The SEC Tournament has been just as chaotic as we all expected. John Calipari’s Arkansas squad was stunned just before the buzzer by Ole Miss on Thursday, Texas A&M was knocked out to rival Texas in the second round and Kentucky survived an upset to Oklahoma.
Strap in, the chaos is just getting started. With the SEC tournament set to resume Friday, college basketball’s most difficult conference has a lot more to decide. Friday, we’ll see the top teams in action.
Can Auburn start their tournament with a win after losing to Alabama at the buzzer in the season finale? Will Missouri have enough to knock Florida off its pedestal, is Tennessee on upset alert?
All these will be answered later today. One thing’s for certain though, this conference tournament is nothing short of drama already. Here’s the updated bracket ahead of the quarterfinals and semifinals.
Updated SEC Tournament bracket and what it means for the NCAA Tournament seedings
Joe Lunardi has three SEC teams on the bubble of the NCAA Tournament and right now, Texas has the edge. They’ve pretty much locked into the tournament and should avoid the play-in with a win over Texas A&M. If they manage to stun Tennessee too, they could continue to soar in the seedings.
As for the rest of the bubble teams, Vanderbilt is closer to being one of the last four teams thanks to a first-round loss to the Longhorns. Arkansas will probably avoid a play-in themselves, though they’re currently one of the final teams to receive a bye.
Texas is the strongest SEC team on the bubble and it’s why the conference tournament’s are special.
The most intriguing game I believe will be Kentucky vs. Alabama. The Crimson Tide swept the Wildcats this season. While it might be hard to beat a team three times in a season, it's hard to see Bama losing again after how they beat Auburn to end the regular season.
Alabama has a chance to take one of the top four seeds from someone. It feels like the winner of the SEC tournament – barring major upsets – will end up being the overall No. 1 seed.
The Wildcats have a chance to bolster their resume with a win over Bama, but it doesn’t get easier with Missouri or Florida after that and potentially Auburn after that.