No. 1 Auburn Upset by No. 6 Florida as CBB Fans Debate SEC's Best Team Before Bracket
The top men's team in college basketball suffered their first conference loss Saturday and it was very nearly a blowout.
No.
1 Auburn trailed by as many 19 points while conceding a 90-81 defeat to a No.
6 Florida team missing starting guard Alijah Martin.
Florida's upset win, which came alongside a Wade Taylor buzzer-beater that lifted Texas A&M to a last-second win over Missouri, left some fans marveling at the strength of the SEC.
ESPN's most recent bracket projection predicts that 13 SEC teams will make it to March Madness, which would set a single-conference record for Tournament bids, according to ESPN's Jeff Borzello and Myron Medcalf .
Auburn looked familiarly dominant in the first eight minutes of action as the home team cruised to a 20-11 lead to start the game.
That was when the Gators defense began to clamp down, allowing Florida to head into the halftime break with a 10-point advantage.
Auburn made a late push to tie the game, cutting Florida's lead to nine points with eight minutes left on the clock.
But the home team couldn't overcome Florida's shooting as the Gators went 31-for-64 (48.4 percent) from the field, and 13-for-33 (39.4 percent) from deep, while impressing fans in the win.
Walter Clayton Jr.
led Florida with 19 points in the win, while Thomas Haugh scored 16 off the bench.
National Player of the Year candidate Johni Broome was held to 18 points in Auburn's loss.
Auburn, whose only other loss this season came to No.
9 Duke, conceded a first SEC loss of the campaign.
Now at 22-1 on the season and 9-1 in the SEC, the Tigers next hit the road to face Vanderbilt followed by No.
3 Alabama.
Florida meanwhile improves to 20-3 overall and 7-3 in the SEC.
The Gators will hope to get Martin back in the fold soon while preparing for the team's next road game, this time against No.
22 Mississippi State..
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