followed by Gabi Comia at .476 and Kenleigh Cahalan at .442. Madison Walker, coming off a good weekend against her former teammates, has climbed over the .400 mark as well.   The “weakest” hitter in the starting lineup for the Gators is Cassidy McLellan hitting a “lowly” (sarcasm here folks) .311. Erickson paces the Gators with 13 home runs. Shumaker now has 11 and Cahalan has 10.   As a team the Gators now sit at 60 long balls.   Keagan Rothrock picked up all three wins, one in relief, against the Tigers, improving her record to 14-1. Leah Stevens got the other start for the Gators but was roughed up early and replaced by Olivia Miller who pitched 7 plus innings of shut out relief in an 11-inning game two.   With Saturday starter, Ava Brown, still unavailable due to a leg injury, pitching continues to be a cause for concern for this team. Rothrock appears ready to shoulder the load like she did as a freshman, but the Gators will need to continue to have one of the other pitchers pick up some innings during these tough SEC weekend series.   Every weekend is tough in the SEC. This weekend in Kentucky will likely see warm and cold weather. Or at least it is expected to be colder than it has been in Gainesville. How this team responds to their second trip out of the state and the first road SEC series will tell us all just how good this team can truly be.

Alex Condon flushes one during Florida's 71-63 quarterfinal victory over Kentucky. Photo by Chris Spears. By Carlton Reese GatorBaitMedia.com   NASHVILLE—What are we to make of Friday’s quarterfinal 71-63 Gator victory over the Kentucky Wildcats? What was likely Florida’s poorest all-around performance in over six weeks is, at the same time, both disconcerting and encouraging. Any time a team shoots 38 percent from the field and just 3-for-20 from 3-point range while committing 18 turnovers and still beats a team like Kentucky in the never-a-doubt fashion is perplexing, but a signal to the world of just how good Florida is. Let’s be honest, the last month and a half Florida has been flawless to the point of spoiling fans and media alike. The Gators look like a team that can do no wrong and the domination spells another waltz to a title. But in Nashville, we all witnessed some chinks in the armor thought ironed out long ago. To be concerned by what we saw is completely rational, especially when we’re talking about the chances of a team to win it all. Disconcerting was the poor performance, showing how mortal the Gators are. The win over Kentucky required a bit of luck in that the Wildcats shot poorly themselves. Florida defended well to help make most every shot difficult, but Kentucky’s sharpshooters couldn’t hit even when they were left wide open. On an average night, Kentucky shoots much better and Florida is in trouble. Counting on the opponent to have an off-night shooting will not work in the coming weeks, especially amid sloppy passing and ball handling. Whatever was ailing Florida Friday had better be cleared up, else Vabnderbilt sends the Gators home from Nashville Saturday. Not every game is sheer domination – off-nights are bound to happen, but they need to take place in February and not March. Encouraging is the victory despite the ugliness. Like last year in the NCAA Tournament run where Florida overcame some sleepwalking moments to win anyway, this year’s team seems to have a knack for pushing through its own lackluster job and find a way to win. That is the beauty of being a juggernaut in rebounding and defensive intensity while having weapons at every position capable of taking over a game when deficiencies pop up elsewhere. How many times does a team play so far below its potential and still beat Kentucky handily? Florida’s done it three times this season, having built big leads every time only to see a late Wildcats push make a final score that belied the ease of the victory. Keep in mind the Gators went wire-to-wire with the lead in every game against Kentucky – that’s not something that happens by fluke. “I would have preferred to win this game by 20, but we’ll take this 8-point win,” Todd Golden remarked, echoing what every Gator fan was thinking. That’s where Golden has the program: Wondering why an 8-point win over the Kentucky Wildcats wasn’t a 20-point thrashing, as though Merrimack was the opponent. It’s not ego or bravado – it’s high expectations which are a hallmark of any championship team. No doubt Golden warned his players in the locker room following Friday’s game that if they don’t tighten a few screws, this thing could fall apart well ahead of schedule. He may have even used some harsh language in the process. History tells us the message was heard loud and clear by these players who have complete trust in the methods that earned a national title last year and a run of 17 wins in 18 games. Florida’s front court advantage was too much for Kentucky as it has been for everyone else. A 50-29 rebounding advantage tends to make up for poor shooting and turnovers, but Kentucky is not built to match up in this way. Teams down the road will present much stronger front court challenges to Florida and the Gators won’t have the leeway of 15 percent shooting and 18 turnovers. Disconcerting or encouraging? Two different things can be true at the same time, and Florida’s win over Kentucky is proof. Simultaneously, the Gators showed they can be very pedestrian and ripe for defeat while also scaring the living hell out of everyone who just saw them easily beat Kentucky when they played one of their worst games of the season. If Florida loses, the pundits will point back to the Kentucky game as a cautionary tale left unheeded, which would be a bit unfair. Florida is great, but not perfect – even Tiger Woods missed a four-foot putt on occasion – and all expectations should be grounded in that knowledge. Because Florida has so many ways to beat its opponents into submission, one never sees the Gators panic when adversity strikes, which keeps them at a minimum. When Kentucky crawled back to within six points with 1:29 remaining, there was Thomas Haugh draining a tough turnaround jumper to squelch momentum. Then there was Xaivian Lee with 50 seconds left and Kentucky within five, stepping back and sinking a 3-pointer at the end of a tough possession. That shot ended all Kentucky’s hopes and reminded everyone of all those big moments in last year’s championship run where whenever something good absolutely had to happen for Florida, it did… every time. Haugh admitted afterward he had a bad game, but that did not faze him from taking the tough shot that had to go down late in the game. No memory. Lee was in danger of missing a tough shot that Kentucky could have capitalized on to make it a one-score game, but he was not fazed, either. These Gators know that when someone needs to rise to the occasion with the pressure at its hottest, any one of eight players can be called upon to be a hero. Last year it was Walter Clayton burying off-balance shots with defenders draped on him when it mattered most, or Alijah Martin making a steal and dunk to suck the life out of the other team. This year, we’re seeing it again: a hero can come from anywhere at any time even on a bad night. It’s a nice luxury to have and an ingredient that wins championships.

