5. SEC
The SEC was completely dominated by the Kentucky Wildcats this year. The Southeastern Conference, which typically sends 5+ teams to the NCAA tournament yearly might only see a couple go this season. Despite being extremely top heavy with Kentucky and Arkansas leading the pack, the annual conference tournament should host a bunch of good match ups and story lines that will provide March with a little extra madness before the NCAA tournament begins.
First of all, if Kentucky ends up winning out, they will be the first team since Indiana in 1976 to end the year undefeated. This will definitely be a team to remember in the history of college basketball.
Kentucky’s next challenge will be getting by their conference foes the SEC tournament. But if the past is any indication what the result will be, Kentucky will most likely be cutting down the nets this weekend. In sports, it’s always a fun thing to see a team go the distance and end the year without a loss, which just hypes up this year’s conference tournament that much more.
Additionally, the SEC tournament potentially could see a rematch between #18 Arkansas and rival Tennessee. Tennessee handed Arkansas one of its six losses in a stunning five point upset earlier this season. A meeting between the two would be an awesome rematch to see. Tennessee is trying to snag one of those “last four in” spots in the NCAA tournament and Arkansas looks to build its resume even further for a higher seed. But, Tennessee will have to get by a tough Vanderbilt team if they even want another crack at Arkansas.
Historically, the SEC tournament has seen some crazy things.
In 2008, a tornado forced the tournament to move from the Georgia Dome to the Alexander Memorial Coliseum postponing games and not allowing fans to attend. This tournament end up with the Georgia Bulldogs beating Arkansas 66-57. So the tornado postponed, but could not stop the Bulldogs from hoisting the SEC tournament trophy in the air that year.
This year, while Kentucky is still heavily favored, the SEC tournament should see a lot of great match ups and unlikely occurrences. Hopefully tornadoes all steer clear of Nashville, as the Bridgestone arena will be the venue in which some of the best programs in college basketball duke it out in order to gain a NCAA tournament bid.
Next: 4. Big 12