SEC Tournament Tracker: How UK’s last-ditch path to the NCAA tourney looks right now
For the first time since the 2012-13 season, a Kentucky Wildcats men’s basketball team will travel to an SEC Tournament next month knowing it almost certainly must win the championship to make the NCAA tourney.
Having dug a massive hole by starting the season 5-13, John Calipari’s Wildcats, now 8-13, 7-7 SEC, would seem to have all but no hope of an NCAA Tournament at-large bid.
So it is “SEC tourney or bust” for the Cats.
After last year’s Southeastern Conference Tournament was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, this year’s event is slated to return March 10-14 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
Given the financial importance of having an NCAA Tournament in 2021 after COVID-19 canceled last season’s, there is a school of thought that league tournaments should not be held this year, either.
That would secure the viability of the NCAA Tournament by allowing the teams needed to play in the Big Dance to quarantine and assure all players are healthy before entering March Madness.
That option, obviously, would not be good for Kentucky in a year when its sole remaining path into the Big Dance runs through Music City.
The last time UK was in the desperate position of needing to win the SEC tourney to qualify for the NCAA Tournament, the Cats were instead routed by Vanderbilt, 64-48, in their initial game of the 2013 SEC Tournament.
Assuming it is held, this year’s SEC Tournament will be a 13-team affair, as Auburn has self-imposed a postseason ban on its men’s basketball program as a result of alleged NCAA rules violations uncovered during the FBI investigation of corruption in college hoops.
If the SEC tourney started today, this is how things would shape up for Kentucky and the other 12 participating schools:
The top four seeds: 1. Alabama (13-1 SEC); 2. LSU (9-4); 3. Arkansas (9-4); 4. Florida (7-5).
Remaining seeds: 5. Tennessee (8-6); 6. Missouri (7-6); 7. Mississippi (7-7); 8. Kentucky (7-7); 9. Mississippi State (6-8); 10. Georgia (6-9); 11. South Carolina (3-9); 12. Texas A&M (2-6); 13. Vanderbilt (2-10).
Tiebreaker notes: Head-to-head is the first tiebreaker, record vs. the No. 1 seed is the second.
▪ Ole Miss has the advantage vs. Kentucky for the No. 7 seed presently because the Wildcats are 0-2 this season vs. top seed Alabama, while the Rebels are 0-1 against the Crimson Tide.
UK and Mississippi are scheduled to play in Oxford on March 2.
▪ LSU has the edge over Arkansas for the No. 2 seed because of the Tigers’ 92-76 victory over the Razorbacks on Jan. 13 in Baton Rouge.
The two teams are slated to meet again Feb. 27 in Fayetteville.
Kentucky’s opening game if the tournament started today: The No. 8 Wildcats would face No. 9 Mississippi State in the first game of the second round on Thursday, March 11.
UK’s history vs. potential opening-game opponent: Kentucky leads the all-time series with Mississippi State 92-18.
The Wildcats’ 78-73 double-overtime victory over the Bulldogs on Jan. 2 was UK’s 15th straight victory over MSU.
The Wildcats’ path through their bracket: If Kentucky beat Mississippi State, it would face No. 1-seed Alabama in the first quarterfinal on Friday, March 12.
Also on the Wildcats’ side of the bracket as things stand now would be No. 4 Florida, No. 5 Tennessee, No. 12 Texas A&M and No. 13 Vanderbilt.
Current NET rankings for SEC teams:
(Through games of Feb. 20)
8. Alabama
17. Tennessee
25. Arkansas
27. LSU
30. Florida
37. Missouri
60. Mississippi
64. Kentucky
71. Auburn
83. Mississippi State
93. Georgia
120. South Carolina
123. Vanderbilt
135. Texas A&M
Kentucky’s SEC Tournament history
All-time SEC Tournament record: 134-26.
All-time SEC Tournament coaching records (ranked by number of wins): Adolph Rupp 57-6, John Calipari 23-4, Tubby Smith 20-5, Rick Pitino 17-1, Joe B. Hall 10-6, Eddie Sutton 6-2, Billy Gillispie 1-2.
Titles won: 31.
Titles won by coach: Adolph Rupp 13, John Calipari 6, Rick Pitino 5, Tubby Smith 5, Joe B. Hall 1, Eddie Sutton 1 — *.
* — On the court, Eddie Sutton’s UK teams won two SEC Tournaments (1986 and 1988). However, Kentucky’s 1988 SEC Tournament title was subsequently vacated due to NCAA rules violations.
First UK title won: 1933.
Most recent UK title won: 2018.
2021 tournament factoid: With Auburn and Coach Bruce Pearl sitting out the 2021 SEC Tournament, John Calipari will be the only coach in the field who has won a previous SEC Tournament.
This story was originally published February 22, 2021 at 7:42 AM.
