Florida Locked Into No. 5 Seed in SEC Tournament

A disappointing end to a disappointing regular season locked Florida into the fifth seed of the SEC Tournament, down three spots from what could have been with a win.

Editor's note: This story has been edited to fix a scheduling mistake regarding Florida's potential second-round matchup.

Following a disappointing, yet not unusual, loss to the No. 6 Kentucky Wildcats in their final regular-season game at the O'Connell Center this season in Gainesville, the Florida Gators (19-12, 11-7 SEC) have been named the No. 5 seed in the upcoming SEC Tournament.

Florida entered the weekend in possession of the No. 2 seed, needing a win over Kentucky to seal that spot and earn two days of extra preparation to begin the tournament. The Gators owned a tiebreaker over both LSU and Auburn, at the time.

But despite UK's starting point guard Ashton Hagans missing the game for personal reasons, Florida owning as much as an 18 point lead with less than 12 minutes left in the contest, and even Kentucky head coach John Calipari nearly being ejected for technical fouls, the Gators crumbled when it mattered most.

Thus, the No. 5 seed.

Florida will face the winner of the No. 12 Ole Miss vs. No. 13 Georgia game, which takes place on Wednesday, March 11th, at 7 P.M. ET in Nashville, Tennessee. The second round will begin the following day, with the Gators set to tip-off against their opponent on Thursday, the 12th, shortly following No. 8 Tennessee vs. No. 9 Alabama.

A situation to keep an eye on entering the week will be big-man Kerry Blackshear Jr.'s left wrist sprain, which bothered him at the end of the first half against Kentucky forced him out of the game entirely early in the second half. 

It's close to rocket science to predict just how the Gators will perform on a night to night basis. One game, they'll knock your socks off with all-around domination such as their dismantling of the former No. 4 Auburn. The next, you'll get games like the recent loss to Tennessee and the latest loss to Kentucky.

Which could make them one of two things this upcoming week: A threat in the SEC Tournament, or an early exit.