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LSU has played itself back into contention for a tournament bid.
AP
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Kentucky
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Florida
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Georgia
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Mississippi State
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Tennessee
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LSU
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Alabama
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Auburn
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South Carolina
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Ole Miss
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Arkansas
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Vanderbilt
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11
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Games in the past 12 that Kentucky has won by double digits. |
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"Even when they don't do something right, they look like they're doing something right. Even when they make an offensive mistake, they usually make up for it on the defensive end."
-- Tennessee forward Ron Slay on Kentucky
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By Mark Schlabach, Special to SI.com
NCAA Tournament bids. No. 1 seeds. Undefeated records.
All of that is at stake in the final week of the SEC regular season, which figures to be filled with more lobbying than Capitol Hill.
Heading into the final three regular-season games, at least three SEC teams -- Alabama, Auburn and Tennessee -- seem to be on the NCAA Tournament
"bubble." And if you listen to LSU coach John Brady, his Tigers might be there, too.
"There are three games left," Auburn coach Cliff Ellis said, "and no one knows how anyone is going to finish. This league is brutal."
Auburn and Tennessee are 7-6 in the SEC and probably need at least one more victory to be in position for an at-large bid. Alabama and LSU, both 5-8 in the league, have a lot more work to do.
"Our backs are pressed as hard against the wall as you can press them," Alabama coach Mark Gottfried said. "Our guys think we can get to the NCAA Tournament, but we've got a lot of work to do."
LSU has won four of its past seven games to give itself hope of reaching the NCAAs. If the Tigers can win at least two of their last three games, they might have a stronger case than Auburn. LSU won at Auburn by 19 points last week and beat No. 1 Arizona earlier this season.
"If LSU goes 7-9, beats No. 1 and [then-] No. 7 [Mississippi State], and goes to the SEC tournament and wins a game, why wouldn't we go to the
NCAA Tournament?" Brady said. "I'm not lobbying. I'm just stating facts."
Since the SEC expanded to 12 teams in 1992, 15 teams have gone 9-7 in league play, with nine of them getting into the NCAA Tournament. The last
9-7 team to be snubbed was Alabama in 1996, when the SEC got only four NCAA bids. Starting in 1997, all six 9-7 SEC teams have received invitations to the NCAAs.
Finishing 8-8 is a little more hairy. Since expansion, 11 SEC teams have gone 8-8, and only three got bids. One of those was Tennessee in 2001.
"I believe right now we'll play in the NCAA Tournament," Gottfried said. "We've got a lot of work to do and a short time to do it in. I actually believe we're playing some pretty good basketball right now."
Florida and Kentucky, which both play at Georgia before meeting in the regular-season finale March 8, have No. 1 seeds at
stake. Kentucky could become only the third team to finish 16-0 in the SEC by winning its last three games.
"The hardest thing to do in all of sports is go undefeated in your conference," Georgia coach Jim Harrick said.
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Tennessee freshman C.J. Watson's line from Wednesday night's loss at Kentucky was forgettable: five points, all in the final minute, and six turnovers.
That came after an ill-advised layup in the final seconds of the Vols' loss to Alabama last week.
But make no mistake, Watson is a future star. He's as much of a reason for Tennessee's surprising success as senior Ron Slay, favorite for SEC player of the year. Watson has played beyond his years and brought a calming presence to Tennessee.
"He's young," Kentucky point guard Cliff Hawkins said. "He's going to be good."
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HOT: Georgia's Jarvis Hayes
The junior has fully recovered from a hip injury, averaging 27 points in his past three games.
NOT: Ole Miss
The Rebels have lost eight games in a row, their longest losing streak since 1992-93.
HOT: LSU
The Tigers have won four of their past six games, their past two by an average of 25 points.
NOT: Ole Miss' Aaron Harper
Since being named SEC player of the week, Harper has shot 32 percent in seven games.
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We may never know how good center Jason Parker is. Parker, the former high school All-American from Charlotte, won't be
academically eligible to play at South Carolina next season.
Gamecocks coach Dave Odom revealed this week that Parker didn't finish his course work from fall semester and is no longer enrolled in classes.
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 LSU's Darrel Mitchell
The freshman scored a career-high 19 points in a 94-63 blowout of Auburn on Wednesday.
Florida's David Lee
Lee scored 17 points on 7-for-8 shooting in a 96-63 rout of South Carolina on Tuesday night.
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This might be the biggest weekend in Georgia basketball history. On Sunday, the No. 21-ranked Bulldogs host No. 2 Kentucky in a game that will be televised nationally by CBS. About 48 hours later, Georgia hosts No. 4 Florida in a game that will be broadcast by ESPN.
"We've kind of flown in under the radar, and that's OK," Georgia coach Jim Harrick said. "But these next two home games are huge. We've won four straight games, and it's time to make a statement."
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In Alabama's 59-55 loss at Mississippi State on Wednesday night, senior forward Erwin Dudley scored the Crimson Tide's first 13 points of the second half. No other Alabama player scored until point guard Mo Williams broke the drought with a layup with 8:02 left. ... Williams, a sophomore from Jackson, Miss., averaged only eight points in four games in his home state the past two seasons. Alabama lost all four. ... LSU made a school-record 16 3-pointers in its 94-63 blowout of Auburn on Wednesday night. The Tigers made 16 of 25 3-pointers, including nine in a row during one stretch. "I don't know if I've ever seen a better display of shooting than they put on tonight," said Auburn coach Cliff Ellis. ... Arkansas snapped a school-record 16-game road losing streak on the road with its 60-50 victory over Vanderbilt on Wednesday night. ... Florida shot 78 percent in the second half of its 96-63 rout of South Carolina on Tuesday night. The Gators scored 61 points in the second half, the school's second-most ever against a SEC opponent, and the margin of victory was their largest in a league game under Billy Donovan. ... It took 20 games and 233 minutes, but South Carolina freshman guard Jarod Gerald finally made a basket -- a 3-pointer midway through the first half against Georgia last week -- after missing the first 13 of his college career. ... There seems to be a growing rift between Tennessee forward Ron Slay and official Ted Valentine. Vols coach Buzz Peterson suggested after the Vols' 77-63 loss at South Carolina last week that Valentine had a problem with Slay. "I've had my conversations with the conference office already," Peterson said. "I thought you had a player and an official with strong confidence, egos, whatever. They clashed, both of them, and I thought it affected the whole outcome of the game with the two egos." Slay missed 10 of his first 15 shots in the game, shot four air balls and received a technical in the second half.
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