Todd Golden goes at it with KB Burnett and Pat Adams (Photo by Chris Spears) “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.” – Murphy’s Law   NASHVILLE, Tennessee – It is entirely possible that Murphy was an optimist or at least that’s what it seemed after the first half of the Southeastern Conference Tournament semifinal with Vanderbilt at Bridgestone Arena.   Down 47-32, the Gators still had an entire half to get back into the same groove that carried them into this game with the momentum of a 12-game winning streak. But, when AK Okereke casually nailed a 3-pointer on Vanderbilt’s first possession of the second half it had the effect of a rather large rock sinking to the pit of the stomach.   For 4 th -ranked Florida (26-7), as bad as it was in the first half, the second half was worse. Call it a bad day at the office for the Gators who will have to sweat out the reveal of the NCAA Selection Committee’s seeding decision Sunday night. The Gators are going to be in Tampa regardless of their decision, but the question is will it be a No. 1 or a No. 2? If it’s a No. 1 it will be because the committee respected Florida’s 12 Quad 1 wins and overall body of work. If it’s a No. 2, then all fingers will point to what happened Saturday when Vanderbilt became the first team all season to score a blowout win over the Florida Gators.   Final score: Vanderbilt 91, Florida 74. And really, it didn’t seem nearly that close.   The Commodores (26-7) played probably their best game of the season and in doing so may have elbowed their way to the No. 4 line when the NCAA selects. How they did it was a let’s get physical defensive effort and their three big guys – Okereke, Devin McGlockton and Jalen Washington – going 7-10 from the 3-point line.   The physicality caused the Gators to miss way too many shots in the paint. Florida corralled 20 offensive rebounds, which the Gators normally convert into 20 or more points just on stickbacks. The only problem was this wasn’t anything close to a normal day. The Gators managed only 14 second chance points, in large part because Vandy muscled up every time the Gators snagged another offensive rebound. Surrounded in the paint after hauling in a missed UF shot, the Gator big guys either missed bunnies or were forced to pass the ball out to the perimeter. “They did a good job being physical, for sure,” Todd Golden said. “I think they knocked us off our spots. When we get 20 offensive rebounds, in theory we should be scoring 25 or even a bucket more on that. We only had 14 second-chance points. “We fought hard on the glass. We got back over 55 percent, almost 60 percent of our misses, which is insane. We did a very poor job of taking advantage of that and getting second chances, finishing our second chances I should say.”   The 3-point shooting by the Vandy bigs came down to a game plan decision. Florida was determined to run Vandy’s typical long range bombers off the 3-point line, a plan that worked out quite well since Tyler Tanner (1-1), Duke Miles (1-3) and Tyler Nickel (1-6) were a combined 3-10, far below their norm.   Far above the norm was the way Okereke (3-5), McGlockton (3-4) and Washington (1-1) made their threes. Okereke is a decent shooter but compared to Tanner, Miles and Nickel, someone you are willing to take a chance with. McGlockton and Washington are sub-30 percent 3-point shooters, so it’s not a bad decision to give them space. The Gators did it, but on this day the strategy backfired.     “You have to decide against a team like that, that's definitely much better on the offensive end than defensive end in terms of what you want to live with,” Golden explained. “We wanted to live with their front court shooting threes. They took advantage of it. They knocked it down. When we tried to switch defenses, they had answers. ”   Compounding matters, particularly in the first half, was ball security. Florida’s nine first half turnovers were converted into 20 of Vanderbilt’s 47 points. The Gators turned it over five more times in the second half, but Vandy only scored four more points off the miscues.   When the Gators arrived in Nashville, they were on their best shooting streak of the season – 43-99 from 3-point range in the previous five games. Saturday, they were 5-17 so a combined 8-37 from the 3-point line over the two days. That’s 21.6 percent, far worse than what the Gators were shooting even during the bad days prior to the start of the SEC regular season.   In the first half, the Gators were 11-30 from the field overall and 2-8 from three. In the second half, the Gators were an improved 15-27 but only 3-9 from three. They needed to make threes to fire up a comeback attempt, but Vandy did a good job of limiting three attempts while contesting those the Gators did squeeze off.   Two days in Nashville, 145 combined points. You have to go back to the losses to Duke (66 points) and UConn (73) for consecutive games in which the Gators had such difficulty putting points on the scoreboard.   The point production has a direct correlation to the ball security issues. The Gators turned it over 18 times in the win over Kentucky on Friday, turning a potential 30-point blowout into a game that was much too close for comfort. Saturday, the combination of turnovers and the inability to stick the ball back in the basket after offensive rebounds had a rather haunting effect. Points the Gators typically count on were rare.   The turnovers were the great concern for Golden. Earlier in the year when the Gators were 5-4 after the back-to-back losses to Duke and UConn, and even after the first SEC game of the year, a 2-point road loss at Missouri, turnovers were an issue. In recent weeks, Florida’s ball security improved which led to the Gators typically scoring in the 90s and winning games by 13 or more points.   “ My biggest disappointment of the last two days was our ball security,” Golden said. “That's an area that we have been making shots. We've been pretty good offensively, top 10 offense all year. We can't be a team that just gives up offensive possessions. “Again, in the first half I think we had nine or something. It led to 20 points for Vanderbilt. I mean, you're not giving yourself a chance to win with that ball security issue that's getting them 20 points in transition, free looks. They're too good of a team and they're going to take advantage of that every time.” The Gators outrebounded Kentucky 50-29 and won that game by eight points. They outrebounded Vanderbilt 38-23. When you pound a team that way – and pounding is indeed the only way to describe it – you shouldn’t have one game in which you feel fortunate to win and a second game in which you get blown out. So, it is time to get back home, get back to the practice gym and re-focus on what’s important. The Gators may have lost the SEC Tournament, which certainly was a disappointment, but the goal of a repeat national championship is still possible. When focused and playing at the same level that got them the SEC regular season championship by three full games in the standings, the Gators are as good or better than every other team in the country. When they’re turning the ball over, letting other teams frustrate them with physical play that causes the 3-man zebra crew to be a bit selective in how they toot their whistles, the Gators can be had. Golden sees what’s ahead and knows what has to happen prior to the first NCAA game. “Again, we get back tonight, we'll take tomorrow (Sunday) off, probably watch the Selection Show together, get back to practice on Monday,” Golden said. “Again, we try to be very consistent with our program. We're not going to be reactive in regards to when we're winning that we don't practice hard, and we kind of go with the flow, we're okay, as soon as we lose we're going to change everything, be really aggressive in practice. “Part of what makes our program what it is is our consistency. We are not going to change a lot. We are going to get back to defending, rebounding, taking care of the ball.” Alex Condon, who had 13 points, seven rebounds and two assists, admitted frustration with the way some of the physical nature of the game played out, but he put what happened against Vandy and what’s ahead in perspective.   “I think they made an effort to be really physical from the jump,” Condon said. “I know in some of our elbow-catching plays, I was getting elbowed in the back. A lot of rebounding. They made a big emphasis to try and out-physical us. That's our identity, defense and bringing physicality.   “Credit to them, they did a good job, but it's fueling the fire for us. I think it's not the worst thing in the world to have a little wake-up call this time of year. I know everyone's going to be super motivated this week in practice, not let this affect our March performance.”   Definitely, the fire needs to be re-fueled this week. What we saw Saturday bore little resemblance to the team that did a scorched earth run through the SEC. What the Gators are capable of doing will be determined by their ability to get their mojo back ahead of the first NCAA weekend. GAME NOTES: Tommy Haugh led the Gators with 19 points, nine rebounds, three assists, one steal and one blocked shot … Boogie Fland scored 15, Condon 13 and Chinyelu 12 … Florida had 13 assists and 14 turnovers. Vanderbilt, on the other hand, had 21 assists on 30 made shots and turned the ball over just eight times … Tanner led the scoring for Vandy with 20 points, while Washington had 17 and Miles 13.

