I’ve mentioned a number of times this week that Florida needed to win two SEC tournament games to finish at .500 and qualify for the NCAA tournament. Well, one of our astute readers pointed out in a comment here on the College Blog that a team must actually finish above .500 to qualify. I checked with J.D. Hamilton of the NCAA, and sure enough, “To be eligible for selection, a team must have a better than .500 Division I record.”

So what does this mean for Florida? The Gators must win two more games to finish with a winning record and qualify for the tournament. First on the docket is a repeat engagement with South Carolina (which beat Florida 4-3 on Wednesday). If the Gators survive that elimination game, they’ll face a rested Arkansas club that has yet to lose this week. The Razorbacks will have righthander Duke Welker ready to go, but Florida’s pitching will be drained should it survive long enough to play its fourth game in four days.