Last year’s SEC was widely regarded as the best basketball conference ever. It featured 14 NCAA Tournament teams, two Final Four participants, and the national champion. A year later, the conference remains deep and balanced, but it has been unclear if it contains a true national title contender on par with last season’s elite crop of Florida, Auburn, Tennessee and Alabama.
If Sunday is any indication, though, the reigning national champion Gators have the gear within them to challenge for a repeat. Against a No. 23 Alabama team that was as healthy as it has been in weeks, along with having former G League player Charles Bediako eligible for a third game, No. 19 Florida dominated with an assertive physicality typically reserved for overmatched mid-major opponents.
The final score of 100-77 tells the story of a second half that was never remotely close, and Florida (16-6, 7-2) was more than happy to push the pace late in search of cracking the 100-point mark. In fact, it was Olivier Rioux, a 7-foot-9 behemoth off the bench, who pushed the Gators into triple digits.
A FRESHMAN … AT 7’9″😳
Freshman Olivier Rioux, the tallest player in college basketball history, puts the exclamation point on Florida’s 100-77 win over Alabama. pic.twitter.com/3FYKhVkJ6h
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 1, 2026
The Gators’ frontcourt of Thomas Haugh, Rueben Chinyelu, Alex Condon and Micah Handlogten crushed the Tide (14-7, 4-4) inside, helping Florida outscore Alabama 72-26 in points in the paint. If those 72 points in the paint sound like a staggering amount to you, that is because they were: per ESPN, Florida was the first SEC team to tally 70-plus points in the paint against a major conference opponent in the last 20 seasons.
Florida drive after Florida drive got all the way to the rim, and the Gators got plenty of easy buckets via well-executed cuts and pick-and-rolls, as well. Bediako had a couple of blocks early, but he and fellow Tide big man Aiden Sherrell could not handle the continuous onslaught of the deep Gators frontcourt. It was an old school demolition around the bucket.
Beneath that interior dominance, though, Boogie Fland might have been the most pivotal Gator on the court. Fland had two easy steal-and-layup sequences in the first half and ultimately finished with an eye-popping eight steals, highlighting a one-sided turnover battle. Fland also added 15 points and eight assists, playing a terrific floor game and dictating the action from the opening tip.
Alabama coughed it up 18 times, contributing to 26 Florida fast-break points. On the other end of the court, Florida had only two miscues, and Alabama — one of the fastest teams in the country — finished with a meager 3 fast-break points.
To the Tide’s credit, they battled well for a half. A 46-36 halftime deficit seemed surmountable, particularly given Alabama’s ability to knock down triples and play at a high pace. Instead, though, Florida started the second half with a bang. Chinyelu’s elite defense from the center spot and Florida’s ability to create defensive havoc swung the game, with Florida extending the lead via a 12-0 run to start the second stanza. The lead would never get back to single digits. Chinyelu (14 points, 16 rebounds, two blocks) soundly outplayed Bediako, who fouled out after tallying six points and seven rebounds in 24 minutes.
“G LEAGUE DROPOUT!!” 😅
Former NBA G League player Charles Bediako hearing it from the Gator fans at the free throw line for Alabama. pic.twitter.com/Q5M0YUhZUk
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 1, 2026
This result had to feel good for Florida coach Todd Golden, who was outspoken in the wake of Alabama’s midseason addition of Bediako from the professional ranks. While acknowledging that Oats and the Tide fairly took advantage of an available legal remedy, he lamented the inconsistent system that allowed Bediako — who entered the NBA Draft after two seasons at Alabama, and spent the last two-plus seasons playing professionally — to return to school. He mentioned that Bediako knowingly forfeited his eligibility when he went pro, but Golden also confidently declared that Florida would “beat them anyway” with Bediako on the floor.
And beat them, the Gators did. That is nothing new: Golden and his Gators have now won four consecutive meetings against Alabama. The second half exemplified Florida’s matchup advantages, most notably in the paint — an area that Bediako was supposed to help solidify for the Tide.
SEC standings (through Sunday’s games)
For Alabama, this defeat was a wake-up call for how far the Tide remain from where they want to be as a team. Even with their entire contingent of guards healthy and Bediako getting into the swing, Oats’ team was badly outclassed. This group still has Final Four potential, but the defensive holes are real and still need to be addressed. And Bediako’s status will be determined by a court hearing this Friday.
On the other hand, the Gators are now riding high after winning two games by a combined 70 points this week. Florida is still chasing surprising upstart Texas A&M atop the SEC standings, and Tennessee is playing extremely well lately, too. But the Gators have the highest upside in the conference come March, with some real optimism building around the possibility of another deep postseason run in Gainesville.