The SEC’s bubble teams helped themselves as much as possible in the final week of the regular season, making likely a record for NCAA Tournament bids and reducing the number of teams in dire situations next week at the SEC Tournament in Nashville, Tenn.
Texas earns the title of “most dire,” at least among the 14 teams with NCAA hopes. The Longhorns’ 76-72 loss Saturday to rival and fellow SEC newbie Oklahoma leaves Texas at 17-14 overall and 6-12 in the SEC — a conference performance that sounds nothing like an NCAA Tournament team, but this might be the best single-season conference in men’s college basketball history.
Oklahoma (19-12, 6-12) isn’t a lock, by the way. But this was an enormous win, sparked by key plays from freshman Jeremiah Fears and aided by an 0-for-14 shooting night from Texas’ star freshman, Tre Johnson. That made the Sooners 2-0 in the final week, including an upset of Missouri, and one win in the SEC Tournament at Bridgestone Arena might provide a permanent push to the right side of the bubble.
As is, the SEC looks solid with 12 bids, which would beat the Big East record of 11 set in 2011. Arkansas locked itself in — and sent warning signals that this has become a dangerous team — with wins at Vanderbilt and in thrilling fashion over Mississippi State. Georgia won at South Carolina, then outlasted Vanderbilt on Saturday at home.
Georgia was a No. 10 seed in The Athletic’s Bracket Watch on Tuesday, before those two wins. Arkansas and Oklahoma were No. 11 seeds and two of the last four in. Texas was the first team out of the field. Vanderbilt was safe as a No. 9 seed, and that stands after a two-loss week, but the Commodores would feel a lot better about things with at least one win next week in their home city. Potential bid thieves abound.
If Vanderbilt gets that win, you can pretty much count Texas out of the NCAA Tournament. The Longhorns likely need that and then some.
Here’s how the bracket looks for what should be quite an affair in Nashville.
Wednesday
No. 16 seed South Carolina vs. No. 9 seed Arkansas
No. 13 seed Texas vs. No. 12 seed Vanderbilt
No. 15 seed LSU vs. No. 10 seed Mississippi State
No. 14 seed Oklahoma vs. No. 11 seed Georgia
Thursday
No. 8 seed Ole Miss vs. South Carolina/Arkansas winner
No. 5 seed Texas A&M vs. Texas/Vanderbilt winner
No. 7 seed Missouri vs. LSU/Mississippi State winner
No. 6 seed Kentucky vs. Oklahoma/Georgia winner
Friday, No. 1 seed Auburn, No. 2 seed Florida, No. 3 seed Alabama and No. 4 seed Tennessee will join the fray. At the top of the league, Auburn should remain the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament despite losing two games this week, and Florida, Alabama and Tennessee all are fighting to get a No. 1 seed as well. Florida has the edge right now, but Alabama’s win at Auburn was big.
Each of the three needs multiple resume-aiding wins in Nashville while hoping the other two get bounced Friday.
Required reading
(Photo of Tre Johnson: Petre Thomas / Imagn Images)
