Image: Red and Black
This week's SEC Men's basketball tournament provides some intriguing story lines. There will be coaches fighting for their jobs, fighting to make it on the bubble and to stay in the tourney picture. Plus, some quality match-ups across the bracket.
Let's look at the teams jockeying for NCAA position.
| Team | Overall* | SEC Record | RPI** | Projected Seed*** |
| Tennessee | 27-3 | 14-2 | 1 | 1 |
| Vanderbilt | 25-6 | 10-6 | 10 | 6 |
| Mississippi State | 21-9 | 12-4 | 39 | 7 |
| Kentucky | 18-11 | 12-4 | 48 | 9 |
| Arkansas | 20-10 | 9-7 | 42 | 10 |
| Bubble Teams | ||||
| Florida | 21-10 | 8-8 | 65 | NIT |
| Ole Miss | 21-9 | 7-9 | 43 | NIT |
*Overall Record - Includes only RPI recognized wins. Games against Div II teams don't count for RPI ratings.
**RPI Data from Ken Pomeroy.
***Seeding courtesy of Joe Lunardi's Bracketology.
Moving On Up?:
- Tennessee (E1)- With the #1 RPI and #3 strength of schedule, the Vols are looking very much like a #1 overall seed. If they make it to Sunday, I think they lock it up. They toughest match-up of the tourney for them could be Vandy on Saturday.
- Vanderbilt (E3) - The Dores have a reasonable shot to make a ton of noise at the Georgia Dome. They will likely face a progressive run of Auburn, Arkansas and Tennessee. I like Vanderbilt's chances for winning the tourney. If they win the tournament from the Thursday position, I think a #3 seed is within reach.
- Mississippi State (W1) - The Bizarro Dawgs played a reasonably tough non-conference schedule, but they faired poorly against it. The losses to South Alabama and Miami-Ohio are particularly tough on the RPI. They will likely face the Gators on Friday after their first round bye. If they win that game, they get a banged up Kentucky squad on Saturday. I don't see them landing much higher than a 6 seed without winning the tourney.
- Kentucky (E2) - For the record, I hate Kentucky Basketball. I hate their attitude, their fans and everything about them. Anyone that has ever been to the full SEC tournament knows that it's really the Wildcat Invitational. If they could lose on Wednesday before the tourney starts, that would be fine by me. ESPN's Bracketology site has the Cats generously listed as a 9 seed. The UK vs. UF/MSU winner on Saturday could be one of the better games of the tourney. I think an 8 seed is about as high as the Cats can climb.
- Arkansas (W2) - Joe Lunardi lists the Razorbacks as a 10 seed. I think that's a very generous projection. If the Hawgs fall to Vandy on Friday, I think they are back on the NCAA bubble sweating things until the last moments of the selection show. Beat the Dores, and that 10 seed looks more realistic. The two competing forces tugging on my thought process here are: (1) I'm not impressed with Pelphrey in the least (2) This senior laden Hawg squad made the SEC Finals last year.
- Florida (E4) - Bracketology projects the Gators as one of the first four teams left out of the Big Dance right now. I personally can't see how they are even that close. In my opinion, Donovan's crew needs to advance to Saturday via wins over Bama and MSU just to have a realistic shot at March Madness. Roll Tide.
- Ole Miss (W3) - unfortunately for the Rebels, Georgia's RPI is so low that a win over the Dawgs in Round 1 will not help Andy Kennedy's squad at all on Selection Sunday. They need a win over the Wildcats in Round 2 in the worst way. If Kennedy were to advance to Sunday in this tournament, my interest in learning more about his resume would grow exponentially. I hope we beat them...but I'm just saying.
- Alabama (W5) - The Crimson Tide (16-15 overall, RPI: 54) is currently on the outside looking in for the NIT according to NIT-ology.com. Gottfried could use a first round win over the Gators to quiet some critics and lock down something more interesting than the CBI Tournament (aka "the Square Dance").
See Also:
-- Bracketology 101
-- The Bracket Matrix
-- Buy or Sell SEC Tournament Tickets
PWD