Even the SEC Defender of The Year couldn't stop hot-shooting Vandy (Chris Spears Photo)

Tommy Haugh drives through contact against Vanderbilt (Photo by Chris Spears) That same UConn team, the one who back in December eked out a 77-73 win over the Gators in what amounted to a Madison Square Garden home game, gave Florida what amounted to a mulligan Saturday afternoon in the championship game of the Big East Tournament. A No. 1 seed was there for the taking. All UConn had to do was knock off St. John’s to win the tournament, but just as the Gators did in their SEC Tournament semifinal with Vanderbilt, the Huskies laid an ostrich-sized egg.   Had UConn taken out St. John’s, which won the Big East regular season championship, the Gators probably would have been bumped down to the No. 2 line thanks to that 91-74 beatdown suffered at the hands of Vandy. Two weeks ago UConn hosed St. John’s by 32. Saturday, St. John’s retaliated with a 72-52 win over UConn that looks far better on paper than it did live. On paper, it seemed that UConn just had a bad day at the office. Live it looked like St. John's was on a burning down the house mission that left UConn in smoldering ruins.   A UConn win would have been the Huskies’ 30 th of the season and would have gone a long way toward bridging the Quad 1 gap with the Gators, who are 12-6 after the Vandy loss. UConn is now 7-4.   Following the Vanderbilt loss, Todd Golden felt the Gators were deserving of a No. 1 based on strength of schedule along with the 12 Quad 1 wins.   “ Looking at Quad 1 wins, I think we're in a good spot that way,” Golden said. “Analytically, the predictive metrics, whether it's KenPom, Torvik, we're top four in all those by a wide margin. It's really not close. “We had our early-season tough start where we played really good, competitive opponents, and road or semi-away venues where we fell a little bit short. We haven't lost in 54 days or something leading up to this game, playing some of the best basketball in America. I do believe we've done enough to be the fourth one seed, but we’ll find out tomorrow night.” Golden made those comments prior to UConn’s disastrous performance against St. John’s and also prior to Houston losing to Arizona in the Big 12 Tournament championship game. Houston does have 10 Quad 1 wins, but the Cougars have the same number of Quad 1 losses (6) as the Gators. Houston finished second in the Big 12 regular season, and has a 28-6 record. Florida won the SEC by three games with a 16-2 record in league play and has a 26-7 record. The advantage should be to Florida, but the Gators will have to play wait and see until the NCAA announces its brackets this evening. Right now, it’s likely that the Gators will be the South Region No. 1 with Houston the No. 2. The Gators will open play in Tampa and if they get past the first weekend, proceed to Houston for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight rounds. Rice is the host institution for the Houston Regional so the NCAA rule that a regional host can’t play in its own region is waived. That means the Houston Cougars could essentially get home games for the second weekend. Per Joe Lunardi, the Gators will open with the winner of the play-in game between Kennesaw State and Prairie View A&M, both No. 16 seeds. In Lunardi’s second round, the Gators would face the winner of No. 8 Clemson (ACC) and No. 9 Villanova (Big East).   In the CBS brackets, the Gators would open with the winner of the No. 16 play-in game between Howard and Long Island, with a second round game against the winner of No. 8 Ohio State and No. 9 North Carolina State.   AS OF SUNDAY MORNING SEC in ESPN (Joe Lunardi) brackets East: 1. Duke; 2. Iowa State; 3. Illinois; 4. Vanderbilt (SEC: 7. Kentucky; 11. Missouri)   South: 1. FLORIDA; 2. Houston; 3. Purdue; 4. Gonzaga (SEC: 6. Tennessee; 10. Texas A&M)   Midwest: 1. Michigan; 2. UConn; 3. Nebraska; 4. Kansas (SEC: 5. Arkansas; 8. Georgia)   West: 1. Arizona; 2. Michigan State; 3. Virginia; 4. Alabama (SEC: 11. Texas)    Bids by Conference SEC 10; Big Ten 9; ACC 8; Big XII 8; Big East 3; West Coast 3; MAC 2; A10 2   SEC in CBS brackets East: 1. Duke; 2. UConn; 3. Michigan State; 4. Kansas (SEC: 6. Tennessee; 8 Georgia)   South: 1. FLORIDA; 2. Houston; 3. Illinois; 4. Gonzaga (SEC: 10. Texas A&M)   Midwest: 1. Michigan; 2. Vanderbilt; 3. Iowa State; 4. Nebraska (SEC: 5. Arkansas; 10. Texas; 11. Missouri)   West: 1. Arizona; 2. Purdue; 3. Virginia; 4. Alabama (SEC: 7. Kentucky)   Bids by Conference SEC 10; Big Ten 9; Big XII 8; ACC 8; Big East 3; West Coast 3; A10 2; MAC 2

Florida's Xaivian Lee is draped by Vanderbilt's Chandler Bing during Saturday's 91-74 loss in Nashville. (Photo by Chris Spears) What did not work for Kentucky, worked beautifully for Vanderbilt in a 91-74 thrashing. By Carlton Reese GatorBaitMedia.com NASHVILLE — The Vanderbilt Commodores showed up at Bridgestone Arena Saturday for a fight while the Florida Gators had come prepared for a scrimmage. The Vanderbilt game plan was nothing new – the Kentucky Wildcats tried it on Florida the day before: hammer, mug, flop, anything to bait the Gators into abandoning their discipline amid the supreme hope the men in stripes kept the whistles to a minimum. What did not work for Kentucky, worked beautifully for Vanderbilt in a 91-74 thrashing. Where the Wildcats failed to make any shots and capitalize on UF’s shoddy performance, Vanderbilt made everything, and most often without a contest. Simply put, the Gators were bulldozed on Saturday and their defense was about as strong as one might expect against an actual bulldozer. Florida is a big, strong, physical team that one would expect to deliver blows of its own, but not on this day. For whatever reason, Vandy threw its weight around and into Florida at will, while the Gators’ reaction was more frat boy pledge than Big Boss Man – “Thank you, sir; may I have another?” “The physicality they played with bothered us, and that’s usually what we do,” coach Todd Golden said. At no point in Saturday’s game did the Gators look like they had the will to slog through another heavyweight bout, absorbing blows then have to come back the next day and do it all over again. The fight was in Vandy, not Florida. “They made an effort to be really physical from the jump,” Gator center Alex Condon said. “I know on some of those elbow catching plays, I was getting elbowed in the back. They tried to out-physical us – credit to them, they did a good job. But, it’s fuel to the fire for us. It’s not the worst thing in the world to have a little wakeup call this time of year.” “They had a great game plan to be a little pest on us, and it worked,” Thomas Haugh said. “Teams are going to look at that come tournament time and we have to not let it happen and not get flustered.” It’s not that Florida played poorly like it did the day before against Kentucky; it’s that Florida had no big boy response to the