Did Florida's chances at a No. 1 seed in the2026 NCAA tournamenttake a big hit on Saturday?
The defending national champions wereupset 91-74 by Vanderbilt in the semifinals of the SEC tournament. The Commodores led for the final 29 minutes and had a 13-point lead at halftime by outscoring the Gators 33-20 after the game was tied at 14-14.
The lead simply got bigger in the second half. And Florida coach Todd Golden eventually got frustrated enough to draw a technical foul. After Devin McGlockton hit a wide-open 3-pointer with 8:11 to go to put the Commodores up 23, Golden got hit with the T for berating the officials.
McGlockton's shot was Vanderbilt's 10th 3-pointer of the game on just 19 attempts. The Commodores finished 10-of-21 from behind the arc as the team shot 55% overall.
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Florida, meanwhile, was much, much colder. The Gators had a massive rebounding edge against Vanderbilt thanks to their forward trio of Alex Condon, Thomas Haugh and Rueben Chinyelu. But that advantage didn't matter thanks to how poorly Florida shot the ball and how little Vanderbilt turned it over.
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Vandy had just seven turnovers while Florida turned it over 13 times. The Commodores turned those Gators turnovers into 24 points.
If the loss makes Florida fall off the No. 1 line, either UConn or Houston could join Duke, Michigan and Arizona on the No. 1 line. The Huskies face St. John's in the Big East championship game on Saturday night, while Houston has the chance to get a big win over Arizona in the Big 12 title game.
Is Florida still a favorite to win it all?
The Gators are looking to be the second straight team to win back-to-back NCAA titles after UConn won the 2023 and 2024 NCAA tournaments. The Huskies were the first team to win consecutive titles since the Gators won in 2006 and 2007.
Florida is one of the betting favorites to win it all and has been one of the hottest teams in college basketball across the final two months of the season. But Saturday's game was also a good example of how this Florida team isn't as good as last season's version.
The national title team had Condon, Haugh and Chinyelu playing key roles — and they have formed one of the best frontcourts in college basketball this season. But the Gators were led by senior guards Walter Clayton, Alijah Martin and Will Richard, and Clayton was named the most outstanding player of the tournament.
Golden added guards Xaivian Lee and Boogie Fland through the transfer portal over the offseason and Urban Klavzar has played a bigger role after appearing in 26 games as a freshman in 2024-25. But the backcourt isn't as deep as it was a season ago. Could that end up costing the Gators later in March?
