Walter Hodge looked me straight in the eyes, and he shook his head.
"Probably not," he said.
That was Hodge's reaction when I asked him if the Gators would make the tournament had they lost on Wednesday. With their close victory, they still have a chance.
In other words, no guts, no NCAA Tournament. To put it nicely, UF's men's basketball team still isn't playing very well.
But at least this team full of freshmen and sophomores isn't going quietly into the night.
"Chances are good (a tourney bid would've been slashed with a loss)," Adam Allen said. "We would've had to do something spectacular after this (to make it)."
The Gators don't have an abundance of "great wins" on their NCAA resume, but there's also that column called "bad losses." This would've been a bad loss - a very bad one. The Gators have only lost one game that they've absolutely shouldn't have - against LSU at home last week.
It doesn't look good to have many of those when you're sitting on the bubble. Even if the Gators only win two of their four remaining regular-season games (at Georgia, Mississippi State, Tennessee and at Kentucky) they should still squeak into the tourney.
This was a gut check night for UF, and it pulled through - barely. I absolutely don't buy this team making it far in the tourney, but give credit to Nick Calathes and Jai Lucas for nailing free throws with a shot at March Madness on the line.
If the Gators lost this game, not only would they have lost a tourney berth, this one would've haunted them for the rest of their college careers. Blowing a double-digit lead with your postseason hanging in the balance doesn't breed confidence.
Now UF has a week to relax before going to Georgia for another game where they have to avoid the "bad loss" column against the Bulldogs. Nobody said being a bubble team is easy.
Hey, but if the Gators can actually learn to play consistent defense - you know, what happens on the side of the court that you don't shoot on (if you have heard of this, do UF a favor and show it a tutorial) - and continue to shoot the lights out they might actually pull off the huge upset against Tennessee. Even though Kentucky will be looking for revenge, the Gators could easily win that game in Lexington with some old-fashioned, tough-nosed defense.
I'll put it like this:
Beat Georgia.
Keep it close against Tennessee and Mississippi State.
Beat Kentucky at Rupp.
Have a decent run in the SEC Tournament.
Hello, March!
And, after that, sayonara season! Because this team simply isn't playing like a team that will be successful in postseason play. But even that's not half-bad for a team full of freshmen and sophomores.
