Alabama Basketball: A wild Saturday finish on tap for SEC

There will be no showdown for Alabama Basketball and Texas A&M on Saturday morning. Both teams will play for pride and to pad their NCAA Tournament resumes. The game’s outcome will not change either team’s seeding for the SEC Tournament. As the SEC Regular Season Champion, Alabama will be the No. 1 seed, and A&M, the No. 2.

The players and coaching staff will want to win, but neither team will be adversely affected by a loss. The Crimson Tide, even if it was to lose in College Station and lose its opening game in Nashville, will still be an NCAA Tournament 1-seed. Two losses would knock Alabama out of being the overall No. 1 seed in the Big Dance, but the Tide would still play its first NCAA Tournament game(s) in Birmingham.

Four other SEC teams already know they will open the SEC Tournament on Wednesday night, no matter what happens in their Saturday games. They are No. 11 seed Georgia and No. 14 seed LSU. South Carolina and Ole Miss are still battling for the No. 12 seed.

Alabama Basketball and rest of SEC Saturday Schedule

• 11:00 AM CST, Alabama Crimson Tide at Texas A&M Aggies
• 12:00 PM, Georgia at South Carolina
• 1:00 PM, Tennessee at Auburn – Not only is Auburn at home but the Vols’ lead guard Zakai Ziegler has been lost for the season due to an ACL injury. Auburn can get off the Big Dance near-bubble with a win.
• 1:00 PM, Kentucky at Arkansas – This game is important for NCAA Tournament seeding.
• 2:30 PM – Ole Miss at Missouri – An upset by the Rebels would weaken Missouri’s NCAA Tournament status.
• 5:00 PM – LSU at Florida
• 7:30 PM – Mississippi State at Vandy – The Bulldogs are a bubble team and cannot afford to lose. A win by the Dores and two more in the SEC Tournament and sneaking into the NCAA Tournament is not impossible. Vandy has won seven of its last eight games.

Not considering tie-breakers, Tennessee and Kentucky are tied for No. 3 in the SEC. Missouri and Vanderbilt are tied at No. 5. Auburn is No. 7. Arkansas, Mississippi State and Florida are tied at No. 8.

With many tie-breakers needed after Saturday’s games, it will be close to 10:00 PM before the final seeding for the SEC Tournament is determined.

SEC and NCAA Tournament Bracketology

In a brief review, only Jerry Palm’s projected bracket, updated Thursday afternoon will be cited.

• Alabama Basketball; Overall No. 1 seed
• Tennessee Vols; 3-seed
• Missouri Tigers; 5-seed
• Texas A&M Aggies; 6-seed
• Kentucky Wildcats; 7-seed
• Arkansas Razorbacks; 9-seed
• Auburn Tigers; 11-seed
• Mississippi State Bulldogs; 11-seed with a play-in game

Against Texas A&M, Alabama will seek its first win over the Aggies in the Nate Oats era. Whatever happens, Alabama will open its SEC Tournament play at 12:00 PM on Friday against the winner of the No. 8 vs. No. 9 game.