Florida was set to begin conference play with Ole Miss this week, but the game was canceled and has yet to be rescheduled. With no action this week for the Gators, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi still has Florida as a No. 10 seed and one of his “Last Four Byes” in this week’s bracketology update.
The Last Four Byes are what Lunardi calls the last four teams on his bracket that don’t have to play a play-in game to reach the field of 64. This is Florida’s third week in that group despite winning its last two games.
Mississippi isn’t the strongest team out of the Southeastern Conference, so the Gators are missing out on what should have been a warm-up before facing Alabama, the No. 3 seed in the Midwest on Lunardi’s bracket. A win over the Crimson Tide would almost certainly get the Gators out of the bubble, and a close loss wouldn’t be too bad either. A blowout could be disastrous for the team’s focus and tournament hopes, though.
There are seven teams from the SEC projected to make the tournament, according to Lunardi. Auburn, Kentucky, LSU and Tennessee are all in solid positions to make the tournament, and Mississippi State is on the bubble like Florida. Fortunately, Lunardi has the Bulldogs winning their playoff game and in his Last Four In.
Arkansas wasn’t as lucky and is in the Next Four Out, meaning that they are just shy of getting to a play-in game. The Razorbacks lost by 13 to Mississippi State on Wednesday, so conference play might not help them too much.
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