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Sitting This One Out?

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By JENNA MARINA, Tribune correspondent

Published: March 14, 2008

Updated: 03/14/2008 12:22 am

ATLANTA - A year ago in Florida's locker room at the Georgia Dome, Corey Brewer joked about how hard it was to keep straight the various championship net pieces he had cut down.

Taurean Green laughed with Al Horford, and Joakim Noah entertained a slew of reporters as he sat in a folding chair.

In that very same room on Thursday night, Nick Calathes slumped in a chair in front of his locker, holding his head in his hands. Jai Lucas flipped apathetically through a program guide and Marreese Speights solemnly cut the white tape off of his ankles.

The last time a defending national champion missed the NCAA Tournament the following year was the Kansas Jayhawks (19-12) in 1989.

But it looks as though Florida is going to be a wallflower at this Dance.

With their 80-69 loss to Alabama (17-15) in the first round of the SEC Tournament, the Gators (21-11) pretty much assured they will not hear their name called on Selection Sunday.

Instead, they will end their streak of nine consecutive tournament bids with an appearance in the NIT.

"That may be the path we have to go," Florida coach Billy Donovan said. "These guys may need to be humbled."

The loss ended many streaks for Florida: 18 consecutive postseason wins, nine consecutive SEC Tournament wins and eight in a row at the Georgia Dome.

From tip-off, it seemed as though the Gators never even had a chance.

The Crimson Tide rolled out on a 14-0 run before Adam Allen converted a 3-point play the hard way at 15:41. They went on another 16-2 run before Chandler Parsons finally sank Florida's first 3-pointer in six attempts.

The Gators' 28-point hole at 4:07 in the first half nearly matched the largest deficit they had faced this season: 30 at Arkansas on Feb. 2.

The Gators shot nine of 31 from the field in the first half and allowed Mykal Riley to sink all four of Alabama's treys. Florida threw away seven turnovers, six of which came off of Alabama steals. A starter didn't score until 8:05 remained in the first half.

However, to their credit, the Gators refused to come out of the half with a defeatist attitude and instead viewed their 23-point deficit as a gut check.

"Coach Donovan, that's not what he's about and that's not what this program is about," forward Dan Werner said of the first-half performance. "We were getting totally embarrassed, so we wanted to try to get some respect back."

Florida chipped away with a 21-2 run of their own, managing to outscore the Tide 46-34 in the second half. But Florida's inability to defend the 3-point line and lack of physicality cost the team heavily.

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