Walker Debuts as Florida Continues to Dominate the SEC
The Florida Gators are by far the cream of the crop in an otherwise mediocre Southeastern Conference basketball lineup.
On Tuesday night, Florida and head coach Billy Donovan debuted freshman Chris Walker, the who was ruled ineligible for the first semester for academic reasons and finally given the green light by the NCAA powers to be to play for what could be a one month NCAA career on his way to the NBA.
He was ranked in the top 12 as a recruit last season and even though he did not debut until last night, Walker is listed as a first rounder in many mock NBA drafts.
However, Walker was not the game’s best player on Tuesday when the Gators rolled over Missouri 68-58 in Gainesville. However, his talent helped. If he is able to continue to improve over the short term, he could help the No. 3 Gators heading into March Madness.
The win was the Gators 14th straight and keeps them in first in the SEC. Scottie Wilbekin scored 19 and Michael Frazier II had 14.
The Gators win versus Missouri and the 80-64 win by Kentucky over Ole Miss solidified what is known well about SEC basketball: the Wildcats and Gators are the only two programs in the 14-team conference that are noteworthy.
Florida has little company at the top. Kentucky could defeat them in Lexington on February 15when they meet next to tighten the race for the SEC title.
A conference’s strength is measured according to quality and depth of quality and the SEC has little of both at this point. The SEC could send only two teams to March Madness to fight for the NCAA national title. Tennessee, Mississippi, Auburn and Missouri could reach the tournament if they have strong finishes or play well during the SEC tournament.
However, the only wins that mean anything to tournament selection members by SEC teams are wins over Florida and Kentucky only.
Missouri, 4-5 in the conference, played well the first half against Florida, leading at half by 3, but then was outscored by 13 in the final half.
Tennessee with Jordan McRae and Jarnell Stokes should be in a comfortable spot now, but instead are praying the selection committee picks them next month. LSU beat Kentucky at the end of January but lost before that game to Alabama, which is only 9-12.
This mediocrity of the SEC makes it difficult for Florida as they cannot do much climbing with wins in their conference, but could take a freefall with a loss to any opponent other than Kentucky.
In other conferences, such as the Big 12 and Big 10, which are most likely the top two conferences at this point, the carnage that takes place within the conference is proof of its substance and does not hurt a team in its postseason chances as much as it would in the SEC.
Therefore, Florida and Kentucky must continue to win and not allow a lesser quality team in the conference knock them off and hurt their chances of a high seed in the postseason.
