The SEC Tournament gets off and running on Wednesday, and the night-cap features an interesting battle between the Vanderbilt Commodores and Mississippi State Bulldogs. The Ole Miss Rebels will await the winner in the second round, but before we look ahead to that game, there is much to be decided in the opener.
Vanderbilt enters Wednesday’s game as a solid favorite over Miss. State, but the ‘Dores have had a rough season by their standards with a 7-11 conference mark and a .500 record overall. Head coach Kevin Stallings has a reputation for high-level defense, and this year’s group has lived up to that billing with a top-50 unit nationally. Unfortunately, the offense has rated outside the top-200 in the same efficiency category, though, and Vandy could get into some trouble if they’re forced into a low-scoring battle.
This year’s edition of Mississippi State had a rough time on the way to a 3-15 conference record and a basement finish, but the Bulldogs aren’t totally void of talent. They flashed some upside in knocking off Ole Miss and Texas A&M earlier in the year, but the bottom fell out for MSU as they lost their final 12 games in conference play. Offense has been a real problem for the Bulldogs, but if they can cause turnovers (a strength for them defensively) and get some easy buckets, MSU could hang around for the duration of the 40 minute ball game.
Here’s how you can watch all the action on Wednesday:
Date: March 12
Start Time: 7:00 PM ET
Location: Atlanta, GA
Arena: Georgia Dome
TV Info: SEC TV (Check Local Listings)/ESPN3
Live Stream: WatchESPN app
Who do you think comes away with the win in this one? Sound off with your thoughts in the comments section below.