Crunch time is here and the prevailing theory from the Florida players is that they need to get some wins or they might be watching the NCAA Tournament on television. Like freshman forward Adam Allen said, the Gators know what's at stake in these final two regular-season games and the SEC Tournament.
"We know we have to win some games to get in the tournament," Allen said. "Nobody wants to go to the NIT. It's like the champion of the losers to win that. Everybody wants to play in the NCAA Tournament."
Florida (21-8, 8-6 SEC) is by no means out of contention. It is by no means a lock to make the field of 65, either. The Gators host Tennessee at 9 p.m. Wednesday. A win against the Volunteers could go a long way on Selection Sunday. A visit to Kentucky in the regular-season finale on Sunday is also important and then Florida has its final chance to impress the selection committee at the conference tournament in Atlanta.
"People are trying to put a lot more pressure because it's the last two games of the season," freshman guard Jai Lucas said. "You have to win games. I don't feel any extra pressure. When you start feeling pressure about what's being brought upon you that's when you don't perform."
Said freshman guard Nick Calathes: "We definitely need some wins. That's all that really matters is we need to win some games. We have to win these two and then in the SEC (tournament) we have to win some."
Everybody seems to have a theory on how many wins Florida needs to get its 10th straight NCAA Tournament bid and have at least a 1 in 65 shot at playing for its third straight national title. The Gators have to be in it to win it and as things stand now, they just hope to be in it. Coach Billy Donovan said he doesn't think there's any extra pressure on his players.
"We're going into the game playing the game," Donovan said. "I don't think our guys have played tight. If I felt we were playing that way it's probably something I'd have to address. There is a steadiness about them that they just play."
Donovan also said he's been disappointed his team hasn't played with the high level of intensity needed to win on a regular basis. Execution breakdowns and shooting slumps can be understood since the team is not trying to mess up. But Donovan said he still doesn't feel this Florida team gets how hard they have to play to be successful.
"I don't like the passion and the fire and intensity we play with on a regular basis," he said. "I have not been able to get that out of them. That's one thing besides the execution piece of it because that happens sometimes. I don't think they intentionally went in there and didn't try to do what we asked them to do.
"The fact that we don't play and have not played, and it's something when you guys asked about the first two weeks of practice, I said these guys have no concept of how hard they have to play. Whatever it is, I have not been able to get to them on that."
Sophomore forward/center Marreese Speights had 20 points and 10 rebounds and Calathes finished with 18 points and seven boards but the Gators missed a golden opportunity to pick up a big home win Saturday when Mississippi State came to the O'Connell Center and won, 68-59.
Florida's most impressive SEC victory came in a 22-point decision over then-No. 14 Vanderbilt on Jan. 27. Sophomore forward Dan Werner said after the game it was the best the Gators had played all season. Since that time, Florida is 3-5. The Gators lost by 19 points at Arkansas and by 22 points at Tennessee.
LSU beat them at home by 12 points, they lost at Vanderbilt by 3 and then lost to Mississippi State this weekend. Florida beat Georgia twice by double digits and defeated South Carolina by three points in Gainesville. No matter how one cuts it, Florida's postseason hopes rest on the Tennessee and Kentucky games and then how it fares in the conference tournament.
"Any year you're not in the NCAA Tournament is a bad year for Florida," Allen said. "The coaches try not to (say), 'If we lose, we're done.' They don't try to throw that out there. We all know in our minds we have to get something done here.
"We choose our own destiny. It's not anybody's fault but ours. …It's in the back of everybody's mind. Every game, you just have to go out there and play like it's your last."