blows inflicted Saturday by the Commodores. Florida’s game plan may have had a little to do with that, especially defensively where the Gators’ sole goal was to keep the Vandy sharpshooters from getting clean looks on the perimeter. To that end, Florida succeeded: Tyler Tanner managed to take just one 3-point attempt while Duke Miles and Tyler Nickel were just 2-for-9 combined from long range. The problem was in consciously allowing the Vanderbilt big men to take those shots. On that end, coach Todd Golden’s game plan blew up in his face: AK Okereke made three of five 3-pointers, Devin McGlockton went 3-for-4, and Jalen Washington made his only attempt, all with defenders nowhere in sight. It’s hard to answer physicality with physicality when you simply allow the big guys to drift out to the perimeter and take uncontested shots you believed they wouldn’t make. “We wanted to live with their frontcourt shooting 3s and see if we could survive that way, and they took advantage of it,” Golden said. If Friday’s win over Kentucky was a cautionary tale for the Gators, Saturday’s loss to Vanderbilt was a bullhorn directly into the ears of Florida’s players: Take the fight to the opponent, and for goodness’ sake protect the basketball. The Gators turned it over 14 times to Vanderbilt which converted those into 24 points against just 14 points off turnovers by the Gators. It’s an act Todd Golden must clean up before the NCAA Tournament starts next week. “My biggest disappointment of the past two days was just our ball security,” Golden said. “We can’t be a team that just gives up offensive possessions. You’re not giving yourself a chance to win with those ball security issues. That’s giving them 20 points in transition free looks. They’re too good of a team and they’re going to take advantage of that every time.” When Urban Klavzar sank a short jumper in the lane to put Florida up 14-12 at the 13:06 mark, the Gators offered little resistance from that point. The Commodores tore off an 11-0 run via two offensive rebound that led to two points, four Florida offensive rebounds that led to no points, and two UF turnovers that led to five Vandy points. Down 23-14, at the 8:29 mark, Florida would never get closer than five points of Vandy and trailed by double digits almost the entire way. The only question at halftime with Florida trailing 47-34 was what adjustments Golden would make to turn this thing around. That is one of his finer qualities: making the astute adjustments when they’re needed most. But Vandy let it be known right away it wasn’t going to allow Florida back in it – just 22 seconds in, Okereke drilled a 24-footer on the opening possession to stretch the lead to 16. There was no fight in Florida. The next 58 seconds brought fouls on Condon, Rueben Chinyelu and Xaivian Lee, setting the tone that meant any Florida physicality would be met by the strong arm of the law. And now we close the book on the 2026 SEC Tournament for Florida that saw two bad performances from a team that looked unbeatable heading to Nashville. Now, the Gators look a bit softer and less sure of themselves than they did a week ago. And perhaps the loss to Vanderbilt served up the proverbial “wake-up call” that coaches like to claim after a bad loss. In last season’s title run, the SEC Tournament is where Florida flexed its mighty muscle to show the world it was the favorite to win it all. This year, the SEC Tournament is where Florida showed its vulnerability, its mortality in the face of a team that shows up with billy clubs and ninja stars. The game plan to beat Florida is out there for all to see. Golden sees it as well, and that’s where he shines brightest – reverse engineering from the opponent’s perspective to fine tune his own machine. The track record is there. “We get back tonight, take tomorrow off and probably watch the selection show together,” Golden said. “We’re not going to be reactive in regards to when we’re winning that we don’t practice hard and just go with the flow, and as soon as we lose we’re going to change everything. Part of what makes our program what it is, is our consistency, so we’re not going to change a lot. We’ve got to to get back to defending and taking care of the ball.”

They send a message to all the competition in the postseason. LOOK OUT! After last week’s tremendous showing between Florida and LSU with both teams scoring 198+. It would not have been a big surprise going on the road to #22 Kentucky and having a competition not up to that level. Not only did #3 Florida keep the gas pedal on the floor. They sent a message to all the competition in the postseason. LOOK OUT! Setting a new NCAA high score with a 198.575. Scoring season highs on Vault, Bars and Beam. Senior Selena Harris-Miranda picked up her second consecutive perfect score on Beam and the Gators continued to stick routine after routine. After the meet, coach Jenny Rowland proudly said: “What a fantastic evening for the Gators it was such a fabulous night too and on our regular season journey. Really proud of the momentum and the freeness. The best meets are sometimes the ones you have no idea how the scores are going, but you’re having so much fun, It’s just feels like it’s a practice. So, super pumped and super excited for the team. I’m sure they’re gonna take a lot of confidence from this going into the postseason.. We had three season highs on vault, bars and beam. So extremely proud of the Gators. They were locked in and focused. And more than anything they had fun.” Six symnasts competed, with Florida having the road rotation of Uneven Bars, Vault, Floor Exercise and Balance Beam. The five highest scores count. On to the recap:    Uneven Bars: Last Week’s Score: 49.625. Average, 49.557, 1st in the Nation. Kentucky: 49.089, 20th nationally. -eMjae Frazier: Low bar mount. Legs glued together. Double layout dismout. Stuck- 9.925 -Anya Pilgrim: Low bar mount. Legs together. Full twisting double tuck dismount. Stuck- 9.90 (The dropped score) You know it was a good day when you are dropping a 9.90 -Skye Blakely: Springboard mount. Extra long handstands. Inverted grip to a double half twist dismount. Stuck- 9.95 Skye is 10th in the NCAA on the Bars. -Kayla DiCello: Springboard high bar mount. Legs together. Twisting layout dismount. Stuck- 9.95. Ties her season high! -Selena Harris-Miranda: Top bar mount.High bar to low bar into a handstand. Double layout dismount. Stuck- 9.95 Selena averages 9.91 on Bars this season Riley McCusker: Low Bar mount. Toes pointed. Great low to high bar transition. Double tuck dismount. Stuck- 9.95 49.725 - Season high. Second only to Utah’s 49.750 this season. Florida leads Kentucky by .375 after one rotation. Kentucky scored a 49.350 on Vault. Vault: Last Week’s Score: 49.375, Average: 49.207, 10th in the Nation. Kentucky: 49.161, 13th nationally. -Anya Pilgrim: Yurchenko 1 1/2. Hop forward- 9.875 -eMjae Frazier: Yurchenko 1 1/2 with twist. To face the vault table. Small hop- 9.90 -Kayla DiCello: Yurchenko 1 1/2. Stepped backward- 9.775 (The dropped score) -Danie Ferris: Yurchenko 1 1/2. Small hop.