NASHVILLE, Tenn. — With a swashbuckling coach, loaded lineup and on a 13-game winning streak, Florida had been surging into the national championship picture as a potential repeat winner the past six weeks.
The Gators’ freewheeling dash and attempt to repeat as SEC tournament champions hit a speed bump Saturday afternoon in the SEC tournament. No. 4-seed Vanderbilt dominated the Gators, with the tenor of the 91-74 victory making it one of the tournament’s most surprising results.
As Florida streaked through February and early March, it appeared poised to clinch a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Both the loss and flat performance might reinvigorate that debate, as the Gators fall to 26-7. Vanderbilt led by as many as 25 points and Florida led for just 70 seconds.
Committee chair Dan Gavitt mentioned on CBS on Saturday that three teams are in contention for the fourth No. 1, presumably Florida, Houston and UConn. Florida’s loss will put more focus on UConn’s Big East title game against St. John’s tonight and Houston’s Big 12 title game against Arizona.
When asked about Florida’s seeding on Saturday and the competition among two teams, Golden said he was curious what other team would have been in the conversation with Florida and UConn. He was surprised to hear Houston and pointed to Florida’s metrics said: “It’s not really close.”
He also pointed to the past two months.
“We hadn’t lost in 54 days or something leading up to this game, playing some of the best basketball in America,” Golden said. “And I do believe we’ve done enough to be the fourth one seed, but we’ll find out tomorrow night.”
For Vanderbilt, the thumping of the Florida looms as the biggest victory in the two-year tenure of coach Mark Byington. Vanderbilt made the NCAA tournament as a No. 10 seed last year, losing to St. Mary’s in the first round.
Vanderbilt spread out the Gators and diced them up, shooting 10-of-21 from 3-point range. Vanderbilt sophomore Tyler Tanner was the best player on the floor, as he scored 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting and added eight assists. He was one of five Commodores in double figures, as Jalen Washington added 17 points and Duke Miles had 15.
Vanderbilt finished with 21 assists and just eight turnovers, a study in spacing and sharing the ball.
Vanderbilt improves to 26-7, and it entered the game projected as a No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament. It enters Sunday’s game against the winner of Arkansas and Ole Miss with the chance to win the SEC tournament for the first time since 2012.
That could result, perhaps, in a bump to a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament. Regardless, Vanderbilt is in strong position for the program’s first NCAA tournament game win since 2012 under Kevin Stallings. Both Bryce Drew and Jerry Stackhouse failed to win an NCAA game at Vanderbilt during their tenures, a dry spell Byington appears poised to end.
Byington implored Vanderbilt fans to buy tickets early Sunday, he said in his press conference before Ole Miss and Arkansas tipped off. That way, he joked the fans of the winning team wouldn’t be able to buy them on the open market.
“We’re the smallest school in the SEC, we’re a private school, and we’re going against some monster fan bases,” Byington said. “And one of the things that I want to do is build Vanderbilt up and be Nashville’s team. And Nashville city has taken off. Yeah.
“We want Vanderbilt to be cool. We want kids growing up wanting to be Tyler Tanner or Diego Pavia. I know the value in that. I’ve talked to so many people who are older and they came because their father and their son brought them to Memorial Gymnasium. I want to kind of get that going again.”
One season after winning the SEC tournament on the way to the national title, the Gators will have some uncertainty on their seeding as they head into Selection Sunday.
“It’s fuel in the fire for us,” Florida junior Alex Condon said. “It’s not the worst thing the world to have a wake-up call this time of year.”
