Kentucky and Florida have struggled in the early going of the season to tunes of different music. Florida has the ongoing adjustment of losing their head coach to the NBA and Kentucky has growing pains.
Both teams looked to hit a stride during the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, but only the Gators look solid following their Big 12 match up.
SEC Up For Grabs
There is not a single SEC writer or sports writer that could tell you with confidence who the best team in the SEC is.
Since 2010, either Kentucky or Florida have won the SEC regular season title outright. This year, other teams in the SEC look primed to knock these two teams off their pedestals.
The Gators and Wildcats are tied for second place in the SEC with South Carolina at records of 6-3. Both LSU and Texas A&M are tied for #1 with a record of 7-2.
The SEC is a weird conference, and any team from Texas A&M to even the 13-9 (5-4, SEC) Vanderbilt Commodores could take the top spot sometime in the near future. It's not just Wildcats and Gators in the SEC anymore.
Senior Leaders
Dorian Finney-Smith and Alex Poythress have had their fair share of playing time against each other. In fact, this will be the 6th game in which both these players go head-to-head.
Finney-Smith plays a larger role on his team than Poythress does. Finney-Smith is the heart and soul of these Gators, whereas Poythress powers his team to easy wins.
Poythress will need to play a larger role in this game. Guarding the experienced Finney-Smith isn't the easiest of tasks and Kentucky's senior will need to stay out of foul trouble so the Wildcats have a decent post defender.
Finney-Smith has to do the same, he needs to stay in the ball game and be a rim protector down low. No Finney-Smith for Florida could mean a long game for the Gators.
Unstoppable Ulis
It's February, and teams cannot figure out how to keep a 5'9'' sophomore from scoring 20+ each game.
Kentucky's Tyler Ulis has produced 5-straight 20+ games and is burning up the opponents in recent games.
This isn't because the SEC is considered weak and Ulis has no competition, one of his 20+ games, his career high 26 points, came against Kansas on Jan. 30.
Ulis has gone from a solid player to build Kentucky's program around while staying 3-4 years to quite possibly going first round in the 2016 NBA Draft.
This Rivalry is Still Hot
Even though this rivalry has seemed to cool down with Billy Donovan leaving the Gators for the Oklahoma City Thunder, it still remains the same.
Each year, one team usually dominated the other. It was hard to find an in-between with these two squads.
Kentucky wins three games one year, Florida wins three straight another year, and then Kentucky responds with another three straight.
It's fun to finally have a year where one team doesn't look much better than the other. This match up has been needing an even playing field for a while.
Players to Watch
Derek Willis- Willis has slowed down after having a hot streak after John Calipari started him against Arkansas. His long-distance shot will be falling again in this one and his ability to spread the floor will help the Wildcats on offense.
Kasey Hill- Kentucky's been letting guards light them up lately and Hill will take advantage of that. Despite Ulis' height, he's Kentucky's best hope at stopping this Gator from clamping down.