What the SEC Tournament Would Look Like if Played Now
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — University of Alabama coach is calling on his team to make a three-week sprint to the end of the college basketball regular season, but he's been eyeing the possibilities for a while now.
A couple of weeks ago, he asked his team if anyone knew what Auburn's record was after 12 league games last season — the two-thirds point of Southeastern Conference play?
"Someone in there was smart enough to know they were 6-6," Oats said.
Alabama's conference record now stands at 6-6.
You get where he was going with it.
"It might have been before the LSU game and I said, 'Let's get to 6-6 and see what we can't do during the last third of conference play. ... I'm not saying we're necessarily a Final Four team or anything like that, but they went on a big run.
"Why can't we do the same thing? The schedule is set up, they're all losable games that we're playing, but they're all winnable games as well."
The only certainty Alabama knows regarding the NCAA Tournament is that if closes by going 6-0 it'll be in.
However, each game will also go a long way in determining seeding for the SEC Tournament, which will be played in Nashville, March 11-15.
A reminder of the primary tiebreakers:
Two-team tie: Won-lost results of head-to-head competition.
Three-team tie: Won-lost record of the teams versus the No. 1 seed (and proceeding through No. 14 until the tie is broken).
For now, Alabama would be seeded seventh, and with a win would be looking at a third showdown with, you guessed it, Auburn.
Here's how the pairings would set up:
First round
Georgia vs. Arkansas
Ole Miss vs. Vanderbilt
Second round
Tennessee vs. Texas A&M
UGA-Ark. winner vs. South Carolina
Missouri vs. Alabama
Ole Miss-Vandy winner vs. Mississippi State
Quarterfinals
A&M game winner vs. Kentucky
USC game winner vs. Florida
Alabama game winner vs. Auburn
Mississippi State winner vs. LSU
