A loss to Auburn pretty much seals it. Welcome to the Not Invited Tournament.

Was it really you crashing the boards against the Hawgs?

Was it really you who recorded those two blocks and a steal?

Was it really you…hustling out there?

Okay, so you bricked 8 shots, five of them from beyond the arc. But you did what was needed when it was needed most. Jersey boy or not, it’s appreciated.

Nick Calathes was his usual versatile self, with 11-6-7. Mighty mite Erving Walker also recorded five steals. And Florida found some heart on a night when the team didn’t find range from beyond the arc.

If you can bottle that up and use it for three more games and become SEC tournament champs, you’re in via the tournament champion’s berth, regardless of all the cupcakes, heartbreaks, and tough shakes.

We won’t know if that’ll even pop up when Auburn, home of such NBA studs as Charles Barkley and Marquis Daniels, pops up next. But your SEC rivals on the plains are undersized in the frontcourt.

Win one for the Gipper, Tim Tebow, and the fanbase.

Given that frosh F Allan Chaney is out for the SEC Tournament after aggravating his heel injury, you might be wondering why Eloy Vargas isn’t tabbed for some playing time. Billy Donovan makes it short and sweet:

“Eloy has got a long, long way to go. I am just telling it like it is. It is not necessarily his foot condition anymore, it is his overall conditioning.”

So there you have it.

Good guys prevail: 60-53. Thank heavens for the win.

Of all the games Florida plays every year, there are two that stand out for me and most other fans. Kentucky away, and Kentucky at home. Beating Kentucky, no matter how poor they are in a given season, is always a treat. And of course, Kentucky fans should accept it as a token of respect for the history of their program that taking out Big Blue is always a big deal around these parts.

On a day when Nick Calathes was offensively inept, going a paltry 2-9 in 34 minutes of play, a glimpse of “old school” Gator basketball emerged when Walter Hodge and Alex Tyus stepped up their games. The senior and the soph combined for 29 points and a series of big plays: Hodge’s trey with Kentucky knocking on the door of a two-possession game was huge, and Tyus’ block of Jodie Meeks after a Kentucky steal kept an 8-point differential alive when the game was still in question. Erving Walker’s stock also continues to rise. The Tasmanian Devil, as I like to call him, hit a huge three with 5:01 to go to extend the lead to 8 points. He followed that up by drawing a foul from Patrick Patterson (remember him… the player who famously said “In the end, Kentucky will win” when he was recruited?) and knocking down a free throw, effectively a three-point swing with 1:56 remaining.
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No, unfortunately Al, Corey, Jo, Hump and Taurean will not be playing today. But there’s a reason for starting off with the best Gator basketball team — indeed one of the greatest teams period — of all time. I’ll get to that in a minute.

First, the scenario: Two NIT-bound teams, fighting for the opportunity to survive long enough to win one or more SEC Tournament games for the longshot chance of making the tournament.

That’s gripping television.

Whoever loses is definitely out. Whoever wins is probably still out.

But this is Kentucky, a team Florida has enjoyed great success against in recent years. And Kentucky is a dangerous program; with the resources they have available, and the intense desire of their boosters and fanbase to win, it is only a matter of time before the toothless ‘Cats become fearsome again.

I think Billy Gillispie has been exposed this year as a coach who recruits well and gets his players to work hard, but simply doesn’t know how to correctly strategize and set his Xs and Os up to win. As far as gameday coaches go, Gillispie is surely among the worst in the SEC, if not the worst. Some say he’s playing head games with his players and looking for some long-term benefit out of his bizarre substitution patterns and never-say-zone defense. How he’s managed to lose 11 games with a team that features Jodie Meeks and Patrick Patterson, two All-American candidates, is beyond me.

Meanwhile, Billy Donovan’s players have played to their potential this year and have at times exhibited the signs of being a well-coached team. It’s an incomplete team; one that suffers from the burden of early departures (Speights, Lucas, Mitchell), and never really recovered from the loss of the ’04s two seasons ago. Do they have the horses to beat Kentucky? By a hair, yes. Do they have the talent? Definitely. Are they physical enough? Maybe. Do they have the better coach? Without a doubt.

