Florida Gators basketball (22-3) did what no other SEC team could do; not even previously No. 2 ranked Alabama on its home court. That was to take down No. 1 ranked Auburn (23-2) this season.
Their reward for being one of just two teams to beat Auburn this year was a tie for the No. 3 ranked team in the country with Duke – who lost to unranked Clemson at the time, mind you. Following Alabama’s loss, the AP voters finally showed some respect to Florida.
The Gators moved up to No. 2, ranked just below Auburn. While I don’t agree with the voters placing Florida behind Auburn, seeing as they beat them head-to-head, I get that head-to-head isn’t the only determining factor.
That’s also why I respect the one voter who gave Florida a first-place vote this past week. The Gators deserved to be considered the No. 1 team in the country, but they don’t need the rankings to validate that.
All Florida needs to do is win the SEC tournament, and not only will they likely become the No. 1 team in the country, they’ll get the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, which is far better than a late season AP ranking.
Florida deserved its sole vote to be the No. 1 team in the country because they beat the No. 1 team in the country
The Iron Bowl of basketball was as riveting as we expected it to be. The Tigers were too much for the Crimson Tide to handle, and they validated their No. 1 ranking with a Quad 1 road win over Alabama. That said, don’t let that win overshadow the loss they suffered a week ago against Florida. The Gators should have been given a bump all the way to No. 1 in the country — and Bama losing proved why.
Auburn is a tough opponent. Aside from the Tigers’ loss to Florida, their only other loss this season was to Duke back in December. And that was a road game.
Florida not only took down the best team in college basketball right now, they did it on the road. Yet, they didn’t receive a first-place vote last week and received just one this week.
If the Gators don’t lose a game the rest of the season and win the SEC tournament, it will prove all along that they deserved to be the top team in college basketball. At least one person already knows that.