- 9.925. Ties her season high. -Skye Blakely: Yurchenko 1 1/2, layout to face the table. Tiny hop.- 9.90 -Selena Harris-Miranda: Yurchenko 1 1/2. Big hop forward.- 9.875. 49.475 - Florida’s season high on Vault. Perhaps (Fingers crossed) the Gators have settled down on this event. Florida leads by .750. 99.200-98.450 after two rotations. Kentucky scores a 49.100 on Bars and couldn’t stick their landings. Floor: Last Week’s Score: 49.750. Average: 49.418, 7th in the Nation. Kentucky: 49.271, 15th nationally. -Gabby Disidore: 1st pass (The long runs from corner to corner)- Double layout into a leap. Stuck. 2nd pass- Front twisting flip. Hop- 9.875 -Danie Ferris: 1st- Double tuck flip. Hop. 2nd- Combination twisting pass into a jump.-9.875 -Amelia Disidore: 1st- Front double layout. Stuck. 2nd- Back flip to jump. Stuck. Amelia nailed this routine.- 9.925 -Jayla Booker: The freshman cracks the lineup this week. 1st- Front twisting leap. Lands out of bounds. 2nd- Front double tuck. Stuck- 9.775 (The dropped score) Skye Blakely: 1st- Front handspring. Double flip to stag leap. Stuck. 2nd-Huge leaps. Twisting combination pass. Stuck- 9.950 -Selena Harris-Miranda: 1st- Twisting front pass to leap. 2nd- Combination pass to stag leap- 9.950. Selena needed a 10 to complete her Gym Slam, a perfect score in all four events. Almost. 49.575- Florida is crushing Kentucky by 1.05 after the third rotation 148.775-147.725. Kentucky had a fall on Beam. Scoring a 49.275 Selena Harris-Miranda has back to back perfect scores on Beam. (Photo UAA) Beam: Last Week: 49.750. Average: 49.500, 2nd in the Nation. Kentucky: 49.029, 21st nationally. -Skylar Drasser:  Double back handspring. Wobble. Stag leap. Balance check. Twisting dismount 1 1/2 twist. Steps backward- 9.775 (The dropped score) -Alyssa Arana: Side mount. Double back handspring. Front leap. Gainer Full side dismount. Stuck - 9.925 -Skye Blakely: Side mount. Front arial. Triple wolf turn. Front to back flip combination. Gainer full twisting side dismount. Stuck - 9.950 -eMjae Frazier: Side mount.Front flip to back flip combination. Split jumps. Cartwheel to twisting dismount. Stuck.-9.975 Why not a 10? -Kayla DiCello: Springboard candle mount. 180 leaps. Double back a handspring. Front leap. Side dismount. Stuck. 10?? - 9.950 -Selena Harris-Miranda: Second in the NCAA this season on Beam. Side split mount. Triple series back handspring. Perfect! Twisting dismount. Stuck.- 10!! Wow! 49.800 - Florida ties last week’s score with a season high and NCAA high. Florida is really on a roll with an NCAA high score and all the momentum for the SEC Tournament  on Saturday. Beats Kentucky 198.575-197.225. -Selena Harris-Miranda won the All-Around title: 39.775. Skye Blakely was second: 39.750 -Danie Ferris was second on Vault: 9.925 -Skye Blakely, Kayla DiCello, Selena Harris-Miranda and Riley McCusker tied for the Uneven Bars title: 9.950 -Selena Harris-Miranda won the Beam title: 10.0 -Skye Blakely tied Kentucky’s C. Browse tied for the Floor title: 9.950 How exciting this postseason will be. After two runner up National Titles in 2022 & 2023 Coach Rowland may have the team that will finish first. First will be the SEC Championship in Tulsa Oklahoma on Saturday. So another advantage for OU, like always. Florida will have the evening session on the SEC Network at 8pm EST. I think you will see another season high on Vault and the team playing loose has paid dividends these past two weeks. Florida has pulled some of the extra difficult parts of several routines and it is paying off.

Xaivian Lee scores on a first half layup (Photo by Chris Spears) NASHVILLE, Tennessee – The three-ring circus that doubled as Florida’s 71-63 win over Kentucky in the Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinals was put into philosophical perspective by SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year Rueben Chinyelu.   Asking and answering his own questions, Chinyelu said, “Was it ugly? Yes, of course. Was it beautiful? Winning is always beautiful even when it’s ugly.”   When the Gators are playing well, firing on all cylinders while playing at a breakneck pace, the game can be this blazing fast collage of dunks, layups, rebounds and an occasional 3-point bomb for good measure. To combat the speed and precision the Gators have been playing with during the 12-game winning streak that has them favored to earn a No. 1 seeding when the NCAA announces its field Sunday, Kentucky took a couple of pages out of the Harley Race playbook. The only thing missing was Gordon Solie on play-by-play.   Hacks, slaps, hooks, holds, pushes and shoves are only illegal if you get caught. At least that seemed to be the strategy. Kentucky did get caught quite a few times, enough to send the Gators to the foul line 19 times in the last 11:23 of the game, but it was ever so disruptive. Florida, which spent the game struggling to get into some sort of a shooting rhythm, made only three shots from the field during that stretch, but all three shots were critical.   There was a stickback by Chinyelu with 4:17 left after Alex Condon’s end of the shot clock three clanged off the rim. There was Tommy Haugh’s turnaround 10-footer in the lane with 1:39 to go, this one also a second chance score after Boogie Fland rebounded his own miss. That pushed a six-point Florida lead to 66-58.   And then there was the step-back three from Xaivian Lee with 50 seconds left that answered a three by Kentucky’s Denzel Aberdeen. The 5-point margin that had the largely Kentucky crowd on their feet screaming for an upset let out a collective gasp as the ball settled in the bottom of the net to give the Gators a 69-61 lead.   “He stepped up and hit a dagger” is how Florida coach Todd Golden called it.   “Just something I do,” was Lee’s explanation. “I kind of knew I was going to shoot it because I had been trying to drive the ball through lane the entire half … If I could create a little space, it’s a shot I’ve taken and made before.”   The Vanderbilt game comes to mind. The stepback three in that game was the death blow to the Commodores more than a month ago.     All the while the Gators were struggling to find some offensive mojo, Kentucky was making just enough shots to cut into what had once seemed an insurmountable Florida lead. Isaiah Brown’s fast break layup after a steal by Lee put the Gators ahead 49-32 with 13:07 left in the game. Two minutes later it was a 16-point margin (54-38) on a pair of Haugh free throws with 11:02 left in the game but that was almost like a signal for the Gators to get complacent.   “Yeah, I’d say we got complacent … I know I did,” Condon said. He had a double-double – 22 points and 10 rebounds to go with two assists and a pair of spectacular blocked shots at the rim. “In the first half and when the second half started, I knew I could get any shot I wanted. It was too easy.”   