There hasn’t been a dull night in the SEC all year. The most crowded league in college basketball offers yet another banger in primetime. No. 5 Florida heads to Tuscaloosa on Wednesday night to face No. 7 Alabama on the program’s senior night. Though top-ranked Auburn is locked in for its share of the regular season title, the Gators and Tide are angling for the conference tournament’s second seed.
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How to watch No. 5 Florida at No. 7 Alabama
Both sides have enjoyed stellar seasons thus far and have shots at No. 1 seeds for March Madness.
Florida has gone 7-1 since its 20-point drubbing from Tennessee on Feb. 1, the one blemish being that perplexing loss to Georgia last week. The offense is averaging more than 85 points in that stretch, including a 90-piece on formidable Auburn at The Jungle. Senior Will Richard is closing out in style. He’s tried 20 treys in his last two games and has made more than half of them. Florida has the SEC’s second-best net rating at plus-23.6 and is far closer to the leader, Auburn (24), than is third-ranked Tennessee (+20.1). The Gators are confident in transition and are 6-3 in road action.
Alabama is looking to flood away Saturday’s gut-churning L in Knoxville. For real, how did this happen?
No opponent wants to see this team in revenge mode. Alabama runs a blistering, breathless offense that paces the nation in scoring. It leads the SEC in made 2s, 3s and free throws, along with field goal percentage and total rebounding.
The Crimson Tide have no shortage of inspiration for Wednesday night’s home finale. It’s senior night at Coleman Coliseum, a well-deserved hat-tip to one of the best senior classes in school history. Mark Sears and Grant Nelson anchored last year’s Final Four run. New transfers Chris Youngblood and Clifford Omoruyi have been pivotal additions.
Nate Oats and Alabama are 12-2 at home, and the over is 4-2 in their last six games. This point total of 178.5 is their second-highest line of the season. Expect bountiful buckets on Wednesday night.
CJ Moore on Florida from his latest power rankings: “Florida is one of the nation’s best teams at attacking a switching defense. The Gators run a lot of similar actions as Kentucky, with a big on the perimeter swinging it toward two guards. The Gators will have the man closest to the ball cut to create an empty action where the big can throw ahead to the remaining guard for a 3, make the same pass and chase it with a ball screen, or dribble into a dribble handoff. The Gators are most dangerous when Alex Condon is the initiator because he’s their best passer. A fourth option that works well against a switching defense is for that single guard left to also cut to the basket.
With Condon, Haugh and Handlogten, Florida has the best trio of passing bigs in the country. And if there is an already elite offense that feels like it could still be ascending in March, it’s Florida’s, which ranks fourth in adjusted efficiency.”
Florida at Alabama odds
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(Photo of Mark Sears and Grant Nelson: Harry How / Getty Images)
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