The SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament tips off today in Nashville, Tennessee. #4 seed Florida will play #5 seed Auburn at 7:30 p.m. EST in the third game of the day, and will be televised on the SEC Network. Florida went 6-0 against the SEC West this season, including a 78-70 win over Auburn earlier this year in Gainesville. The Gators are currently 20-11, 9-7 SEC and on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament – there’s no doubt… they must win tonight vs. Auburn.

The University of Florida has three SEC Tournament titles, all coming during a three-year run from 2005-07. They haven’t been as fortunate in the last two year where they were first round exits in 2008 and second round exists in 2009. Depending on what other teams around the NCAA do this week, the Gators may only need one win in the SEC Tournament or they might need two. The Gators have a few key signature wins this year, including victories over Michigan State, Florida State and Tennessee. Those should help give them an edge even if their RPI is in the 50s.

The Gators may have lost three SEC games in a row to close out the regular season, but there were actually some positives in those games. Several players showed key improvements on offense. Vernon Macklin has shown tremendous offensive improvement in recent weeks and has been in double figures in five of the last seven games, including a career-high 22 points at Ole Miss on Feb. 20. Chandler Parsons has been in double figures in seven of the last nine games including a career-high 29 against Georgia on Feb. 27… Parsons had 17 points, six rebounds and four assists in the first meeting with Auburn.

Also, despite losing against the SEC’s top two teams in their last two outings, UF has out-rebounded both, including 19.5 offensive rebounds per game in those two outings. The Gators are a lot bigger than Auburn and should be able to dominate in the low post and on the rebounds. The Tigers only have one starter over 6′8″, while the Gators have three – Tyus, Macklin and Parsons.

In a must-win situation these Gators haven’t always come away with the win in the past few years, but I really have to believe Billy will have them ready to play tonight and they will defeat Auburn. If the Gators win, they will play Mississippi State tomorrow night.