After Wednesday’s preliminaries, the real meat of the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament kicks into gear Thursday at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville before the festivities finish on Sunday.
Here’s a who’s who for the action this week in the Music City:
Who’s on the spot: Future public relations textbooks will include a chapter on Alabama basketball titled “How not to handle a crisis.” The league’s best team has lost some of its edge since the controversy over Brandon Miller’s playing status erupted. Alabama needed overtime to beat both South Carolina and Auburn, then lost at Texas A&M in the regular season finale. Nate Oats’ Crimson Tide is no longer this week’s prohibitive favorite.
Who’s hot: The surprising Vanderbilt Commodores have won eight of their last nine games, including victories over Tennessee, Florida (twice), Auburn, Kentucky and Mississippi State. Now in his fourth year, Vandy head coach Jerry Stackhouse has proven he’s much more than just a man in a stylish suit.
Who’s not:After a 7-1 start in league action, Tennessee all but crawled to the finish line at 11-7. Rick Barnes’ club nosedived from No. 2 in the AP Top 25 to the No. 5 seed in the league tournament after losing at Auburn 79-70 last Saturday. Still the nation’s No. 1 defensive team, according to Ken Pomeroy’s array of numbers, the Vols have struggled to find ways to put the ball in the basket.
Who’s missing: Untimely injuries are the reason we won’t see Tennessee’s Zakai Zeigler (knee), Florida’s Colin Castleton (hand), Vanderbilt’s Liam Robbins (leg) and possibly Kentucky’s Cason Wallace (leg) in Nashville. Sometimes it’s a game of attrition.
Who never quite clicked: At times you thought Auburn Coach Bruce Pearl might just spontaneously combust while watching his up-and-down Tigers. After a 32-point loss at Kentucky, the Tigers did drag Alabama to overtime in Tuscaloosa before closing the regular campaign with a win over a Zeigler-less Tennessee. Still, I’ll be surprised if Pearl and company make much noise this weekend.
Who’s a team to keep an eye on: Dennis Gates has made Missouri basketball fun again. Running and gunning, the Tigers finished the season on a four-game winning streak. Mizzou is ninth nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency, according to kenpom. That’s not a bad stat to have in your quiver heading into the postseason.
Who are the best players not named Brandon Miller: Texas A&M’s Wade Taylor IV, Missouri’s Kobe Brown and Mississippi State’s Tolu Smith have all enjoyed outstanding seasons. The underrated Taylor averaged 16.3 points per game for the Aggies. He poured in 28 points as the Aggies took down Alabama 67-61 last Saturday in College Station. Brown averaged 15.9 points and 6.2 rebounds for Mizzou. Smith averaged 15.4 and 8.3 for the Bulldogs.
Who’s a possible redeem team:No. 10 in the AP preseason poll, Arkansas could never quite get it going. Losing Trevon Brazile to a torn ACL early in the year didn’t help. Neither did losing fab freshman Nick Smith for a sizable chunk of the season. Smith is back now. He scored 25 points in Arkansas’ loss to Kentucky last Saturday. Arkansas was just 8-10 in conference play. Are the Razorbacks good enough to make a run?
Who’s really dangerous: On its game, Kentucky can beat any team in the league. Not on its game, Kentucky is capable of losing to any team in the league. Two of its losses came against teams relegated to Wednesday night’s bottom-four games. But John Calipari’s club earned a booster shot of confidence with last Saturday’s win at Arkansas. And you know Bridgestone Arena will be filled with blue this weekend. Kentucky is always Kentucky.
Who will win it: As the No. 8 seed, Texas A&M made it all the way to last year’s SEC Tournament finals before losing to Tennessee. This year, the Aggies are the No. 2 seed, 15-3 in SEC play, and fresh off that victory over Alabama. It says here that come Sunday, Buzz Williams’ players will be cutting down the nets in Music City.
