The Southeastern Conference Tournament starts on Thursday with four games. Check the latest NCAA basketball lines.
The 2011 Southeastern Conference tournament gets underway on Thursday at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta with as many as three teams fighting for invitations to the Big Dance. The East Division’s top three teams all figure to get into the NCAA tournament, leaving the others to state their case by winning games in the conference tournament.
East top seed Florida (24-6, 13-3 SEC), #2 Kentucky (22-8, 10-6) and #3 Vanderbilt (21-9, 9-7) are all safe picks to get invited to the Big Dance at this point. Of that group, the Commodores are the only ones who must play an opening-round game on Thursday as they face West #6 LSU (11-20, 3-13) in the nightcap. Vandy closed out the regular season with losses to the Wildcats (68-66) and Gators (86-76) after crushing the Tigers 90-69 on the road.
There is a lot of debate about who the additional teams from the SEC would be, but most experts believe East #5 Tennessee (18-13, 8-8) is the favorite ahead of #4 Georgia (20-10, 9-7) and West #1 Alabama (20-10, 12-4). The Volunteers have not won consecutive games since February 3 and might have to do just that in order to get in by reaching the 20-win mark.
The Vols will first have to get by West #4 Arkansas (18-12, 7-9) on Thursday though and would likely see their bubble burst with a loss to the Razorbacks for the second time. Even if Tennessee wins that game, a matchup with Florida looms in the quarterfinals on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs meet West #5 Auburn (11-19, 4-12) in the opening round and would play the Crimson Tide in the quarterfinals on Friday with a victory. Both teams probably need to win at least two games in the SEC tournament to make sure they get selected over the Volunteers. Alabama seems to be the most disrespected team in the SEC despite winning the West but should get more consideration after beating Tennessee on the road and topping Kentucky.
The other opening-round game pits East #6 South Carolina (14-15, 5-11) against West #3 Mississippi (19-12, 7-9) with the winner playing the Wildcats on Friday. Kentucky fell to the Rebels 71-69 on February 1, one of the team’s five losses by four points or less in the last seven weeks of the regular season. However, the Wildcats finished strong, winning four of five and completing a sweep of Tennessee with a 64-58 road victory in the regular-season finale last Sunday.
