The University of Florida basketball players are not going to read this story. They're not going to watch or listen to any of the fussing, howling or debating on television about their chances to make the NCAA Tournament. Just not going to do it.
They believe they have done more than enough to return to the tournament for the first time since this program won back-to-back NCAA titles in 2006 and 2007. They believe there is no reason to utter the term, "NIT," in their locker room.
Popped Florida State. Beat Michigan State. Got Tennessee once.
"We've got some big wins," forward Alex Tyus said.
Sure there were a few burps. But the Gators aren't talking about a high-octane tournament seed. Just a place on the big board early Sunday evening. All the teams that will be tucked into the final at-large positions will have some explaining to do.
But faced with an opportunity to finally stuff a size-17 sneaker into all the chatter about whether Florida is or is not an NCAA tournament team, the Gators provided the tournament selection committee with another reason to go around the table and take a magnifying glass to their credentials by losing to Mississippi State, 75-69, in the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament at Bridgestone Arena on Friday night.
"Now we can't help ourselves any more," Tyus said. "I'll get stomach feelings thinking about it so I'll just hope and pray. We would have been a lot more comfortable by winning this one."
It wasn't simply that the Gators lost a game that would have saved them the stress that has percolated in their locker room on Selection Sunday the last two seasons. It was that they were behind, 10-0, to Mississippi State, another team scrambling for a bid, before coach Billy Donovan had time to tug on his tie.
It was that they watched Mississippi State shoot nearly 63 percent overall in the first half — and then 50 percent (10 of 20) from the three-point line for the game. It was that they made several little runs, but never made the major statement run that was required to scrub away every bit of deficit that grew to 19 points with 12:31 to play in the second half.
It was that they got the lead down to four in the final minute and a half and squandered two possessions to make it even closer.
Blocked shot. Turnover. Here they go again.
It was that something about this game seemed too much like the games the Gators lost to Georgia, Vanderbilt and Kentucky in their final three games of the regular season. Even the Florida players did not argue with that perception. Heck, they brought it up.
"We didn't come out with the right intensity," Gators guard Erving Walker said. "Other teams, they came out and knew what they wanted. We didn't match that from the beginning. We dug ourselves a hole."
Most of the current bracket projections have Chandler Parsons, Tyus and Walker playing in the first NCAA tournament of their careers. They won 21 of 33 games, including nine of 16 in the Southeastern Conference. They played a solid nonleague schedule.
They came to Nashville and stopped that three-game losing streak by defeating Auburn. Several crazy things would have to occur to jerk the Gators off the board.
But it didn't have to be this way. This loss, to this team, did not help, especially if Mississippi State wins its SEC semifinal game against either Vanderbilt or Georgia today. If the Bulldogs do something really crazy and win this tournament, will the Southeastern Conference get five bids?
What's the next day and a half going to be like, fellas?
"Terrible," Florida forward Chandler Parsons said. "Awful.
"I'm concerned. Real concerned because it's not in my hands. I can't control anything. Coach Donovan can't. No one at our school can. I think everybody is just concerned and anxious and just hoping."
And the bracket projection shows? Off limits, right?
"We don't pay attention to any of that stuff," Parsons said. "No one knows anything until Sunday. We just don't watch it or pay attention to it."
"We just don't know," Tyus said. "We can't help ourselves so we're just hoping and praying. It's real tough. We just have to hope there are no more upsets. I wish tomorrow was Sunday."
A Sunday that just got more intriguing than the Gators thought it would be.
