Florida's NCAA Sweet Sixteen Dream Dies

It had been a dozen games since Florida 's last loss heading into its SEC Tournament semifinal matchup with Vanderbilt. Alas, all good things must come to an end and the Commodores slammed the brakes on the Gators' winning streak with a 91-74 victory in Nashville. Todd Golden's team had only experienced defeat twice this calendar year prior — an SEC schedule-opening loss to Missouri and the program's first home loss to Auburn in 30 years.

After that loss to the latter Tigers team, the Orange and Blue went on a run of success that elevated them back into the upper echelon of college basketball. Keep in mind that the loss in the semifinals is by no means a "bad loss," as the Commodores are ranked No. 14 in the NET rankings and are a projected 5-seed in USA TODAY Sports' latest bracket projections .

The big question after that 17-point thumping is whether or not Florida will hold onto its projected No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament with UConn knocking at the door. With a familiar face like Houston also well in the mix, the Gators' rusty play over the past two games might look bad in the eyes of the selection committee.

However, ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi said on his network that he believes the committee will still keep the Gators on the 1-seed despite the early exit from the SEC tournament because of "their body of work. " "Florida was the outright champion of a far stronger league. UConn finished second in a far weaker league, and I know the UConn and Big East people won't want to hear that, but I fully expect Florida is going to be the No.