[Cactus Jack]

Absolute beatdown of the Vols in O'Connell.

Big picture, you can throw this one out for Tennessee past what I've said in every other thread about Auburn actually being the undisputed #1 team in the nation right now. It's an outlier where they just didn't play well and their opponent played great.

As long as Tennesse doesn't drop two of their next four (Texas, Georgia, Miss. St., and Vandy), the hype train will continue into their back-to-back games with Auburn and Kentucky. I expect them to extract revenge against the Gators in Thompson-Boling, and to do so in a big way. After that, they host Missouri before going to Kentucky.

Their schedule is pretty front-loaded, with their last seven being at Oklahoma, vs. Vanderbilt, at Texas A&M, at LSU, vs. Alabama, at Ole Miss, and vs. South Carolina. 

Even if they find a way to win out, I still won't trust Rick Barnes in March.



On Florida's side, this is an enormous win that moves them up a seed line in the NCAA Tournament.

The Gators' schedule is interesting. They play most of the top teams (Auburn, Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi State, and 1 of 2 against Tennessee) on the road. Their biggest remaining home games are Texas A&M, Ole Miss and Oklahoma, which are all very winnable. They also have some tough back-to-backs, but have a lot of games where they'll be favored in between those.

There'll be some surprises-- at least one more top 15 win and an upset loss or two, but I think they are in position to be a high 4 or even low 3 seed right now.