Todd Golden and his Florida basketball team fought hard this past week in Nashville, pushing their way through three conference peers in the SEC Tournament only to fall short against the Auburn Tigers in the title game. Still, it was a valiant effort that has not gone unnoticed.
Except for the Associated Press Poll, which omitted the Gators once again from its top-25 rankings.
The Orange and Blue at least made significant improvements in votes received, jumping from just eight last week to 120 in the Week 20 update, which makes Golden’s gang a de facto No. 27 team in the rankings — right behind the New Mexico Lobos’ 134.
The week before, they held 39 votes while two weeks prior Florida was ranked No. 24.
Looking around the Southeastern Conference the Tennessee Volunteers are ranked No. 6, followed by Auburn (No. 7), the Kentucky Wildcats (No. 12), South Carolina Gamecocks (No. 16) and Alabama Crimson Tide (No. 19). The Mississippi State Bulldogs also received five votes.
Florida is the No. 7 seed in the South Region this year according to the official NCAA Tournament bracket and will face the winner of the Boise State Broncos-Colorado Buffaloes play-in game.
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