SEC Notes and News

chrisrushing@collegesportsmatchups.com

Things went about as bad as possible for Florida and Mississippi State last week as the two make their final cases for the Selection Committee, which meets Sunday afternoon. Ole Miss did what it needed to do as far as winning both games and tying the Bulldogs for the Western Division championship, but there is still much work to be done for the Rebels to earn a bid to the 65-team NCAA Tournament.

Let the madness that is tournament week begin.

The 12 institutions of the Southeastern Conference will convene in Nashville this week at the Bridgestone Center to compete for the league’s lone automatic berth into the field of 65. Kentucky is the odds-on favorite to walk away with another trophy, but watch out for Vanderbilt in its own backyard. Sure, South Carolina upset the Commodores last weekend in the regular season finale and most certainly damaged VU’s NCAA seeding, but Kevin Stallings’ team is good enough to beat anyone else in the league – including the Wildcats.

But, back to those three bubble teams. Florida has the best chance to make a lot of headway with the committee’s thought process with getting West No. 5 seed Auburn in the first round followed by a theoretical elimination game in the second round with Mississippi State. Winning its way into Saturday’s semi-final round would go a long way to improving the Orange and Blue’s resume. There are some who already think the Gators are in, but this would just about seal the deal in my opinion.

Meanwhile, MSU is coming off an 0-2 performance with a pair of wins that were absolutely essential to its cause. Falling in the Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum finale at Auburn on Wednesday would have been a bit more forgivable had the Bulldogs not fell behind 17-0 in front of a national audience Saturday afternoon at home against Tennessee.

By the way, for those keeping count at home, Tennessee’s win over Mississippi State gave the top four seeds in the East a 24-0 overall record against the West this season. That’s just embarrassing if you root for one of the six schools opposite Tennessee, Florida, Vanderbilt and Kentucky. Through the beauty of divisions, however, State and Ole Miss will get an extra day of rest while Tennessee and Florida open with another game against a Western Division foe.

Finally, we have Andy Kennedy’s Rebel squad sitting at 21-9. Ole Miss has a 9-7 mark in the SEC and has a huge RPI win over Kansas State. Ole Miss was one of the SEC’s bell cows in non-conference play, dropping games only to Villanova and West Virginia (both away from Oxford) prior to tipping off in-conference. Is that enough? I’m not sure.

Any of those three are capable of running the table in Nashville, as evidenced most recently by Mississippi State’s crown last year in Tampa.  However, they are all very well capable of being booted out of the tournament in the first outing as well. None of these schools can afford to not be playing on Saturday, however, if they want to go dancing. For the Western Division duo, I’d dare say neither can afford to not be playing for all the marbles come Sunday.

For some CSM postseason awards in the SEC, read below:

Coach of the Year: John Calipari – No one can argue with the job he has done with a predominantly freshman lineup in Lexington. He also has re-energized the most passionate fan base in the country and will be playing for championships on a national level much sooner rather than later.

Player of the Year: Devan Downey – I’m not sure anyone in the league meant more to his team than Downey, and this guy put the Gamecocks on his back and led them to upsets of Vanderbilt and Kentucky. There were several worthy candidates, including John Wall at Kentucky, but I’m pretty sure no one can argue with this pick.

Biggest Disappointment: Mississippi State – Yes, I know the Renardo Sidney saga did not come to a conclusion until 24 hours prior to tipoff of the season finale. There were several major factors included in the Bulldogs’ 21-10, 9-7 showing, but for a preseason top-25 team that was essentially the same squad as last year’s SEC Tournament championship roster, expectations were much higher than being outside the bubble looking in this week.

Most thrilling upset: South Carolina over Kentucky, Jan. 26 – Watching the USC fans storm the Colonial Life Arena floor moments following the final second ticking off the clock is one of the defining moments of the season for the SEC. Sure, USC had a rough year and will most likely miss out on all postseason consideration without winning the whole enchilada in Nashville, but no one that supports the Garnett and Black will forget that night any time soon.

Got any of your own superlatives for the 2009-10 basketball season? Send them in an e-mail to chrisrushing@collegesportsmatchups.com or leave them in a comment on my Twitter (@ChrisRushingCSM).