Florida's First SEC Tournament Opponent Revealed

The Gators are 2-0 in matchups against the Wildcats this season after a 92-83 win in Gainesville on Feb. 14 and an 84-77 win in Lexington on March 7 to conclude the regular season. It marked the first time Florida swept Kentucky in the regular season since the 2017-18 season.

Meanwhile, Kentucky used a 21-point effort from Otega Oweh and a nine-block effort defensively as a team to upset Missouri and create the first third matchup with the Gators since the 2014-15 season. Since the teams first met in 1927, Florida has played Kentucky thrice in a single season a total of 10 times (1985, 1994-1996, 2004, 2005, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015), with the Gators winning at least two games on three occasions (1985, 2005, 2014). Florida has only beaten Kentucky three times in a single season once (2014).

Florida's third matchup against the Wildcats may be its toughest of the season. In its current 11-game winning streak, which includes both wins over the Wildcats, Kentucky is the only team to lose by single digits, turning a large double-digit lead into a tight-knitted game in the final minutes.

In Saturday's season-finale, Florida led by as much as 20 in the second half before the Wildcats used a 13-3 run late to bring the deficit down to eight and trailed by as little as five points with less than a minute left. Nine of the Gators' last 11 points came from the free-throw line to clinch the win.

"I think it was good, honestly, that that happened to us Kentucky because it shows that teams can fight back," forward Thomas Haugh said. "We did that a lot last year. So we just need to put teams away. We were up by 20 in that game. We need to keep it at 20."

Now, as the Gators begin play in the SEC Tournament, it also looks to officially clinch a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. As it stands, Florida is the favorite to receive the fourth one-seed behind Duke, Michigan and Arizona, but depending on its performance, as well as UConn's in the Big East Tournament, the Gators could easily lose it.

"I think we're in a great spot now, especially compared to last week," Golden said. "We just have to worry about we can control. If we win the games, I don't think we have anything to worry about. If we don't, then we start to worry and start allowing other people to dictate and determine what happens with us."

Tip-off between the Gators and the Wildcats on Friday is at 1 p.m. ET with television coverage on ESPN. Winner faces the winner of No. 4 Vanderbilt vs. No. 5 Tennessee/No. 12 Auburn in the semifinals on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET.