The SEC’s scale-tipping of the brackets to begin the NCAA tournament has led to two things.

An all-SEC national semifinal, and the first SEC team playing in a title game since Kentucky in 2013.

With a spot in Monday night’s national title game on the line, Auburn looks to avoid what happened the last game between the two conference rivals.

Florida entered the Feb. 8th matchup as the No. 6 team in the country and would go on to knock off its second No. 1 ranked team defeating Auburn 90-81.

That was the Tigers first conference loss at home until the regular season finale against Alabama.

Here’s a film breakdown of the Tigers and Gators first and only matchup of the season:

The Good: Auburn

Auburn came out of the gate leading 12-5 at the 14:47 mark of the game. The Tigers outran the Gators in that stretch, blocking two shots during the game’s opening sequence.

Despite letting Florida go a run to take a 48-38 halftime lead, Auburn forced seven turnovers on the Gators in the first half. The Tigers only committed three turnovers in the early going and scored seven points off the Gators turnovers, all in transition.

In the second half, Auburn began to dominate on the offensive glass leading 15-11 in offensive rebounds during the game. The Tigers led with 22 second chance points and finished with 38 points coming from inside the paint.

The Good: Florida

When Florida got down early, they turned to Walter Clayton Jr. for 16 first half points against the Tigers. Florida leaning on Clayton has worked out well for the Gators in the NCAA tournament, with standout performances vs. UConn and Texas Tech.

Over the final six minutes of the first half, Florida outscored Auburn 23-7 to take a 48-38 lead at halftime.

The Gators were without starting guard Alijah Martin, so Florida got key minutes from Denzel Aberdeen and Klavar Urban who combined for 19 total points in the game.

Florida shot 39.4% from beyond the arc, the fourth highest percentage the Tigers allowed this season. The Gators were almost 60% from the floor on two-point attempts, the third highest percentage Auburn allowed all year.

Florida’s frontcourt presence of Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh served as difference makers with the duo combining for 33 points and 19 rebounds.

Condon shot 7-of-8 from the floor while holding Dylan Cardwell to five points and Chaney Johnson to one rebound.

The Bad: Auburn

What disrupted Auburn in the first half sparking Florida’s lead were the backdoor cuts and one side pick and rolls with either Condon or Haugh.

Florida’s frontcourt presented the perfect mix of physicality and skill. Haugh entered the break with 10 points, on one missed shot from the floor.

Condon led the Gators with 12 second half points as Florida stretched its lead to 60-43 at the 16:20 mark of the second half. Auburn allowed a 35-12 run during that stretch from lack of pressure on ball, allowing easy baskets in the lane from dump off passes to its Bigs.

Auburn cut the lead to 76-67 with 7:14 remaining, However Florida got two offensive rebounds on one possession from Haugh, resulting in a made three putting the Gators back up by double digits.

The Tigers allowed 13 made 3-pointers, the most a team has hit against the Tigers this season. Clayton’s 16 first half points were also detrimental as Denver Jones entered the break with just one point scored.

Jones finished with a season-low two points in the contest. Miles Kelly became the primary defender on Clayton, holding him to three second half points.

Kelly was Auburn’s leading scorer with 22 points. Tahaad Pettiford added 14 points rounding out the Tigers backcourt.

Johni Broome finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds. However, the Auburn big was not as dominant as he looked against other conference opponents.

Broome finished 8-of-19 from the floor and struggled scoring from close range against Florida’s frontcourt. As a team, Auburn was 13-of-28 on layup attempts.

Adjustments for Saturday

Florida has only lost once since winning at Auburn, in a road upset to Georgia. However, the Gators enters Saturday’s contest as the favorites after winning the SEC tournament championship.

With Martin missing the first game, his presence will be felt this go round as he scored in double figures in each of Florida’s NCAA tournament games.

With Auburn’s frontcourt carrying them to the Final Four, they will have to continue its brilliance down low flustering opposing Bigs. Throughout the Tigers tournament run, Cardwell and Broome have shut down some of the nation’s best big man in Ryan Kalkbrenner and Vladislav Goldin. The rematch between Haugh and Condon will be one to watch.

All eyes will be on the Tigers backcourt as well. Since the start of the SEC tournament, Auburn has shot around 30% from 3-point range. Despite the shooting slump, Pettiford and Jones has stepped up throughout the Tigers run, combining for 40 points in their Sweet 16 victory over Michigan.

As both programs are familiar with each other’s skills and tendencies, Saturday’s semifinal game has the chance to be a classic.

A Florida win would complete the season sweep against Auburn. An Auburn win would put them one step closer to the goal of winning the national championship.

Auburn and Florida will play the first semifinal game in San Antonio, with tipoff scheduled for 5:09 p.m. on CBS.

Jerry Humphrey III covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Jerryhump3 or email him at [email protected].