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There hasn’t been a more disappointing team in college basketball all season than the Florida Gators.
I believed they were overhyped to begin the season. It was going to be next to impossible to replace the type of star power that the Gators lost from their Final Four run a year ago, but I had no idea that they were even at risk of missing out on the 2015 NCAA tournament coming in – something that seems more and more likely as this season draws to a close.
If Florida could have avoided the horrible loss to the Missouri Tigers a few weeks ago, this team would actually be on the outside looking into the with a chance at going to the Big Dance by simply making the SEC tournament final. But they lost, meaning that their only hope will be to win the SEC tournament, which likely includes a win over the then undefeated Kentucky Wildcats.
But get this – the Gators are a legitimate contender to win the SEC tournament, beat Kentucky and earn the automatic qualifying bid.
Why? Florida’s defense is absolutely fantastic. It’s ranked in the top 25 in points allowed per game at 59.7. In fact, the Gators have held teams to 50 points or less eight times this season. Billy Donovan continues to prove time and time again why he’s an elite coach in college basketball with his team’s ability to defend despite their struggles.
However, where the Gators are weakest is their rebounding ability. This team ranks outside of the top 200 in both offensive and defensive rebounding; no team can win games if they cannot consistently outrebound opponents. With three 6-foot-10 players who get consistent minutes on the roster, the only explanation for their rebounding woes can be a lack of intensity — something that should change once tournament play begins.
Another thing to realize about the Gators this season is that they faced the second-most difficult schedule in college basketball behind only the Kansas Jayhawks. Of their 15 losses, 11 of them were by seven points or less, nine of which were to expected 2015 NCAA tournament-bound teams. Florida competed in nearly all their games this year and just happened to come out on the wrong side, something that they could easily correct in the knockout style play of the conference tournament.
As if their grueling non-conference schedule wasn’t enough, the Gators received no respite from conference play. The SEC transformed from an expected top-heavy conference into a league boasting six 2015 NCAA tournament locks, and Florida had arguably the toughest conference slate of all. The Gators played the worst four teams in the SEC just one time each and four of the top five twice; their lone one-off top five team was a victory over the Arkansas Razorbacks at home.
If these things aren’t enough to convince you that Florida is a legitimate threat to Kentucky in the SEC tournament, it should be noted that history suggests that something like a Gators 2015 SEC championship is actually more likely than Kentucky winning the SEC tournament.
How is that true? Last season’s Gators were the only team to win the SEC regular season title as well as the SEC tournament since 2010 Kentucky. If you look at the last 10 years, the SEC regular-season winners have only won the SEC tournament three times. That’s a ridiculously low win percentage for a conference that has had seven Final Four teams in that time period.
So, Kentucky may be favored to win the SEC tournament and even the national championship, but there is not a more dangerous foe to the Wildcats’ hopes of a perfect season than their in-conference rivals who are desperate for some way to claw back into the 2015 NCAA tournament and prove the naysayers wrong. Florida may be down, but you can never count a Donovan-coached team out.
Taylor Sturm is a Featured Basketball Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @TSturmRS, like him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
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