The SEC tournament kicks off tonight with a couple of play in type games before we start getting to the interesting stuff tomorrow. This league has the ability to get some more teams in the NCAA tournament than just Kentucky and Florida. Tennessee should be a tournament team. Arkansas and maybe Missouri could be tournament teams as well. The good thing about how the tournament is set up is that they all get to prove it Friday. Assuming Arkansas takes care of business tomorrow.
There is a heavy favorite in the league tournament with Florida. The Gators steam rolled the SEC to a perfect record. Their road is a little bit harder than Kentucky's projected road just because one would assume Missouri and the Tennessee/Arkansas winner will be fighting for their NCAA lives. Meanwhile, Kentucky has a tough potential first round game with LSU but they do have surprising 3 seed Georgia on their side. Kentucky had no trouble with Georgia or Mississippi, the two highest seeded teams in their half of the bracket. This should be a fun tournament.
Let's break down the teams.
Points Per Possession – Offense
- 1.14 – Florida
- 1.11 – Tennessee
- 1.09 – Kentucky
- 1.08 – Missouri
- 1.05 – LSU
- 1.05 – Ole Miss
- 1.04 – Arkansas
- 1.04 – Georgia
- 1.03 – Auburn
- 1.02 – Alabama
- 1 – South Carolina
- 0.97 – Vanderbilt
- 0.96 – Texas A&M
- 0.94 – Mississippi State
Points Per Possession – Defense
- 0.93 – Florida
- 0.97 – Tennessee
- 0.99 – Georgia
- 1 – Texas A&M
- 1.01 – Kentucky
- 1.02 – Arkansas
- 1.04 – Vanderbilt
- 1.05 – LSU
- 1.06 – Alabama
- 1.07 – Ole Miss
- 1.08 – Auburn
- 1.08 – USC
- 1.1 – Miss. St
- 1.1 – Missouri
Effective Field Goal % – Offense
- 53.8 – Florida
- 49.5 – Tennessee
- 49 – Alabama
- 49 – Missouri
- 48.6 – LSU
- 47.8 – Kentucky
- 47.5 – Auburn
- 47.3 – Arkansas
- 47 – Vanderbilt
- 46.8 – Georgia
- 46.7 – Texas A&M
- 46.5 – Miss. St
- 46.4 – Ole Miss
- 46.4 – USC
Effective Field Goal % – Defense
- 44 – Georgia
- 45.4 – Vanderbilt
- 45.5 – Tennessee
- 45.9 – Florida
- 46.1 – Kentucky
- 46.9 – Alabama
- 46.9 – Arkansas
- 47 – Texas A&M
- 49.4 – LSU
- 49.8 – Ole Miss
- 49.9 – Auburn
- 50.4 – Missouri
- 51.8 – USC
- 52.8 – Miss. St
Free Throw %
- 75.9 – Missouri
- 73.4 – Auburn
- 73.1 – Arkansas
- 73.1 – Tennessee
- 71.4 – Ole Miss
- 71.1 – USC
- 70. 3 – Kentucky
- 68.8 – LSU
- 68.5 – Florida
- 68.5 – Georgia
- 68.4 – Vanderbilt
- 68.1 – Alabama
- 68 – Miss St
- 60.8 – Texas A&M
Offensive Rebound %
- 40.9 – Kentucky
- 38.9 – Tennessee
- 38.3 – USC
- 36.7 – Georgia
- 34.9 – LSU
- 34.8 – Florida
- 34.4 – Ole Miss
- 34.1 – Missouri
- 30.8 – Auburn
- 29.6 – Arkansas
- 29.3 – Vanderbilt
- 28.3 – Alabama
- 25.3 – Miss St
- 24.4 – Texas A&M
Defensive Rebound %
- 73.7 – Tennessee
- 70.8 – Georgia
- 70.4 – Florida
- 70.2 – Kentucky
- 69.3 – LSU
- 67.6 – Missouri
- 67.4 – Miss St
- 66.8 – Texas A&M
- 65.4 – Auburn
- 64.9 – Alabama
- 64.9 – USC
- 64.2 – Ole Miss
- 62.6 – Vanderbilt
- 61 – Arkansas
Turnover % – Offensive
- 15.9 – Arkansas
- 15.9 – Texas A&M
- 16.1 – Ole Miss
- 17.6 – Florida
- 17.9 – Alabama
- 17.9 – Auburn
- 18 – Kentucky
- 18.2 – Missouri
- 18.4 – Tennessee
- 18.5 – LSU
- 19.9 – Miss St
- 20.2 – Georgia
- 20.5 – Vanderbilt
- 22.7 – USC
Turnover % – Defensive
- 21.9 – Arkansas
- 21.8 – Florida
- 20.3 – Texas A&M
- 20 – USC
- 19.6 – Ole Miss
- 18.8 – Auburn
- 18.7 – Alabama
- 17.8 – LSU
- 17.6 – Miss St
- 16.8 – Kentucky
- 16.4 – Vanderbilt
- 15.8 – Tennessee
- 15.7 – Missouri
- 15.5 – Georgia
Here are the top players in the conference to look out for.
