Erving Walker and the Florida Gators will try to add a huge win to their NCAA Tournament resume in tonight's primetime showdown with the Tennessee Volunteers. (AP Photo)

The Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers basketball teams will decide a third-place tie in the SEC East on Tuesday night in front of a national television audience on ESPN at 9 p.m.

The winner will still have a chance to secure the second seed in the SEC East and earn a first-round bye in the SEC Tournament. They will also add a key quality win to their NCAA Tournament resume.

For Tennessee, a win is not essential to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament. For Florida, time is running short. The Gators likely need two more wins in their final four games to ensure themselves of a bid.

With Kentucky and Vanderbilt still on their schedule, tonight's game against Tennessee provides a golden opportunity for the Gators.

"Obviously I want to beat those guys," Florida forward Chandler Parsons told the St. Petersburg Times. "We feel like we let one slip away last time we played them. We've got them on our home court with everything on the line, so it's going to be a different story."

Tennessee won the first meeting of the season 61-60 on some late-game heroics. Florida had a chance to win it in the final seconds, but failed to come through.

The Volunteers will look to senior forward Wayne Chism to lead them on the road with his experience. Chism has been on fire lately, averaging 17.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per game in Tennessee's last seven games.

In contrast, Florida's backcourt has been ice-cold in the past two games. Guards Erving Walker and Kenny Boynton have gone just 6-35 (17.14%) from the floor and 1-15 (6.67%) from behind the arc in the past two games.

That will have to turn around if the Gators hope to upset the Volunteers in what promises to be a raucous environment tonight at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.

"This one has a lot of meaning to it," Parsons said. "Having not beat them, I think there's something special there, and with everything on the line, we're going to leave it all out there."