ATLANTA -- The Florida Gators seemed to be enjoying themselves as they huddled in the corridor before their second-half entrance onto the Georgia Dome court Sunday afternoon.

The Arkansas Razorbacks couldn't help but notice the laughter as they walked past the Gators.

"We'll see what's funny," Arkansas point guard Gary Ervin said.

The punch line was delivered with brutal swiftness by the defending national champion Gators. You could read it on the scoreboard.

Florida turned an eight-point halftime lead into a 15-point advantage in the first 6A 1/2 minutes of the second half. And it was just getting started.

The Gators (29-5) led by as many as 28 points on the way to a 77-56 victory for their third consecutive SEC tournament championship in men's basketball.

They weren't just winning. They were grinning.

In fact, the Gators probably hadn't had this much fun since they won last year's NCAA Final Four.

Nobody was having more fun than center Joakim Noah, who left the court just long enough to direct the Florida band before shooting a second-half free throw. That wasn't his only musical moment.

As he and teammate Al Horford -- the tournament's MVP -- awaited a post-game interview on CBS, Noah was so inspired by the band, he began dancing feverishly. Maybe that was his way of intimating the Gators were ready for the Big Dance.

Their three tournament opponents wouldn't argue that the Gators looked primed for the NCAA tournament

Florida beat Ole Miss by 21 points in the semifinals and won its tournament opener by 17 points against Georgia. In three tournament games, Florida's opponents were a combined 9-for-59 from 3-point range and none made as many as 36 percent of its field-goal attempts.

"They're at a championship level right now," Arkansas coach Stan Heath said. "They're a well-oiled machine. They have so many weapons."

Their weaponry was reflected on the all-tournament team. Horford, Noah, Taurean Green and Corey Brewer all made the team. Arkansas' Sonny Weems, who had 15 points against Florida, was the only non-Gator to make the team.

Horford had 18 points and 12 rebounds against Arkansas (21-13), which lost starting forward Charles Thomas to an ankle injury in the first minute of play. Noah added 17 points, eight rebounds, four assists, four blocked shots and five steals.

After winning and dancing, Noah put the victory and celebration in perspective.

"We're happy, but we're not satisfied," Noah said. "We want more."

More has been expected of this Florida team than any other. With all of the stars returning from last year's national championship team, Florida opened the season as a consensus No. 1 team.

Noah said those expectations had an impact on him.

"It was so crazy when we won the national championship," he said. "People were looking at me like I was not even a person.

"Then, I don't play well and we lose some games, I see a change in people in the way they look at me and talk to me. That weirded me out."

Three of Florida's five losses came in a two-week stretch near the end of the regular season. Noah said that had as much to do with Florida's opponents as Florida.

"Teams were playing hard against us," Noah said. "It was like they were thinking, 'We could get smashed by 40 if we don't come ready to play.'

"That 'scared' is important. We had that feeling when we played Ohio State (during the regular season)."

The Gators didn't look scared Sunday. They looked scary.