Minutes
- 38.3 – Dai-Jon Parker, Vanderbilt
- 36.8 – Rod Odom, Vanderbilt
- 36.6 – Jabari Brown, Missouri
- 35.9 – Jordan Clarkson, Missouri
- 35.9 – Trevor Releford, Alabama
Points
- 20.7 – Jabari Brown, Missouri
- 19.4 – Chris Benson, Auburn
- 19.1 – Marshall Henderson, Ole Miss
- 18.8 – Trevor Releford, Alabama
- 18.1 – Brenton Williams, USC
Possessions
- 34.1 – Chris Denson, Auburn
- 30.9 – Craig Sword, Miss St
- 29.8 -Sindarius Thornwell, USC
- 29.8 – Johnny O'Bryant III, LSU
- 29.4 – Jamal Jones, Texas A&M
Rebounding
- 11.1 – Jarnell Stokes, Tennessee
- 10.3 – Julius Randle, Kentucky
- 8.3 – Jeronne Maymon, Tennessee
- 8.1 – Johnny O'Bryant III, LSU
- 7.5 – Jordan Mickey, LSU
Offensive Rebounding %
- 17.7 – Dakari Johnson, Kentucky
- 15.5 – Jarnell Stokes, Tennessee
- 14.2 – Michael Carrera, USC
- 13.9 – Aaron Jones, Ole Miss
- 13.8 – Jeronne Maymon, Tennessee
Defensive Rebounding %
- 27.5 – Laimonas Chatkevicius, USC
- 25.1 – Julius Randle, Kentucky
- 22.7 – Jarnell Stokes, Tennessee
- 21.8 – Michael Carrera, USC
- 20.1 – Will Yeguete, Florida
Assists
- 4.9 – Alex Caruso, Texas A&M
- 4.5 – Kyle Fuller, Vanderbilt
- 4.2 – Jarvis Summers, Ole Miss
- 4 – Sindarius Thornwell, USC
- 3.8 – Scottie Wilbekin, Florida
Assist / Turnover
- 4.3 – Fred Gulley III, Arkansas
- 2.8 – Shawn Smith, Texas A&M
- 2.6 – Anthony Hickey, LSU
- 2.6 – Kikko Haydar, Arkansas
- 2.4 – Armani Moore, LSU
Steals
- 36 – Trevor Releford, Alabama
- 34 – Alex Caruso, Texas A&M
- 32 – Craig Sword, Miss St
- 30 – Shavon Coleman, LSU
- 29 – Marshall Henderson, Ole Miss
Blocks
- 53 – Jordan Mickey, LSU
- 35 – Bobby Portis, Arkansas
- 35 – Willie Cauley-Stein, Kentucky
- 33 – Aaron Jones, Ole Miss
- 33 – Asauhn Dixon-Tatum, Auburn
Here are the records against the first round opponents.
#12 Auburn 2-0 vs #13 South Carolina (79-74, 83-67)
#11 Vanderbilt 1-0 vs #14 Mississippi State (55-49)
#8 Missouri 1-0 vs #9 Texas A&M (57-56)
#5 Arkansas 1-0 vs #12 Auburn (86-67)
#5 Arkansas 1-0 vs #13 South Carolina (71-64)
#10 Alabama 1-0 vs #7 LSU (82-80)
#6 Ole Miss 2-0 vs #11 Vanderbilt (63-52, 65-62)
#6 Ole Miss 1-1 vs #14 Mississippi St (76-72 Miss St, 82-63 Ole Miss)
#1 Florida 1-0 vs #8 Missouri (68-58)
#1 Florida 1-0 vs #9 Texas A&M (69-36)
#4 Tennessee 1-0 vs #5 Arkansas (81-74)
#4 Tennessee 2-0 vs #12 Auburn (78-67, 82-54)
#4 Tennessee 1-0 vs #13 USC( 72-53)
#2 Kentucky 1-1 vs #7 LSU (87-82 LSU, 77-76 UK)
#2 Kentucky 1-0 vs #10 Alabama (55-48)
#3 Georgia 1-0 vs #6 Ole Miss (61-60)
#11 Vanderbilt 1-0 vs #3 Georgia (59-54)
#3 Georgia 1-0 vs #14 Miss St (66-45)
I could see some turmoil happening in this league. I could also see the Gators romp to another title. All 3 of the major SEC bubble teams have their road go through Florida. That's a pretty big roadblock. Arkansas and Tennessee in the quarterfinals could be a hell of game.
Prediction: Florida
Dark Horse: LSU
I think LSU could make the finals but I don't think they'll win.