Sports Illustrated has Florida at this seed heading into the SEC Tournament

Heading into the SEC Tournament, Florida basketball has some work to do if it wants to avoid an early game against a No. 1 seed.

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We’re just a few days away from the NCAA Tournament bracket being finalized, and that means that the Gators are running out of opportunities to boost their resume. The SEC Tournament this week presents a final chance to rise above the No. 8 seed line, where most projections show Florida landing, including the latest update from Sports Illustrated.

According to this projection, UF would draw nine-seeded UConn in the First Round, and if it survived that bout, it would need to beat the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed in Gonzaga to make it out of the first weekend.

Obviously, that’s a less-than-ideal path for the Gators, so they will look to at least rise to a No. 7 seed this week and they will certainly have their chances. Assuming Florida can beat Vanderbilt on Thursday, it will draw a rematch against Tennessee. Beating the Vols would mean that barring an upset, UF would have to take down Alabama to make it to the final.

It’s asking a lot, but if the Gators won both of those games, they could see their positioning rise a seed line or two.

Other SEC teams in the projected field are No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 Arkansas, No. 5 Tennessee, No. 6 Missouri and No. 9 LSU. Florida is in the same region as the Razorbacks and could potentially face them if it made it to the Elite Eight, but it wouldn’t face any other SEC opponents until the Final Four.

With the season winding down, UF will hope for a strong showing at this week’s conference tournament to avoid an uphill climb during March Madness.

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