By Mark Schlabach, Special to SI.com
The Southeastern Conference field includes a definite No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA tournament, another team battling for a top seed and two or three teams just fighting to make the field.
Those are all compelling storylines. But the most talked about subject Wednesday was the team that isn't in New Orleans: Georgia.
The Bulldogs, banned from the postseason by their own administration because of findings of academic fraud in coach Jim Harrick's program, were making more headlines back in Athens. Attorneys for senior guard Ezra Williams and junior center Steve Thomas filed a lawsuit Wednesday morning, seeking a temporary restraining order that would allow the Bulldogs to play in the SEC tournament and NCAA tournament.
Three other players -- forwards Jarvis and Jonas Hayes and Damien Wilkins -- joined about 300 other UGA students in a protest in front of university president Michael Adams' office. The only problem was Adams wasn't there. He was in New Orleans, along with athletics director Vince Dooley.
"I should have been in my room packing for the trip to New Orleans," said Jarvis Hayes, the Bulldogs' leading scorer. "They're telling us we played 27 games for nothing. That's the most difficult thing to swallow."
Georgia's last hopes of playing in the postseason were all but dashed Wednesday when a judge refused to grant the injunction. Athens-Clarke County Superior Court judge David Sweat said he couldn't invoke the restraining order because a state law requires five days notice before taking legal action against a government body.
Sweat said he would consider the action in a hearing Monday morning, but that's too late for the Bulldogs. The SEC tournament starts Thursday -- Georgia was scheduled to play Arkansas in the first round on Thursday night -- and the NCAA announces the 65-team field for its tournament on Sunday night.
NCAA tournament selection chairman Jim Livengood says it will be nearly impossible to include the Bulldogs in the field.
"We're only considering eligible teams," Livengood said.
Kentucky coach Tubby Smith, who coached two seasons at Georgia, was sad to see his former school under such scrutiny.
"It's a sad time for the Georgia folks I know, for the Harricks," Smith said. "My heart goes out to those kids, too, not getting a chance to play. They worked so hard for so many years. The dream is to play in the NCAA, to go to the SEC tournament."
South Carolina coach Dave Odom admitted that not having the Bulldogs in New Orleans takes away some of the fun for the rest of the conference's teams.
"Georgia is one of the premier teams in the league and in the country," Odom said. "It wouldn't be truthful to say that doesn't take away from the tournament."
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Georgia's administration caught a lot of flak after media outlets reported the Bulldogs' postseason ban before the players found out about it. But the real fault might lie with embattled coach Jim Harrick, who was playing golf at Augusta National Golf Club when he learned that the university was suspending him with pay. By the time Harrick returned to Athens, the word of his and his program's demise was already out.
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 Mississippi State G Derrick Zimmerman
The senior had 15 points and eight assists in the Bulldogs' 67-45 win over Auburn, which clinched the SEC West title.
LSU F Ronald Dupree
Dupree had 14 points and 12 rebounds in the Tigers' 66-62 win over Alabama last Saturday.
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HOT: Georgia F Jarvis Hayes
The junior finished the regular season on a tear, averaging 22 points in his last six games.
NOT: South Carolina G Jarrod Gerald
The freshman goes into the SEC tournament with one made field goal in 290 minutes.
HOT: Vanderbilt F Matt Freije
He's the best player on the league's worst team, averaging 19 points in his last five games.
NOT: Arkansas F Jonathan Modica
The freshman has cooled off considerably, averaging only 6.6 points in his last five games.
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Even if there's only three games instead of four, the first round of the SEC tournament figures to be pretty interesting. LSU and Alabama both probably would secure NCAA at-large bids by winning their first-round games. LSU plays Arkansas; the Crimson Tide faces Vanderbilt.
"Bubble this, bubble that," Alabama coach Mark Gottfried said. "When I look at our RPI, look at our strength of schedule, I'm not sure why we're even discussing it."
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Georgia forward Jarvis Hayes, the SEC's second-leading scorer this season, said he'll enter his name into June's NBA Draft but won't hire an agent, meaning he could return to school for his senior season. Hayes would have to go undrafted or remove his name from the draft before May 27. Hayes said he'll definitely turn pro if he's a lottery pick.
Mississippi State center Mario Austin, who nearly turned pro after his sophomore season, says he'll return to school for his senior season.
Tennessee will have to play the postseason without senior guard Jon Higgins, who was declared academically ineligible by the school on Monday. Higgins failed to pass six hours last fall and the final appeal was denied Monday. Vols coach Buzz Peterson said freshman Stanley Asumnu likely will step into a starting role against Auburn on Friday night. "It's disappointing for all of us," Peterson said. "He's a role-model young man, a big asset to the program and this is just an unfortunate situation. We've got to try to stay positive, move on and win some more ball games."
The Los Angeles Times reported Monday that Hayes and Kentucky senior guard Keith Bogans were left off the final list of candidates for the Wooden Award, which goes to the nation's best player, because their schools couldn't certify that they had 2.0 grade-point averages.
On Wednesday, Arkansas gave first-year coach Stan Heath a one-year contract extension, meaning he'll be on the school's payroll through 2008.
Even before Georgia suspended its season, freshman guard Wayne Arnold, the only one of four signees who qualified last year, was inactivated by Harrick. Harrick said Arnold has struggled with the death of his mother, who succumbed to cancer in January 2002, and he needs to focus on academics.
The father of Kentucky basketball player Kelenna Azubuike faces 18 counts of fraud-related charges, according to an indictment in a federal court in Tulsa, Okla., the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader reported. Kenneth Azubuike is accused of interstate transportation of stolen property, wire fraud, bank fraud and bankruptcy fraud from about January 1996 to the present. The charges stem from accusations by friends that the elder Azubuike lured them into a series of investments that cost them more than $680,000.
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Mark Schlabach covers the SEC for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. His This Week in the SEC column appears Thursdays during the season.
