TUSCALOOSA, Ala — The number 80 would look a lot better than 79 for Mark Sears’ final win tally inside Coleman Coliseum. The graduate point guard would also much prefer to see a No. 1 seed beside Alabama’s name than the Tide’s current No. 2 seed projection.

Sears can cross off one of those goals Wednesday night while helping his team take a major step toward the other, as No. 7 Alabama (23-6, 12-4) hosts No. 5 Florida (25-4, 12-4) for its Senior Night.

Sears will be one of five seniors honored Wednesday night along with fellow starters Grant Nelson, Clifford Omoruyi and Chris Youngblood and walk-on Max Scharnowski. Injured guards Houston Mallette and Latrell Wrightsell Jr. will not take part in the ceremony, as they are pursuing medical redshirts to return for another season with the Tide.

Wednesday’s matchup will mark Alabama’s second straight top-five opponent, as the Tide suffered a buzzer-beater defeat at then-No. 5 Tennessee over the weekend. Alabama will wrap up its regular season with a trip to top-ranked Auburn this weekend.

A win Wednesday would secure Alabama a top-three seed in next week’s SEC tournament, earning the Tide a double-bye before beginning play a week from Friday. Alabama and Florida are also vying for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of the top-10 matchup.

Who: No. 7 Alabama (23-6, 12-4 SEC) vs. No. 5 Florida (25-4, 12-4)

When: 6 p.m. CT, Wednesday, March 5

Where: Coleman Coliseum

Watch: ESPN2 (Play-By-Play: Dave Pasch, Analyst: Jay Bilas, Analyst: Molly McGrath)

Listen: Crimson Tide Sports Network | SIRIUS/XM 134/201 (Play-By-Play: Chris Stewart, Analyst: Bryan Passink)

Mark Sears: 6-foot-1, 190 pounds, graduate

Stats: 19.1 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 5.0 apg, 41.2% FG, 36.1% 3-pt

Chris Youngblood: 6-foot-4, 177 pounds, freshman

Stats: 10.2 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 1.0 apg, 44.0% FG, 38.2% 3-pt

Labaron Philon: 6-foot-4, 177 pounds, freshman

Stats: 10.4 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 3.5 apg, 45.9% FG, 29.5% 3-pt

Grant Nelson: 6-foot-11, 230 pounds, graduate

Stats: 11.8 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 1.7 apg, 53.0% FG, 25.0% 3-pt

Clifford Omoruyi: 6-foot-11, 250 pounds, graduate

Stats: 7.1 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 0.8 apg, 72.3% FG

Walter Clayton Jr.: 6-foot-3, 195 pounds, senior

Stats: 16.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 4.0 apg, 43.9% FG, 36.3% 3-pt

Alijah Martin: 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, graduate

Stats: 14.7 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 2.4 apg, 44.2% FG, 36.0% 3-pt

Will Richard: 6-foot-4, 206 pounds, senior

Stats: 13.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 1.8 apg, 50.9% FG, 37.7% 3-pt

Thomas Haugh: 6-foot-9, 210 pounds, sophomore

Stats: 9.1 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 1.9 apg, 48.2% FG, 34.3% 3-pt

Rueben Chinyelu: 6-foot-10, 255 pounds, sophomore

Stats: 5.9 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 0.8 apg, 58.7% FG

Nate Oats took ownership for his role in Alabama fumbling away a four-point lead in the final minute of its 79-76 loss at Tennessee over the weekend. The head coach made a pair of late substitution errors and failed to call a timeout to prevent a five-second inbound violation on Alabama guard Labaron Philon with the game still tied an 3.8 seconds on the clock. Those blunders allowed Tennessee guard Jahmai Mashack to hit a game-winning buzzer-beater from roughly half-court.

The loss ended Alabama’s hopes of a regular-season SEC title and put a small dent in the Tide’s NCAA tournament resume. However, Oats vowed Tuesday that it would be the last of his team’s late-game errors this season.

“We’re gonna fix it,” Oats said of his team’s late-game flaws against Tennessee. “We’re gonna use it as an opportunity to make us a better team moving forward for the SEC Tournament, for the NCAA Tournament. We will be the most prepared team for end-of-game situations moving forward, and we’ll use that to spur us on to be a better team for our run in March.”

Oats hasn’t been shy about calling out his players following mistakes this season. This weekend, he held himself to the same standard, stating he “failed” his team with his decisions. While Oats wasn’t the only reason Alabama suffered a last-minute collapse, his accountability went a long way in the Tide’s locker room.

“When you hear your head coach say that, it’s soothing because he holds us to a high standard, and him saying that lets us know he holds himself to a high standard,” Youngblood said. “He’s practicing what he preaches. That’s always a good feeling.”

As painful as the loss to Tennessee was for Alabama, the Tide can take a few positives from the defeat. Alabama looked like the better team for all but the final 30 seconds of the game and proved its high-flying attack can hang with one of the nation’s toughest defenses.

Sears recorded his fourth straight game with 20 or more points, shooting 7 of 16 from the floor, including 4 of 9 from deep. He also tallied his third straight game with three or fewer turnovers, committing just two against the Volunteers.

Alabama entered last year’s NCAA tournament losing four of its final six games before pulling off its first ever run to the Final Four. With the Tide hoping for a smoother end to the regular season this year, Oats said his team is focused on daily improvement in order to hit its stride heading into tournament play.

“We need to be playing our best basketball come March, that’s really the goal,” Oats said. “So let’s get to the point where we are playing currently the best basketball we’ve played all year, and I think we’re close, honestly. If we had closed that Tennessee game, that would have been one of our best games on both sides of the ball. We were 30 seconds from closing it.

“If those 30 seconds spur the coaching staff, the players on being a much better situational basketball team end of game, end of half … and that spurs us on to win some games in the NCAA Tournament, it may have been the best thing to happen to us.”

— This will be the second meeting between Alabama and Florida with both teams ranked in the top 10 of the Associated Press poll. Alabama won the first such meeting, 65-64, inside Coleman Coliseum on Feb. 23, 2002.

— Alabama has nine wins over AP top-25 opponents, breaking its previous program record of seven during the 2022-23 season.

— Alabama's three wins over AP top-10 teams this year are the most in a season since the 1982-83 campaign.

— Aden Holloway has scored 10 points or more off the bench in an SEC-leading 21 games this season.

— Alabama enters the game as the nation’s best rebounding team with 43.7 rebounds per game. Florida ranks third in the country, averaging 42.0 rebounds.

— Florida’s Will Richard scored 25 points against Texas A&M and a career-high 30 points against Georgia last week. He is the fourth Gator over the last 30 years to post consecutive 25-point games in SEC action, joining Colin Castleton, Anthony Roberson and Jason Williams.