As the SEC basketball regular season winds down, the top four seeds in the upcoming SEC Basketball Tournament are becoming clear. Alabama Basketball, unfortunately, is not in that group of four teams. The Auburn Tigers, as the No. 1 seed have a one-game lead over Kentucky and two-game lead over Tennessee and Arkansas, who are battling for the No. 3 seed.
The Crimson Tide is in a clump of five teams that are tied at 7-7 in SEC play. One game behind the clump are the Vanderbilt Commodores.
The four teams left, the Texas A&M Aggies, Missouri Tigers, Ole Miss Rebels, and the SEC’s worst team, the Georgia Bulldogs, appear destined to play in the extra tournament session on Wednesday night. Only the Aggies have a chance to jump up, out of that group.
See the current SEC standings here.
Each team has four more regular-season games (except Georgia that only has three games left, in a season they no doubt can’t wait to end). The remaining games are listed below. Results of those games will provide some seeding clarity, but it appears the Crimson Tide will likely be in a tie-breaker situation to determine its seeding.
In a previous Bama Hammer post, we published a summary of the SEC’s tie-breaker rules.
"Two team ties are decided by head-to-head play; then record against the No. 1 seed and proceeding down through the other seeds; then, if necessary, a coin flip.Three (or more) team ties are decided by the best winning percentage of the tied teams’ games against each other; then record against the No. 1 seed and proceeding down through the other seeds; then, if necessary a coin flip between two teams, or if three teams remain tied, a draw by the SEC Commissioner."
Based on current standings, after calculating the tie-breakers, Alabama would be the No. 5 seed. Florida would be No. 6, LSU No. 7, Mississippi State, No. 8, and South Carolina, No. 9.
The Crimson Tide would begin SEC Tournament play on Thursday against the winner of the Missouri vs. Ole Miss game. With a Thursday win, the Tide would currently play the Tennesse Vols on Friday. The Vols and the Razorbacks have another game, so the Friday opponent could change.
Remaining SEC Games for top 10 teams
- Auburn Tigers – Ole Miss, at Tennessee, at Mississippi State, South Carolina
- Kentucky Wildcats – LSU, at Arkansas, Ole Miss, at Florida
- Tennessee Vols – at Missouri, Auburn, at Georgia, Arkansas
- Arkansas Razorbacks – at Florida, Kentucky, LSU, at Tennessee
- Alabam Crimson Tide – at Vandy, South Carolina, Texas A&M, at LSU
- Florida Gators – Arkansas, at Georgia, at Vandy, Kentucky
- LSU Bengal Tigers – at Kentucky, Missouri, at Arkansas, Alabama
- Mississippi State Bulldogs – at South Carolina, Vandy, Auburn, at Texas A&M
- South Carolina Gamecocks – Mississippi State, at Alabama, Missouri, at Auburn
- Vanderbilt Commodores – Alabama, at Mississippi State, Florida, at Ole Miss
And that is the state of the SEC basketball season. Plenty of drama lies ahead. Bama Hammer will provide another update next week.