The Crimson Tide, Volunteers, and Aggies need a strong weekend after tough first round for the SEC

The SEC was positioned strongly to win its first NCAA Tournament since 2011-12 Kentucky with the conference getting eight teams into the NCAA tournament with all of the teams seeded as the higher seed in their matchup. The Mississippi State Bulldogs lost to the Michigan State Spartans, South Carolina lost to Oregon, and Florida lost to Colorado on a last-second shot. However, Auburn and Kentucky were parts of the biggest two upsets of the weekend losing to 13th-seeded Yale and 14th-seeded Oakland.

The SEC entered the tournament tied for the most bids with the Big 12 giving the Conference high expectations this tournament. This confidence was shown by Greg Sankey who said the following ahead of the tournament:

"We are giving away highly competitive opportunities for automatic qualifiers, and I think that pressure is going to rise as we have more competitive basketball leagues at the top end because of expansion. "

- Greg Sankey

Losses for Alabama, Tennessee, and Texas A&M would seemingly make this tournament a massive black eye for the SEC, especially as Greg Sankey lobbies for the conference. One of the teams Sankey is making the case for taking a bid from in Oakland knocked off one of the top teams in the conference.

The Tennessee Volunteers will kick off the SEC's second round against a future SEC team in seventh-seeded Texas. Sunday will see the Alabama Basketball team take on the 12th-seeded Grand Canyon Antelopes while the Aggies take on top-seeded Houston.

The conference will more than likely lose Texas A&M making it important for Tennessee and Alabama to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.

Alabama Basketball: Dodged one trendy upset team can they do it again?

Many College Basketball experts picked the Charleston Cougars as an upset over the Alabama Basketball team. In round two, the Tide will be subject to similar treatment with the Grand Canyon Antelopes. The Tide can't take the Antelopes lightly who have athleticism and the ability to knock off any team as shown with their upset over St Mary's. A return for the Sweet Sixteen would be a success for Nate Oats where they'd take on the winner of North Carolina or Michigan State.