Florida basketball moves up to top seed in USA TODAY Sports bracketology despite loss
Florida basketball hit a wall on Saturday against the Tennessee Volunteers, who suffocated the Gators in a 64-44 knockout punch in Knoxville. It snapped the Gators' program-record 21-game streak of scoring 70 points or more and handed them their worst defeat since a 28-point margin at the hands of the then-No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide nearly two years ago.
Todd Golden's team now has three losses in 21 total tries with 10 games remaining in the regular season and is ranked sixth in both the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll and Associated Press Poll, while holding onto the No. 5 spot in the NET rankings. While the Vols' beatdown last weekend may have stung the ego of the team, the national sports media appears to still believe in the Orange and Blue.
In fact, despite an effort on the court that head coach Todd Golden was "disappointed" in, USA TODAY Sports writer Paul Myerberg moved Florida from the No. 2 seed in the East Region to the top seed in the West in his latest bracketology update. That matches up the Gators with the No. 16-seeded UNC-Asheville Bulldogs in the first round held in Raleigh, North Carolina.
SEC schools in USA TODAY Sports bracketology
Florida's ascent to the No. 1 seed now gives the Southeastern Conference control of three of the four regions in the bracketology while maintaining its nation-leading 13 schools. The Auburn Tigers hold onto the South Region's top spot for the fourth straight update, while the Alabama Crimson Tide hold onto the top seed in the West for the third consecutive update.
Tennessee moved up to the No. 2 seed in the East, while the Kentucky Wildcats held onto their No. 3 seed but moved back from the East to the Midwest. The Texas A&M Aggies joined them as the No. 3 seed in the South. The Missouri Tigers moved up to the No. 4 seed, jumping from the East to the West Region.
The Mississippi State Bulldogs fell to No. 5 while moving from West to East, followed by the Ole Miss Rebels who fell to No. 7 in the South, Oklahoma Sooners who moved up to No. 9 in the East, Vanderbilt Commodores who slipped to a No. 10 seed in the West, Texas Longhorns who remain a No. 10 seed in the Midwest and the Georgia Bulldogs who fell to No. 11 in the East.
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