Unlike last year, the question for the Gators is not if they will get into the NCAA Tournament but how high they can go. Both ESPN’s Joe Lunardi and CollegeRPI.com’s Jerry Palm have the Gators (24-6, 13-3) as a No. 3 seed in Tampa.
With the SEC Tournament this week in Atlanta, how high can the Gators rise or how much can they fall? The answer to both seems to be not much.
After clinching the SEC regular season title, Florida has to do little else to improve its position. Even losing in the second round of the conference tournament might not drop the Gators. Given their RPI (10) and strength of schedule (six) even falling to a No. 4 seed seems unlikely barring getting blown out in Atlanta.
Of course, nothing is a lock. With only a few days until Selection Sunday, how the Gators play and how other conference tournaments end up could affect where Florida lands. For now, though, a No. 3 seed is a safe guess.