And they’re playing in the O-Dome. The Gators owe Kentucky one after losing an ever-so-close game in Lexington last month. The Rowdy Reptiles will represent.

This is important because if Florida is going to come back in 2010 resurgent with Vernon Macklin, plus the SEC’s best guard (Nick Calathes), a balls-out tasmanian devil (Erving Walker) and a hopefully improved 4/5 Kadji, it starts now. It starts with making a statement that Florida basketball, even in weakened form, can pull themselves together and provide Gator Nation with a cherished win over the heritage-rich Kentucky Wildcats.

Florida basketball, folks. Florida basketball. Do not forget those two orange national championship banners hanging front and center from the rafters. We are playing for the honor of those players and the great ones who came before them: Mike Miller. Matt Bonner. Udonis Haslem. David Lee. Al Horford. Taurean Green. Joakim Noah. Corey Brewer. Lee Humphrey.

Their legacy lives on, and this team must honor it when they take the hardwood today, the same court on which Florida won their first national championship in 2006.

Go Gators.

We all know what’s coming next. And there’s probably nothing outside the realm of wishful thinking that will stop it.

It wasn’t unexpected, and losing the way we did wasn’t a surprise.

(Especially when the Gators appeared in their black jerseys. Burn them!)

The boys played hard and never quit, and played (mostly) to the full extent of their ability, taking the game down to the last 5 minutes or so. LSU was simply too athletic, and Thornton was just too deadly from 3-point land. The better team won.

I’m not upset about this loss. Had Florida come out flat, or been wholly uncompetitive, I’d be raging mad. But they didn’t, and weren’t. The hoops Gators played their most complete half of the year to take a 4-point road lead into the locker room midway through the game, and then wore down in the final minutes of the second half. Nick Calathes was running around 2-3 screens per play to get a shot off and was still playing well nearly to the end. With little bench depth to work with, Donovan had little choice but to go with the gameplan he had, which almost worked. And the players gave everything they had to make it work.

But it didn’t.
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Final: Gators 82, Vandy 68 in a game that the ‘Dores never really had a chance to win. On Saturday in the O-Dome, Florida got off to a fast start and never looked back. Vanderbilt couldn’t cut into Florida’s double-digit lead, which was taken just 9 minutes into the first half and held to the bitter end.

You know something? I like this victory. Vandy owns a couple of decent SEC wins (most notably over the Patterson-less Kentucky Wildcats) and came into today’s matchup having won 3 of their last 4 games. The Gators were favored on their home court, but nothing can be taken for granted in this year’s conference. The boys came out and did what they had to do, playing with notable defensive intensity and a nicely-oiled offense.

Dan Werner played a competent game, making all four of his shots (three of them treys) and grabbing four boards as well. It was helpful to my blood pressure to see Whiskers, as I affectionately call him, turn in a solid performance.
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Billy Donovan:

“These guys are giving me everything they have.”

And that was enough on Wednesday night. Hurray for beating bad teams. Florida reaches the 20-win mark while the Gottliebless Tide fall to 13-12 and 3-8 in conference play. The final tally was 83-74, but it was close, requiring free throws — made this time — down the stretch to hold the Tide at bay.

More Donovan:

“I understand all their flaws and all their flaws can be seen but sometimes we get a little bit fatigued and we get tired and they’re young and they’re thinner and they’re not quite as old as some of these teams and they get pushed around.”

Hurray for keen coaching observations. Actually, it is somewhat heartening to realize that Donovan gets it, that he understands the place and time and circumstances and that he’s not thrilled about where his program stands at the moment. It puts things into perspective. And the head coach knows where accountability has to start and stop.

“This group of Chandler and Nick, and even Dan to an extent, and Alex Tyus, have been thrust into a situation that to be quite honest is really unfair and I probably hold myself more responsible in terms of not having more pieces around those guys so they can do what they can do and be complemented more.”

Donovan has always been great with the media and fans, and has always been willing to share his thoughts and reasoning when it comes to Gator hoops. Hearing these words from Donovan offers some insight, offers some relief for Gator Nation that, hey, things are going to be okay. We might not have a contender this year, and our problems might not be fully solved even in 2010. But they will be solved, and Florida basketball will be back.