With March Madness approaching quickly, the games left on the schedule get that much more important. On Wednesday night, there were two huge games in the SEC featuring two potential No. 1 seeds in the upcoming NCAA Tournament — the Auburn Tigers and Alabama Crimson Tide.
No. 1 Auburn took on the John Calipari-coached Arkansas Razorbacks. Even though Arkansas had just four wins against SEC opponents, they pushed Auburn to the limit. Yet, their best wasn't good enough. Even as the Tigers shot 25-for-62 from the field, they held on to win 67-60 to improve to 12-1 in conference play. What helped their case was outscoring Arkansas 10-2 in the final three minutes after trailing 58-57.
Meanwhile, the No. 4 Crimson Tide had a no good, very bad night against the No. 15 Missouri Tigers. Alabama watched Missouri score at will, ultimately leading to a 110-98 win for the Tigers. Missouri watched Mark Mitchell score 31 points (11-for-15 from the field) and Caleb Grill notch a double-double off the bench with 25 points and 10 rebounds.
With these results in the books, how do the SEC standings look now?
Updated SEC standings after Auburn defeats Arkansas, Missouri upsets Alabama
Place | Team | Overall Record (Conference Record) |
|---|---|---|
1 | Auburn | 24-2 (12-1) |
2 | Florida | 23-3 (10-3) |
3 | Alabama | 21-5 (10-3) |
4 | Missouri | 20-6 (9-4) |
5 | Texas A&M | 20-6 (9-4) |
6 | Tennessee | 21-5 (8-5) |
7 | Ole Miss | 19-7 (8-5) |
8 | Mississippi State | 19-7 (7-6) |
9 | Kentucky | 18-8 (7-6) |
10 | Vanderbilt | 17-9 (5-8) |
11 | Texas | 16-10 (5-8) |
12 | Georgia | 16-10 (4-9) |
13 | Arkansas | 15-11 (4-9) |
14 | Oklahoma | 16-10 (3-10) |
15 | LSU | 14-12 (3-10) |
16 | South Carolina | 10-16 (0-13) |
With their win and Alabama's loss, Auburn now has a two-game cushion for first place in the SEC. Yet, their lead is far from safe. In their final five games, they have to play No. 24 Ole Miss, No. 17 Kentucky, No. 7 Texas A&M, and Alabama. But with how well they have played this season, it's hard to count out Auburn holding on for first place in the conference.
As for Arkansas, they are seriously on the bubble. There is still a chance they can earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament. However, they have to play Missouri, Texas, Vanderbilt, and Mississippi State to in four of their final five games. It won't be easy, but they're far from out of it.
Missouri, meanwhile, has a favorable schedule the rest of the way. While they do have to play Vanderbilt, Kentucky, and Arkansas, they have to play an Oklahoma team that's 3-10 in conference play, and South Carolina, who hasn't picked up a single win against an SEC opponent this season.
Alabama's final five games are all against Top 25 ranked teams — Kentucky, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Florida, and Auburn. Yet we can't count them out, considering they are one of the top teams in the country.