The stage is set for the SEC. Florida put on an offensive clinic versus Alabama on Saturday while Tennessee powered past top-seeded Auburn, and now the Gators and Volunteers will face off in the SEC Tournament championship on Sunday afternoon.
The two matchups between these teams have been extremely odd; in their first game, Tennessee won by 30. In the second matchup, Florida won by 20. Third time's the charm for a close game, right? We can only hope.
SEC Men's Tournament Bracket update
What's at stake in the SEC Tournament championship game?
If the question is about seeding, probably not a ton. Florida's decimation of Alabama is probably all the confirmation the Selection Committee needed to pull out the Sharpie and write a "1" next to Florida's name. Two wins against Alabama, one against Auburn, one against Tennessee and a host of wins against the rest of the conference have their resume looking hugely impressive heading into Selection Sunday.
Tennessee fans will argue that, if they win on Sunday, they will have beaten Florida twice and deserve to be a No. 1 seed instead. That's a fair argument. But the Vols went 12-6 in conference play, and no matter how deep the conference is, it'll be hard to justify a one-seed for a team that finished fourth in their conference during the regular season.
Tennessee and Florida advanced in different ways
The Vols beat Auburn in a bit of a slog. Both teams barely cracked the 40 percent shooting mark, and the teams combined for 11 made 3-pointers. But Zakai Zeigler ground his way to 20 points and the always-stout Tennessee defense held off a late surge from Johni Broome and the Tigers.
Florida's win against Alabama was the opposite of a grind. It was a record-setting offensive explosion. The Tide were without answer for Florida's offense, which scored an SEC Tournament record 104 points.