With its thrilling victory over Texas Tech, Florida basketball is into its first Final Four since 2014. The No. 1 seed in the West Region is one of the hottest teams in the country, having won ten straight, including the SEC Tournament. This group is one of the country's most balanced and deepest squads, led by a first-team All-American guard in Walter Clayton Jr., who is as clutch as they come.

The Gators have grown into this season, coming into it No. 21 in the country and the preseason No. 6 ranked squad in the SEC. After an undefeated nonconference run and a close loss to Kentucky, Florida showed the country what it was capable of with a historic blowout of No. 1 Tennessee.  That game showed that this team was going to be in the top ten for the duration of the season. However, the 90-81 victory on the road against Auburn really sent a message to the rest of the country that this was a legitimate national title contender.

The Gators punked the No. 1 team in the country on its home floor. While the Tigers, who were 21-1 heading into this contest, won the battle on the boards, their elite perimeter defense was no match for Florida's three-point barrage in the second half. Head coach Todd Golden's team has lost one game since and clinched the fourth No. 1 seed going into March Madness.

While the Gators have not necessarily been at their best in March, this team has the ceiling to beat anyone in the country. And now, there is absolutely no pressure on this team going into San Antonio. That being said, there are some concerns for this team heading into the Final Four.

Florida basketball has looked like a modern-day version of “Cardiac Kids” in some of these games. After a routine opening round win over Norfolk State, the Gators took on the two-time defending champion UConn Huskies. And the vibes for this second-round game were really poor for most of it. The Huskies disrupted the Gators' offensive flow for much of the game while holding their own on the offensive glass. UConn was also able to slow the game down to its slower pace of play. Fortunately, Florida basketball showed its resilience in the last five minutes, with Clayton Jr. catching fire at the end to win the game 77-75.

Todd Golden's team then went on to face Maryland in the Sweet 16, where it had more of a vintage performance. After a turnover-prone first-half, the Gators grew into the game and won comfortably 87-71. Then the clash against Texas Tech happened, where even more so than with UConn, Florida looked down and out. There was a lid on the basket for most of the game, and the Red Raiders were largely beating the Gators at their own game, such as on the boards.

But, after being down nine points with three minutes to go, the only two players on Florida's roster who had good games, Thomas Haugh and Walter Clayton Jr., caught fire from three-point range. And thanks to these clutch plays and a few missed free throws, the Gators clinched victory from the jaws of defeat. Overall, this team knows what it's capable of. But there's a fatal flaw that Florida basketball has shown throughout the tournament that may spell their doom in a rematch against Auburn.

The Gators can struggle against physical defenses at the point of attack, throwing both the offense and defense off their rhythm. And this traces back to one of the primary concerns for this team heading into the tournament. Florida lacks a true point guard. Walter Clayton Jr. is one of the best guards in the country. And his improvement as a ball-handler has been tremendous compared to last. There's a decent chance that Clayton Jr. can evolve into a true point guard when he's in the NBA. But in terms of running the offense, he's still honing his skills on that end.

And when Florida is not in its offensive flow, that can affect both ends of the floor, even with the team's trademark offensive rebounding. The Gators were held by the Huskies and Red Raiders to only eleven and twelve assists during these contests, with 24 total turnovers. Florida has some great passers, especially at the big man position. And Walter Clayton Jr. is still a very good floor general who can effectively run the offense. However, at this level, where there is a fine margin between these top teams, dealing with aggressive point-of-attack defenses can be a concern for Florida.

Auburn, Duke, and Houston are all elite defensive teams with aggressive ball-pressure schemes. The Gators will, therefore, have to be more confident when in possession against these squads. It's fair to make the point that Florida has not played a complete game in this tournament so far. The only game Florida looked like the juggernaut it is was in the second half against Maryland. This group has shown that it can deal with aggressive, ball-screen blitz-heavy defenses that will try to run it off the three-point line. But there has to be another level that the Gators need to reach to beat Auburn once again.

Elite guards like Will Richard and Alijah Martin were thrown a lifeline after offensively lackluster performances against Texas Tech. In addition, the forward unit outside of Thomas Haugh has struggled to provide its usual offensive and rebounding punch in the past few games. This is the most dangerous team in the country, but it will take two end-to-end performances to win a national title. The Gators can do it, but they only get one shot.