SEC Tournament: Preview, Picks and Storylines

While the SEC is obviously nowhere near the best conference in America, we’ve had some great SEC Tournament title games the last couple of years. There’s a chance we can see that again this year if Kentucky and Florida both get there, as they are projected top-4 seeds in the NCAA Tournament. They are the two top teams in the SEC bracket, seen here:

Bubble Teams that Need a Win: There’s not many here, but Arkansas, Vanderbilt and Alabama all need wins. Alabama for sure needs two, while Vanderbilt is an interesting case due to their strength of schedule.

Players to Watch: There’s no surprise this year everyone knows the Kentucky roster and even guys like Kasey Hill from Florida, Sindarius Thornwell and PJ Dozier from South Carolina. What about the rest? Here are five to watch:

JJ Frazier (Georgia) – A diminutive point guard that can go for 30 if he wants and completely take control of a game? Sounds familiar when it comes to March and that’s JJ Frazier. He’s third in the conference scoring 18.7 per game.

Robert Williams (Texas A&M) He’s a projected NBA lottery pick this year and makes up one of the more talented frontcourts with Tyler Davis. The freshman for A&M is second in the conference with 8.1 rebounds per game while also shooting 56% from the field.

Moses Kingsley (Arkansas) – Kingsley is another NBA talent in the SEC, though he’s expected to go in the second round. Kingsley is down this year though,but he’s still putting up 12/8 each night with over 2 blocks per game.

Quinndary Weatherspoon (Mississippi State) – He’s the type of guy who can lead a couple upsets for a Mississippi State team that hangs around with most teams. He’s putting up 16.6 points per game while also being fifth in the conference with 1.7 steals per game.

Luke Kornet (Vanderbilt) – He’s a unique matchup as he’s a legit 7’1″ and gets up about five 3’s per game. He’ll protect the rim with over 2 blocks per game, while also being a rebounding threat. If he gets going though from outside, that opens up the floor for Vanderbilt’s offense.

Storylines to Watch: 

1. Can Kentucky end up a No. 2 seed? 

Kentucky is in the mix for being a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, which seemed unlikely after losing to Tennessee and Kansas a few weeks back. But, when the committee released them as a No. 3 seed originally, it gave Kentucky fans hope of jumping up a seed line. With college basketball this year, it’s pretty significant to jump up that seed line and avoid some of the No. 6 seeds out there.

2.Open job openings

We know there are at least two job openings in the SEC in Missouri and LSU with Kim Anderson being asked to step down and Johnny Jones being fired. Georgia’s Mark Fox was expected to be let go, but his AD came out in the last day or two to announce Fox will be back. How will these teams deal with the coaching situations? What will we hear in terms of rumors during this?

3. Vanderbilt playing at ‘home’ 

Kentucky will always have the homecourt advantage when it comes to the SEC Tournament. That’s just how it is when a school travels as well as Kentucky. However, this is being played in Nashville, the city that is home to Vanderbilt. With Vandy squarely on the bubble this year, will more fans come out to the SEC Tournament to support Vandy? Homecourt advantage is a serious thing when it comes to college basketball, so it’ll be interesting to see if any other fans show up.

Predictions: 

1st Round: No. 12 Mississippi State over No. 13 LSU, No. 11 Auburn over  No. 14 Missouri

2nd Round: No. 8 Georgia over No. 9 Tennessee, No. 5 Alabama over No. 12 Mississippi State, No. 7 Vanderbilt over No. 10 Texas A&M, No. 11 Auburn over No. 6 Ole Miss

Quarterfinals: No. 1 Kentucky over No. 8 Georgia, No. 5 Alabama over No. 4 South Carolina, No. 2 Florida over No. 7 Vanderbilt, No. 3 Arkansas over No. 11 Auburn

Semifinals: No. 1 Kentucky over No. 5 Alabama, No. 2 Florida over No. 3 Arkansas

Finals: No. 1 Kentucky over No. 2 Florida

MVP: Malik Monk (Kentucky)

All-Tournament Team: Malik Monk (Kentucky), Bam Adebayo (Kentucky), KeVaughn Allen (Florida), Moses Kingsley (Arkansas), Dazon Ingram (Alabama)

Why Kentucky?: This is the one tournament that wouldn’t shock me going chalk. It’s just that top-heavy and the way the matchups fall benefit the top two seeds. Kentucky just got their bad game from Malik Monk, which means he’s probably going to go for 40 at some point soon. Combine with the fact they are starting to use Bam correctly and play the pick-and-roll with him, it’s an added element. Kentucky/Florida pt 3 would be a great game, so I just hope we get to see that again.