UF looks to lock up SEC Tournament bye

With only four games left on the schedule and bracketologies flying every which way from every media outlet who wants to nail their March Madness 2012 bracket perfectly, Florida is closing in on a much more important mark.

The Gators are looking not so much at their NCAA Tournament seeding, but at locking up one of the Southeastern Conference’s four first-round byes in the conference tournament.

“That’s very important, you don’t want to play four days,” senior point guard Erving Walker said. “I think a bye is huge.”

Though Florida’s players are focused on one game at a time, it’s the time of the year for basketball fans to start asking questions about when this team or that team will clinch a bye.

For the Gators, it’s pretty simple. Two more wins and a first-round bye is locked up. One more win and any Tennessee loss will also do the trick.

Florida will host Auburn, take on Georgia and Vanderbilt on the road and then host Kentucky. Tennessee will host Ole Miss, take on South Carolina and LSU on the road and then host Vanderbilt.

“I have always been a big believer of you kind of take care of everything in front of you right here and now,” coach Billy Donovan said. “Talking about something that’s going to be two or three weeks down the road, that will come here. I think for our guys, they understand we need to continue to win and continue to play well and we’ll get a better seed.”

Below are the schedules for the teams that remain within reach of Florida in the 2012 SEC Basketball Tournament bye picture.

The only two scenarios Florida could miss out on a bye if it beats Auburn and loses the rest of its games would be finishing in a three-way tie with Tennessee and Alabama or with Tennessee and Mississippi State. Both of those scenarios require two .500 teams winning four-straight games.

The Gators would win all other possible three-way and four-way tie-breakers with the teams below. Kentucky (12-0) is the only SEC team that has already secured a first-round bye.

FLORIDA – 9-3

– vs. Auburn

– @ Georgia

– @ Vanderbilt

– vs. Kentucky

VANDERBILT – 8-4

– vs. South Carolina

– @ Kentucky

– vs. Florida

– @ Tennessee

ALABAMA – 6-6

– @ Arkansas

– vs. Mississippi State

– vs. Auburn

– @ Ole Miss

LSU – 6-6

– vs. Georgia

– @ Ole Miss

– vs. Tennessee

– @ Auburn

MISSISSIPPI STATE – 6-6

– vs. Kentucky

– @ Alabama

– @ South Carolina

– vs. Arkansas

TENNESSEE – 6-6

– vs. Ole Miss

– @ South Carolina

– @ LSU

– vs. Vanderbilt