NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Swish after swish after swish, I marveled as a visiting team sank shots from all over the court at Vanderbilt's Memorial Gym on Saturday afternoon.
No, not the Gators.
The Tennessee Lady Vols held a shootaround to prepare for a Sunday game against Vanderbilt in front of a dwindling crowd of 20 stadium workers and media members about an hour after UF's loss to Vanderbilt.
That was my attempt at an opening joke.
Now I'll get serious.
UF is in danger of missing the NCAA Tournament.
Think I'm an idiot?
What about ESPN gurus Andy Glockner and Joe Lunardi?
Glockner called Wednesday's home game against South Carolina a must-win in his bubble watch column Sunday.
Lunardi slotted UF as a No. 10 seed going into Saturday, but announced on television Saturday night that UF had made his murky "last four out" category.
UF's record of 19-7 is buoyed by a soft non-conference schedule.
The Gators are 6-5 in the Southeastern Conference with five regular-season games remaining.
Remember that only half of the SEC teams with 8-8 conference records have made the NCAA Tournament in the last five seasons.
So a 3-2 finish would probably be enough to keep UF alive, as only one SEC team in the last five years has missed NCAAs with a winning conference record (Tennessee in 2003).
Glockner's must-win prediction for the South Carolina game is not that far-fetched given the escalating remainder of the schedule.
UF travels to Georgia next week, then hosts division leaders Mississippi State and Tennessee and faces Kentucky on the road before the SEC Tournament.
UF needs to get its act together quickly, or the rest of the year could turn into a gauntlet.
If anybody can cope with what the Gators are going through right now, it's Corey Brewer.
Brewer took a seat behind UF's bench at halftime and witnessed the technical foul, the over and back and the failed final possession.
His Minnesota Timberwolves are 10-41 (second-worst record in the NBA) and losers of five straight.
A reporter asked Brewer what has been the biggest adjustment in transitioning to the pros.
"Learning to lose," Brewer said. "I'm not used to losing."
Brewer struggled in the first half of the NBA season in limited minutes on an awful team.
His field-goal percentage dropped 13 points from his last college season (from 48 percent to 35 percent) and his 3-point percentage dipped below Dan Werner territory (from 34 percent to 19 percent).
Werner, by the way, shot 1 for 6 from beyond the arc on Saturday.
He shaved his head after a 1-for-7 performance against LSU on Wednesday, hoping to shake his shooting slump.
"I had to change something, so I started with my hair," said Werner, whose pale dome bore a striking resemblance to former Miami Heat center Matt Geiger. "I guess I have to go to plan B."
What's plan B?
"I don't know yet," Werner said.
Better figure it out quick, or the postseason plan might be something else Brewer isn't used to.
That would be the NIT.
