Tuesday, March 11, 2008

SEC Tournament

Bracket

E5 South Carolina vs. W4 LSU
Winner plays E1 Tennessee

W6 Auburn vs. E3 Vanderbilt
Winner plays W2 Arkansas

W5 Alabama vs. E4 Florida
Winner plays W1 Mississippi State

E6 Georgia vs. W3 Ole Miss
Winner plays E2 Kentucky

Favorite - Tennessee. The Volunteers have been at the top of the polls all season. They won the SEC East by two games over Kentucky, and have a pretty easy path to the semis. The SEC is not very deep this year, and Tennessee is loaded.

Sleepers - Ole Miss. The Rebels looked very good before the conference season started, but went through a stretch where they lost eight of ten in conference. They won their last three, however, including a win over Arkansas. They are probably going to need to beat Kentucky and reach the semis to make the NCAA Tournament. The Rebels do have a great combo in PG Chris Warren and C Dwayne Curtis, and have proven that they can beat tourney teams (South Alabama, New Mexico, Winthrop, Clemson), but they have struggled mightly away from home. Let's see if they can change that trend.

Most Intriguing Match-up - If Vanderbilt can handle Auburn in the first round, they get Arkansas in the second round. Vanderbilt is in a similar situation to Mississippi as neither of them has proven they can win on the road, but winning in the tournament can go a long way to convincing the committee how good they are. It also would create an interesting match-up between Shan Foster, the 6'7" shooter, and Patrick Beverly, 6'1" scorer that averages 6.7 rpg.

My Pick - Kentucky. The Wildcats have looked very good even without Patrick Patterson after losing to Tennessee by 3, and then beating South Carolina and Florida.

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