With the SEC regular season coming to a close the Florida Gators will head to Tuscaloosa for one of the most difficult games on their schedule–a date with the Alabama Crimson Tide. This game has massive implications for both SEC standings as well as NCAA Tournament seeding so look for both teams to come out playing inspired basketball. Currently the Gators sit at 25-4 on the season and 12-4 in the SEC while Alabama is 23-6 on the year and, you guessed it–12-4 in the SEC. With Auburn having locked up the SEC regular season championship the Gators and Crimson Tide are stuck competing for second, and with this being the only meeting between the two teams it could very well decide who finishes in that spot as the winner will not only be a game up but have the tiebreaker. Tennessee has an outside shot at second if Alabama were to beat Florida as they hold a tiebreak with the Crimson Tide, but it’s likely right now that it will be Florida or Alabama.
In terms of NCAA Tournament seeding, right now there looks like five (or possibly six if you include Tennessee) teams with a chance at 1-seeds. That list consists of two teams that are lock 1-seeds even if they were to lose out in Auburn and Duke, meaning that Houston, Alabama, and Florida are essentially fighting for the last two spots. Currently–those spots belong to Alabama and Houston, with Alabama thought to be the safer of the two by most reputable bracketologists. Alabama played one of the hardest non-conference schedules in the country where they got wins over Illinois, Houston, Rutgers, North Carolina, Creighton, McNeese State, and Arkansas State, giving them a lot more quality wins without bad losses than Houston and Florida, so they look to be safe on the “1” line for the moment. That means that Florida could use this game more than Alabama, as the Gators could leapfrog Houston with what would be a massive resume win on the road. Of course, with both Alabama and Florida both very strong teams–neither would be hurt with a loss.
Whether it be the SEC standings or projected NCAA Tournament seeding the Crimson Tide and Gators find themselves neck and neck and similar in a lot of ways, but that certainly wasn’t the position going into the season. Alabama came into the 2024-25 season with a lot more fanfare with many people (including myself, truthfully) picking them to win the 2025 National Championship. Coming off a Final Four year where they lost to the eventual champions UConn, the Crimson Tide were set to return a number of key players while also addressing the defense issues that did plague them through the portal.
Things didn’t go according to plan early and while the Tide were collecting wins, they weren’t doing so decisively. Due to the nature of their difficult schedule they also did take some losses, and while those losses weren’t bad in a vacuum (Purdue on the road, Oregon on a neutral floor) people still questioned if they had the ceiling to compete for a Final Four. The defensive issues that hurt them last year also seemed to be showing up once again, and some people dismissed head coach Nate Oats and his group.
Battle hardened by a difficult non-conference schedule, Alabama stormed into the SEC and picked up steam, and it almost seemed like the returning talent was bored and not playing their best during the first months of the season and completely picked up their level of play in league, and they now find themselves as a team in the Final Four hunt.
Leading the way for Alabama is returner Mark Sears, a player that you will know very well from his multiple years of being one of the top scorers in not just the SEC, but the country. Sears was one of the players who took some heat in the non-conference season for his lack of intensity and defensive lapses, but when it comes to scoring he has few peers at the college level. Despite some slower weeks early he is averaging 19.1 points and 5.0 assists per game, and while his down play at times earlier likely took him out of the player of the year conversation (after he was a favorite going into the year), he is absolutely playing like one of the best players in the country at the moment. In his last four games he has 24 points and 4 assists, 21 points and 10 assists, 30 points and 4 assists, and 35 points and 5 assists, so simply put the Gators are going to see one of the most lethal guards in the country Wednesday. You may also remember his three performances against the Gators last year where he had 22 points and 4 assists, 33 points (and 0 assists), and 17 points and 8 assists–so he has always been at his best against Florida.
An impactful player for Alabama that you might not be aware of is freshman Lebaron Philon, a Mobile, Alabama product that surprised everyone with his ability to come in and play right away, often taking the role of secondary scorer behind Sears. Philon is averaging 10.4 points and 3.5 assists per game, and when you see him you’ll know exactly why Alabama wanted him. A 6’4” guard with great speed, Philon is yet another Alabama guard who can seemingly get the ball into the paint whenever he wants and he’s going to be a major challenge for Florida’s defense.
Last season Alabama was one of the best offensive teams college basketball has seen in recent years, but they were held back by a defense that was at times putrid. According to KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency metric the Crimson Tide were 111th in the country, and sometimes the eye test would suggest they were even worse. While Nate Oats was ecstatic with the offensive ability he was frustrated at his team’s inability to guard and that was the number one thing he looked to address with the transfer portal. In order to shore up the perimeter defense he took Chris Youngblood from South Florida, a player who actually played against the Gators in 2023 while with Kennesaw State if you have a tremendous memory. Youngblood is a veteran 6’4” guard who will take the opposing team’s most talented perimeter player in order to insulate Mark Sears, and while he’s not particularly long he’s got great feet and is extremely smart and will do his best to keep the ball out of the hands of his check.
On the interior, Alabama got Cliff Omoruyi from Rutgers, one of the most sought-after centers in the portal who the Gators also had interest in. This hasn’t gone particularly well, as Omoruyi is somewhat of a tweener who isn’t the most physical on the interior and also isn’t the most mobile on the perimeter, meaning he’s a solid positional defender who has helped the Crimson Tide, but he isn’t such a dominant defensive player that he has changed what they are on that side of the floor.
While the portal pieces have helped the defense, they weren’t such good defensive players that they truly elevated the Crimson Tide to “really good” on that end and they sit at 33rd nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency–a huge improvement, but still not where they want to be if they want to compete for a championship.
For Florida, this matchup will be all about how they can guard on the perimeter. When their defense has faltered it has largely been due to their backcourt allowing dribble penetration and getting scrambled in rotation, and there is no better backcourt in the country at blowing by their man and creating rotations than Alabama with Mark Sears and Lebaron Philon. The Gators will have a big size advantage in the frontcourt and also have a lot more depth there so they could win this game on the interior and on the offensive glass so long as they can find a way to slow down Sears.
Florida and Alabama will tip off Wednesday, March 5th at 7 PM ET, and it will be televised on ESPN 2.