NCAA Tournament Results 2012: Florida Gators Prove SEC Has Another Contender

You may have been fooled into thinking that the SEC was just made up of a team called the Kentucky Wildcats, but the Florida Gators proved in their second-round defeat of Virginia that they are here to play, and they can make some serious noise in this year's tournament.

The Gators took down the Cavaliers 71-45, as the team convincingly marched into the third round.

Three Gators were in double digits for points, as Patric Young, Bradley Beal and Casey Prather all poured it on in this game.

The team played solid defense as they held the Cavaliers to 18-of-47 shooting, which is just 38.3 percent from the field.

They also dominated the boards, grabbing 36 rebounds in comparison to the Cavaliers' 21.

Virginia was not a shabby team this past season, going 22-10 with defeats over the Michigan Wolverines and Miami Hurricanes.

The Gators actually played extremely well this past season, but they were definitely looked down upon because of the success of the Wildcats all season long.

In the SEC tournament, the Gators nearly beat the Wildcats in a nail-biting 74-71 loss. They proved themselves in that game, and they will need to continue to show the nation that they can keep doing the same.

The Gators will now get the No. 15-seed Norfolk State Spartans, who escaped a near come-from-behind performance by the No. 2 Missouri Tigers.

It will be interesting to see how the Gators will handle that—they are likely happy to not have to play the Tigers, but also a bit confused on how to handle the Spartans.