Florida Hoops SEC Tournament Matchup, Time Slot Set

The Florida Gators are set to take on Mississippi State in the SEC Tournament in Nashville at 1 p.m. EST on Thursday.

Photo: Todd Golden and Myreon Jones; Credit: Zach Goodall

The Gators (16-15; 9-9 SEC) are no longer vying for a March Madness berth after the wheels fell off following star forward Colin Castleton's untimely injury. But, they will have the opportunity to play spoiler for the field of 68 hopefuls in the SEC Tournament.

Saturday marked the final day of the regular season in the SEC, solidifying the end of an eventful 2022-23 season and the seeding for conference tournament play. Florida's comeback win over LSU locked them into the eighth seed.

As a result, Todd Golden and Co. are scheduled to play Mississippi State (20-11; 8-10 SEC) at 1 p.m. EST in Nashville on Thursday.

The bottom middle of the bracket remained in flux during the Saturday games with Arkansas (19-12; 8-10 SEC), Florida and Mississippi State competing for the 8-10 seeds. The Razorbacks fell at the hands of the Kentucky Wildcats before the Gators contest commenced, taking the nine-seed off the table for Florida due to the head-to-head tiebreaker Arkansas held.

Mississippi State, despite having a better overall record, also fell on Saturday to drop to 8-10 in the league with a loss to Liam Robbins'-less Vanderbilt. However, the Bulldogs held the advantage with a win over the Hogs in Fayetteville, Ark.

As a result, the Gators controlled their destiny to position themselves well to make an unexpected run. They capitalized.

Now, Florida earns the highest seed of the three and will play MSST on Thursday. Arkansas draws a matchup with Auburn.

If Florida wins the second-round contest in the tournament, it will take on the top-seeded Alabama Crimson Tide on Friday at 1 p.m. EST.

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