Battling through the Southeastern Conference turned out to be tougher than anyone could've imagined last year.

The league routinely had half or more of its 16 teams ranked in the AP Top 25 and ended up claiming a record 14 bids to March Madness . And it certainly had Florida prepared for its run to the program's third NCAA championship .

Matching that haul is a big ask. It also doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility for a league that opens this season with six ranked teams: the third-ranked Gators, No. 9 Kentucky, No. 14 Arkansas, No. 15 Alabama, No. 18 Tennessee and No. 20 Auburn.

“I think the thing you have to have, when you're in a league this loaded, there's got to be some resiliency with your team through tough times,” Oklahoma coach Porter Moser said.

The Gators went

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