The same thing happened twice before this season, both times against Kentucky. In the end, what saved the Gators from unmitigated disaster was making just enough free throws (24-33 for the game, 19-26 in the second half) and the fact Kentucky wasn’t exactly burning it up offensively. The Wildcats scored enough to make it close, but never got over the hump. “I thought once they got behind, the last 10 or so minutes, we were kind of playing not to lose, and they were playing free with no pressure because there was none left at that point,” Golden said. No pressure on the Wildcats. Plenty of pressure on the Gators, but the pressure release for UF was the defense. Even when the Gators were out of synch offensively, the defense was still very, very good.   The Wildcats managed just 21-59 from the field overall and 5-23 from the 3-point line. Collin Chandler, Kentucky’s purest shooter who lit up the Gators for six threes at the O-Dome back in January, kept getting run off the 3-point line. The one make he had in three attempts was a touch-em-all type that bounced high off the rim before rattling in.   Golden pointed to Florida’s offensive struggles as one of the major reasons the Wildcats got back into the game. “ We're a very good defensive team, we have been all year,” Golden said. “The times where we struggled today defensively were a product of our offense, in my estimation. Obviously we'll go back and watch the film. When we were bad with the ball leading to turnovers, they were able to get out in transition or get us in odd-man advantage where we weren't matched up properly … Anytime we got them operating in the halfcourt against a set defense, it was challenging for them. That's where complementary basketball, take better care of the ball, they're not going to be able to put us in those predicaments.”    Kentucky scored 18 fast break points, most of them coming after turnovers, but even with Florida’s miscues, the Wildcats were held to 63 points, a full 18 fewer than normal. Haugh drew the defensive assignment of UK’s leading scorer Otega Oweh. He went 5-18 from the field and scored only 10 points. On the interior, Kentucky bigs Malachi Moreno, Adrij Jelavic, Brandon Garrison, all of them 7-footers or close to it, combined for 12 points and just 11 rebounds.   On the perimeter, Fland and Lee made Aberdeen and Chandler work for everything they got.   “They don’t get nearly enough credit for how good we are defensively,” Haugh said. “The way they get after the guys they guard makes it so much easier for me, Alex, Rueben and Micah (Handlogten) to play defense. They make their guys take tough shots and then we get the rebounds.”   Florida outrebounded Kentucky 50-29. Just a week ago at Rupp, the Wildcats were nearly dead even with the Gators on the backboards (41-40 Florida advantage). Kentucky tried to be physical, but couldn’t come close to matching the Gators in that category. Kentucky’s 29 rebounds produced only eight second hand points.   Florida, on the other hand, got 10 rebounds each from Condon and Chinyelu and eight each from Haugh and Handlogten. Chinyelu had a blocked shot and three steals. Haugh had three blocked shots and two steals.   On a day when offensive highlights were few and far between for the Gators, Handlogten contributed the play of the game offensively during a 26-second sequence. It began when Haugh snagged a contested rebound after an Aberdeen missed three. On the break, Klavzar let fly with a three that clanged off the rim. Handlogten made a diving save of the rebound, flipping it to Fland who found Klavzar open for another three. Same result only this time Handlogten came bolting in from the corner, leapt as high as he could, his right hand like a predatory bird’s claw to jam it back in with 4:51 left in the first half.   “I just ran in and jumped as high as I could,” Handlogten said. “Obviously, a cool moment. I got hyped and was just standing there, yelling and the camera guy comes up to me and almost slaps me in the face. I’m like what are we doing here? I kind of had to come back to earth.”   Back to earth is where the Gators need to be tomorrow when they face Vanderbilt in the semifinals. The Commodores advanced with a 75-68 win over Tennessee in the second game of the afternoon.   This was a sloppy game in which the only things missing were a bearded lady, poodles jumping through hoops, some elephants and a couple of clowns.   This was not the game fans expected from the 4 th -ranked team in the country, but the outcome is the only thing of relevance.   Florida won, advanced and remained very much in the hunt for a No. 1 seed. Kentucky went home where it will await the NCAA sending the Wildcats somewhere as a No. 7 or maybe even a No. 8 seed. “When it was over, it was beautiful,” Chinyelu said. “Winning is beautiful.”   Even when it’s ugly. Game notes: Xaivian Lee finished the game with 11 points, five rebounds, six assists and three steals ... The Gators scored 21 second chance points, 16 of them after a missed three ... Chinyelu's 10-rebound game was his 20th with 10 or more this season. Friday's SEC Quarterfinals No. 1 Florida (26-6) 71, No. 9 Kentucky (21-13) 63 No. 4 Vanderbilt (25-7) 75, No. 5 Tennessee (22-11) 68 No. 15 Ole Miss (15-19) 80, No. 2 Alabama (23-9) 79 No. 3 Arkansas (24-8) 82, No. 13 Oklahoma (19-15) 79 Saturday's SEC Semifinals No. 4 Vanderbilt (25-7) vs. No. 1 FLORIDA (26-6) No. 15 Ole Miss (15-19) vs. No. 3 Arkansas (24-8) SEC in ESPN (Joe Lunardi) bracketology East: 1. Duke; 2. Iowa State; 3. Illinois; 4. Purdue (SEC: 5. Vanderbilt; 7. Kentucky; 11. Missouri) South: 1. FLORIDA; 2. Houston; 3. Nebraska; 4. Texas Tech Midwest: 1. Michigan; 2. UConn; 3. Alabama; 4. Kansas (SEC: 5. Arkansas; 8. Georgia; 10. Texas A&M) West: 1. Arizona; 2. Michigan State; 3. Gonzaga; 4. Virginia (SEC: 5. Tennessee; 11. Texas) SEC in CBS bracketology East: 1. Duke; 2. Michigan State; 3. Nebraska; 4. Kansas (SEC: 7. Kentucky; 11. Texas) South: 1. FLORIDA; 2. Houston; 3. Purdue; 4. Virginia (SEC: 5. Tennessee; 10. Texas A&M) Midwest: 1. Michigan; 2. UConn; 3. Iowa State; 4. Vanderbilt (SEC: 8. Georgia; 11. Missouri) West: 1. Arizona; 2. Illinois; 3. Alabama; 4. Gonzaga (SEC: 5. Arkansas)

