Todd Golden believes Florida is a No. 1 seed: 'I don't really think it's a debate'

As Florida headed into a loaded SEC tournament, the Gators had more than just a conference title at stake. They’re vying to be a No. 1 seed, and they made quite a statement with a dominant second-half performance against Alabama on Saturday.

Afterward, Todd Golden made his thoughts clear on whether UF should be on the 1-seed line. He doesn’t see much of a “debate” about his program’s chances of getting there on Selection Sunday.

“I think we secured a No. 1 seed today,” Golden said, via ESPN’s Pete Thamel. “That’s my opinion. … I don’t really think it’s a debate, regardless of the result tomorrow.”

Florida took a two-point lead into halftime against Alabama, but flipped the script entirely after the break. The Gators outscored the Crimson Tide 57-37 in the final 20 minutes to come away with a resounding 104-82 victory.

Both Florida and Alabama entered Saturday hoping to become a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Now that the Gators are heading to the SEC tournament title game, their chances are increasing that much more.

On3’s James Fletcher III listed Florida on the 1-seed line in his updated Bracketology following the win over Alabama. The other No. 1 seeds – Auburn, Duke and Houston – appear well-positioned to stay there. That fourth spot, though, remains the one to watch.

Florida’s resume is impressive. The Gators rank No. 4 in the NET rankings, and all four of their losses came in Quadrant 1 games during conference play. With a 9-4 record in Q1 matchups and a 19-0 record in all other contests, there’s a strong case to be made for UF to be among the top four overall seeds.

Todd Golden previously broke down why Florida deserves to be seeded that high. In addition to the resume, he also noted the depth his team has this year to make his point.

“I think we’ve been really consistent all year,” Golden explained. “We’re very deep, obviously have great guard play with Walter [Clayton], Alijah [Martin], Will [Richard], Denzel [Aberdeen]. And then our front court is really deep. Getting Micah [Handlogten] back, and [Alex] Condon are playing at a really, really high level.

“Tommy [Haugh] is playing great. Rueben [Chinyelu] has done a great job for us all year. So [we] go 9-10 deep, and you know, we’ve been really consistent all year. We had some great wins at Auburn, at Alabama, and I think we have a chance to have a really good end of the year.”