With a potential no. 1 seed up for grabs, the Tennessee Volunteers will look to begin their run at an SEC Tournament title by topping Mississippi State tonight.
While the ACC and Big Ten have drawn the national headlines all season long, the SEC has had a tremendous year. The conference features three teams that could claim top-2 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, with each having a shot at the top line.
For a long time, it appeared that one of those no. 1 seeds would be earmarked for the Tennessee Volunteers, who surged to the top of the polls on the strength of a 19-game winning streak. Tennessee crashed back to Earth in mid-February, dropping games to Kentucky and LSU in the span of ten days, putting them more in line for a no. 2 seed.
That can all change if Rick Barnes’ team can put together a strong showing in Nashville and claim the SEC crown. There should be plenty of Volunteers fans in the building throughout the event, giving Tennessee as close to a home court advantage as possible at a neutral site.
This is not great for the Mississippi State Bulldogs, who need to beat the Volunteers to advance to a potential matchup with Kentucky in the semifinals. The Bulldogs enter the game winners of two consecutive games, both coming over Texas A&M, including yesterday’s 80-54 beatdown in the second round.
Mississippi State raced out to a 15 point lead at the half and never looked back, and the good news for them is that they should be in the tournament regardless of what happens against Tennessee today. The two squads met only once in the regular season, with Tennessee winning 71-54 in Starkville 10 days ago.
How to watch Tennessee vs. Mississippi State
- Date: Friday, March 15
- Time: Approximately 9:00 p.m. ET (about 30 minutes after the conclusion of the Kentucky-Alabama game)
- Location: Nashville, TN
- Venue: Bridgestone Arena
- TV: SEC Network
- Live Stream: WatchESPN