Rueben Chinyelu leads the nation in rebounding (Photo by Chris Spears) “Bad things, Man!” – Dennis Hopper in a 1980s Nike commercial   NASHVILLE, Tennessee – That’s what happens to opponents when the Florida Gators arrive at the arena in the mood to put a world class hurting on an opponent. Bad things, Man.   In laying waste to the rest of the Southeastern Conference to win the regular season championship, the 4 th -ranked and top-seeded Gators (25-6) won 13 of their 16 league games by 13 or more points. Kentucky (21-12), who the Gators play today in the SEC Tournament semifinals (1 p.m., ESPN) lost by nine to the Gators at the O-Dome and seven last Saturday at Rupp.   Although Florida and Kentucky know they will be playing in the NCAA Tournament next week, both teams have plenty to play for. The Gators are in the hunt for a No. 1 seed. Starting with Kentucky today and subsequent wins in the semifinals and championship games, the Gators can seal the deal on a No. 1, most likely in the South with first and second round games slated for Tampa. Kentucky, which will be playing its third game in three days, is currently hovering around the No. 7 line. If the Wildcats can get a win or two more in Nashville, they could move on up to a No. 5 seed.   The secret to Florida’s success is a smothering defense that ranks fifth in the kenpom.com efficiency ratings, fourth in barttorvik.com . The Gators force teams off the 3-point line and make them take tough twos instead. And, once the ball goes up on the rim, Florida typically controls the rebounding, forcing opponents to try to beat the Gators on one-and-done trips to the offensive end of the court.   There is added incentive for the Gators who have only beaten Kentucky three times in a single season once before (2014) in all the years the two teams have been playing. Since the inception of the SEC Kentucky has dominated the league. With eight national championships to its credit by five different coaches, Kentucky is the longstanding SEC blueblood but Florida is no longer the Wildcats' little SEC brother. The Wildcats had won five national championships before Florida won its first SEC title (1989). Since 1999, however, Florida has won three national titles (2006-07, 2026) to Kentucky’s one (2012). Only UConn has won more national titles (five) than the Gators since 1999.   Florida comes into the game with fresh legs, having not played since last Saturday when the Gators took down Kentucky at Rupp. To get to this game Saturday, Kentucky had to beat LSU in a 9-16 game, then toppled Missouri in a 9-8 game Thursday. If the Gators arrive at Bridgestone Arena focused and ready to pillage and plunder anyone that gets in their way, then it could be another pillage and plunder job. Bad things, Man.   Game notes: Tommy Haugh was named second team All-America by The Sporting News. Haugh was named first team All-SEC by both the Coaches and Associated Press. Rueben Chinyelu, the SEC Defensive Player of the Year, was a first team selection by the AP and a second team by the Coaches. Alex Condon was second team AP and third team Coaches … Chinyelu leads the nation in rebounding at 11.77 per game …The Gators continue to creep upward in the 3-point shooting stats. By hitting 43 of their last 99 shots in the previous five games, the Gators are now hitting 31.3 percent of their threes … The Gators lead the nation in rebounding and rank second (by two rebounds) to Tennessee as the top offensive rebounding team in the country.   Anticipated Starting lineups No. 1 FLORIDA (25-6): Alex Condon (6-11, 236, JR); Rueben Chinyelu (6-11 ,265, JR); Tommy Haugh (6-9, 210, JR); Boogie Fland (6-3, 185, SO); Xaivian Lee (6-4, 185, SR)   No. 9 Kentucky (21-12): Andrija Jelavic (6-11, 225, JR); Malachi Moreno (7-0, 250, JR); Otega Oweh (6-4, 220, SR); Collin Chandler (6-5, 205, SO); Denzel Aberdeen (6-5, 195, SR) Thursday’s scores No. 9 Kentucky (21-12) 78, No. 8 Missouri (20-12) 72: Missouri battled back from a 16-point deficit to take a 70-69 lead with 2:34 remaining but the Tigers gave out of gas. Kentucky outscored Mizzou 9-2 with Denzel Aberdeen scoring six including 4-4 from the foul line. Otega Oweh scored 21 to lead the Kentucky scoring while Aberdeen had 16 points, seven assists and two steals. Mark Mitchell scored a game-high 30 points for Missouri.   No. 5 Tennessee (22-10) 72, No. 12 Auburn (17-16) 62: Tennessee, which trailed by as many as 11 in the first half, outscored Auburn 47-30 in the second half to advance to a semifinal matchup with 4 th -seeded Vanderbilt. Freshman Nate Ament had 27 points, eight rebounds and four assists to lead Tennessee. The Vols got to the foul line 32 times (made 24) while Auburn was just 13-20. Tahaad Petiford’s 28 led the way for Auburn, whose NCAA chances took a serious jolt with the loss.   No. 15 Ole Miss (14-19) 76, No. 7 Georgia (22-10) 72: Ole Miss led 55-35 with 12:45 remaining in the second half, but the Rebels had to hold on for dear life as Georgia rallied furiously to cut the lead to two with five seconds to go. Ole Miss sealed the win with a free throw by Kezza Giffa and two by Travis Perry. Georgia was done in by poor 3-point shooting, just 9-38 for the game. AJ Storr scored 19 to lead Ole Miss while Kanon Catchings led Georgia with 19.   No. 11 Oklahoma (19-14) 83, No. 6 Texas A&M (21-11) 63: The Sooners have played their way into the NCAA picture with six straight wins, four to end the regular season and two in Nashville. Oklahoma led 49-27 at the half and never looked back while blowing out the Aggies. Nijel Pack led Oklahoma with 20 points while Derrion Reed had 15 points and 10 rebounds. Leading the way for the Aggies were Rylan Griffin and Rashaun Agee with 13 each.   Friday’s games (Quarterfinals) No. 9 Kentucky (21-12) vs. No. 1 FLORIDA (25-6) No. 5 Tennessee (22-10) vs. No. 4 Vanderbilt (24-7) No. 15 Ole Miss (14-19) vs. No. 2 Alabama (22-9) No. 13 Oklahoma (19-14) vs. No. 3 Arkansas (22-9)

Urban Klavzar drives on UK's $22 million lineup (UAA Photo) "Money don't matter 2 night It sure didn't matter yesterday Just when u think u've got more than enough That's when it all up and flies away" – Prince The Kentucky Wildcats open the Southeastern Conference Basketball Tournament as the No. 9 seed, which isn’t exactly what the Big Blue Nation thought was in the cards when $22 million was forked out to build a roster capable of cutting down the nets at the Final Four. National championship dreams have been replaced by the nightmare of the indignity of playing the first game of the SEC Tournament against No. 16 LSU.   Making matters worse for the Big Blue Nation, the first game of the tournament is 11:30 a.m. local time, 12:30 p.m. EDT. Has Kentucky ever started an SEC Tournament this early and with the prospects of needing to win four games in four days just to get to the championship game? Kentucky spent all that money on a roster that lacks the depth and the talent to do that.   Beat LSU in game one and the Wildcats have to face a rested Missouri team at noon Thursday. Beat Missouri and it’s the Florida Gators on Friday. The Gators are rested and ready to go on a search and destroy mission having not played since beating Kentucky at Rupp last Saturday.   