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They may not always play pretty. They sometimes don't even play well. Sometimes they don't shoot very well. And sometimes you wonder how they're doing so well despite obvious flaws.

I'm talking about both the Gator men's and women's basketball teams, who have defied the odds this year to be at least heavily in the conversation when it comes to NCAA Tournament consideration.

Going into this week's games, Billy Donovan's guys have won six of their last seven SEC games after an 0-2 start in the league. We all know about the last second heroics this year of Chandler Parsons and we also see just how many down to the wire games this group has been in this year.

Get used to it.

The fact is that the Gators will rarely blow someone out or rarely be blown out, partly because of the relative parity of the league and partly because this group somehow finds ways to stay in and win games when the numbers say they should have no chance. Flawed as this group may be, they're awfully fun to watch, they play hard, and Donovan and his staff have done a wonderul job of coaching this group up to this point in the year.

Doesn't Donovan at least deserve to be in the mix for SEC Coach of the Year?

On the women's side, Amanda Butler and her staff have also played a lot of close games this year and they're also right in the thick of things in the SEC. Much like the Gator men, expect this group to play nail biters right down to the end. To date, nine of the ten games Florida has played in the SEC this year have been decided by single digits. At 6-4 in the league at the time of this writing, the Gators have a better league record than powerhouse LSU and nationally ranked Georgia.

While the Gator men's team is a rather youthful bunch, Butler's team has seniors like Sharielle Smith, Steffi Sorensen and Lonnika Thompson at her disposal but this group still had to make up for the offensive losses of Marshae Dotson and Sha Brooks and that has been tough at times.

Like the men, it hasn't been pretty to watch at times. But also like the men's team, this group has a grit about it and a toughness about it that keeps them hanging around games it probably should not be in if you just look at numbers. Stout defense and excellent rebounding since Christmas have been big keys to their success.

So don't look for these Gator teams to be high in many offensive categories; don't look for them to be up there in many SEC categories period. But they are there in the place where it counts...in the standings.

These teams are fun to watch and fans should wrap themselves around these kids. There is a difficult stretch run yet to make in SEC play but as of now both teams have willed themselves to be right in the thick of things to make a run at postseason play.

Pay attention...you might miss out on some wonderful basketball. Don't miss it.