Florida is in every conversation about winning a national championship. Conversations about Kentucky begin with what happens with Mark Pope if the Wildcats go belly up day one or day two? Despite the pleadings of Jimmy Dykes and Dick Vitale who proclaimed Pope is the perfect guy to lead Kentucky during last Saturday’s Florida-Kentucky ESPN broadcast. About the only way the Big Blue Nation would agree with that assessment is if Kentucky does the unthinkable and goes 5-for-5 in Nashville to win the tournament. It’s not impossible. Stranger things have happened such as the 2008 tornado that damaged the old Georgia Dome, forcing the tournament to move to Georgia Tech for the semifinals and finals. Georgia had to play two games on Saturday to win the championship.   Donkeys might fly before something that bizarre happens again, although in the eyes of Kentucky fans the Wildcats playing the first game of the tournament as the No. 9 seed is reach out and touch close. Two things might happen if LSU were to spring the upset today: 1. LSU would probably announce that Matt McMahon would be returning to coach the Tigers next year; and, 2. Kentucky would be putting out a notice on Linked In and other social media outlets that it’s in the market for a new head coach.   Kentucky should beat LSU. Emphasis on should. Oklahoma, Texas and Auburn should win their first round games. Once again, emphasis on should. Kentucky will make the NCAA Tournament no matter what happens because the NCAA knows the Big Blue Nation travels and it’s an almost guaranteed sellout wherever the Wildcats play in the first round of the Big Dance. Oklahoma has won four straight games. Can two wins in Nashville punch the Sooners’ dance card? How about three? Texas is in although a low NCAA seed. Try No. 10 or No. 11. Auburn? Two wins could do it, but three for sure.   NCAA locks no matter what happens in Nashville: Florida, Alabama, Arkansas, Vanderbilt, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Kentucky. Should be in: Texas and Missouri.   The pick to win it all: Florida. The Gators are too big, too fast, too well coached. There isn’t an SEC team in Florida’s league. The pick to make it to the championship game to play the Gators: Arkansas if Darius Acuff Jr. is healthy.   SEC TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE Wednesday, March 11 1. No. 9 Kentucky (19-12, 10-8 SEC) vs. No. 16 LSU (15-16, 3-15 SEC) 2. No. 12 Auburn (16-15, 7-11 SEC) vs. No. 13 Mississippi State (13-18, 5-13 SEC) 3. No. 10 Texas (18-13, 9-9 SEC) vs. No. 15 Ole Miss (12-19, 4-14 SEC) 4. No. 11 Oklahoma (17-14, 7-11 SEC) vs. No. 14 South Carolina (13-18, 5-13 SEC)   Thursday, March 12 5. No. 8 Missouri (20-11, 10-8 SEC) vs. Winner game 1 6. No. 5 Tennessee (21-10, 11-7 SEC) vs. Winner game 2 7. No. 7 Georgia (22-9, 10-8 SEC) vs. Winner game 3 8. No. 6 Texas A&M (21-10, 11-7 SEC) vs. Winner game 4   Friday, March 13 (Quarterfinals) 9. No. 1 FLORIDA (25-6, 16-2) vs. Winner game 5 10. No. 4 Vanderbilt (24-7, 11-7 SEC) vs. Winner game 6 11. No. 2 Alabama (23-8, 13-5 SEC) vs. Winner game 7 12. No. 1 Arkansas (23-8, 13-5 SEC) vs. Winner game 8   Saturday, March 14 (Semifinals) 13. Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner 14. Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner   Sunday, March 15 Championship game   TODD GOLDEN, FIFTH BEST COACH IN THE COUNTRY?   That’s the opinion of John Leuzzi; someone I’ve never heard of who writes for USA Today. Dan Hurley as the No. 1, I can see that since he’s the only coach in the country who has back-to-back titles, but Jon Scheyer, Tommy Lloyd and Dusty May ahead of Golden? Surely he jests. They are good basketball coaches but neither Scheyer, Lloyd nor May have won a national championship. Todd Golden has and he might get a second one this year.   Here is Leuzzi’s top ten: 1. Dan Hurley, UConn; 2. Jon Scheyer, Duke; 3. Tommy Lloyd, Arizona; 4. Dusty May, Michigan; 5. TODD GOLDEN, FLORIDA; 6. Tom Izzo, Michigan State; 7. Kelvin Sampson, Houston; 8. John Calipari, Arkansas; 9. Bill Self, Kansas; 10. Rick Pitino, St. John’s.   SEC in the latest Joe Lunardi (ESPN) brackets East: 1. Duke; 2. Michigan State; 3. Alabama; 4. Kansas (SEC: 5. Vanderbilt)   South: 1. FLORIDA; 2. Houston; 3. Nebraska; 4. Purdue (SEC: 10. Texas; 11. Missouri)   Midwest: 1. Michigan; 2. UConn; 3. Iowa State; 4. Texas Tech (SEC: 5. Tennessee; 7. Georgia)   West: 1. Arizona; 2. Illinois; 3. Gonzaga; 4. Virginia (SEC: 5. Arkansas; 7. Kentucky)   THE SEVEN TEAMS THAT COULD WIN IT ALL FLORIDA: The Gators are hot and healthy. They’ve made 43-99 from three their last five games. So much for they can’t shoot. Nobody in the SEC plays better defense. Nobody in all of college basketball transitions from defense to offense better. Nobody in college basketball has a front line that can match Tommy Haugh, Rueben Chinyelu, Alex Condon and coming off the bench Micah Handlogten. The perimeter rotation of Xaivian Lee, Boogie Fland, Urban Klavzar and Isaiah Brown is vastly underrated.   ARIZONA: The Wildcats can match the Gators’ size and physicality up front. They have very physical guards led by freshman Brayden Burries. There are quality wins over Florida and UConn, blowout wins over SEC opponents Alabama and Auburn. The secret to beating the Wildcats is make their perimeter guys win the game with their outside shooting. Tobe Awaka off the bench is an absolute beast to deal with.   MICHIGAN: The loss of L.J. Cason (ACL) cannot be underestimated. He was the backup point guard and an outstanding outside shooter. The Wolverines have a tall front line but as they showed in losing to Duke, the outside shooting is suspect without Cason. Elliott Cadeau can disappear as he did in the Duke loss. He’s only 4-18 from three since then. The Wolverines are good enough to get to the Final Four. Good enough to win?   DUKE: Point guard Caleb Foster had surgery to repair a fractured foot. There is only one other point guard on the team, Cayden Boozer. Can he play 40 minutes? Is he good enough defensively to replace what Foster brings to the table? Center Patrick Ngongba has a high ankle sprain and won’t play in the ACC Tournament. How effective will he be when he comes back. Duke doesn’t have a lot of size to back him up. Can Cameron Boozer carry the Blue Devils all the way to a championship?   HOUSTON: Three starters from last year’s team that lost in the championship game to Florida – Emanuel Sharp, Joseph Tugler and Milos Uzan – plus outstanding freshmen Kingston Flemings and 6-11 Chris Cenac Jr. Nobody guards the perimeter better than Houston and the Cougars battle hard on the boards, but is there enough depth up front to win it all?   MICHIGAN STATE: Wins over Arkansas, Kentucky and North Carolina, a white knuckles loss to Duke when Duke was at full strength. If Michigan State is the No. 2 in Duke’s bracket and there is no Caleb Foster to handle the pressure, Tom Izzo could get to the Final Four.   UCONN: For UConn to win it, Alex Karaban can’t disappear which he did in those unexplainable losses to Creighton and Marquette and Taras Reed has to go beast mode. Wins over Florida and Texas from the SEC, BYU from the Big 12 and a white knuckles loss to Arizona. A lot of things have to go right for UConn to win it.