For most teams, the NCAA Tournament is far more important than the conference tournament.

The Vanderbilt Commodores aren’t most teams.

A program that had won only one prior Southeastern Conference Tournament and had reached only one previous SEC final did not have any reason to look ahead to the NCAA Tournament on Sunday afternoon in New Orleans. Vanderbilt’s only taste of SEC Tournament glory occurred in 1951, when the Commodores made their only SEC final and won it by a point over the Kentucky Wildcats. Sixty-one years later, the private school from Nashville, Tennessee, saw its men’s basketball team return to the championship stage against the SEC’s one brand-name basketball school. Kentucky had gone 18-0 in SEC games to date this season, registering a perfect regular-season record and winning the first two games in the SEC Tournament. Coach John Calipari’s club did not need to win this game at all costs – the national championship is the only goal for the Wildcats – but by the same token, Kentucky still owned superior talent to Vanderbilt and owned the psychological advantage of a head-to-head sweep in the two-game regular-season series. Even though Vanderbilt wanted this game so badly, the smart money still suggested that Kentucky was the clear favorite. The Wildcats owned a mental whammy in this matchup, and Vanderbilt has long been a program whose players succumb to the pressure of a main-event game against a credentialed opponent.

In this one game on this one day, however, Vanderbilt summoned all the ruggedness and resilience that had been missing in seasons past. The Commodores were uncommonly resourceful and uniquely undaunted, and for their untiring efforts, they were rewarded with a moment that can legitimately be considered the greatest in the program’s long and tortured history. Yes, Vanderbilt is the SEC Tournament champion for the first time in 61 years. The Commodores took down the Wildcats on a neutral court, denying the Wildcats a third straight SEC Tournament championship and showing that the prohibitive favorite for the NCAA national championship is a vulnerable team prone to that proverbial “one bad day at the office.” Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings cried into a towel when the Commodores wrapped up the win, and star guard John Jenkins embraced his parents in a powerful show of emotion. Vanderbilt and Kentucky have lived on opposite sides of the tracks in college basketball as long as they’ve played the sport, but for one day in the Big Easy, the two programs traded places.

Vanderbilt secured this win when, leading 65-63 in the final minute, VU center Festus Ezeli grabbed an offensive rebound and hit two foul shots to put his team up by four. Kentucky’s Marquis Teague missed a three-point shot on the Wildcats’ next possession, and Vanderbilt gobbled up the rebound. Jenkins hit two more free throws for a six-point lead with 25 seconds to go, and when Kentucky couldn’t score again until the 14-second mark of regulation on a single foul shot by Terrence Jones, it was all over but the shouting.

The difference in this game is that Kentucky couldn’t buy a three-point shot. The Wildcats’ formidable 2010 team lost to West Virginia in the Elite Eight because it hit just 4 of 32 threes. In this game, Kentucky was a similarly frigid 6-of-28, a 21-percent clip. Doron Lamb was 1-for-7 and teammate Darius Miller was 2-of-9 behind the arc. Vanderbilt was busy getting to the foul line, where it attained a plus-nine scoring margin of 21 to 12. Jeffery Taylor scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to power the Commodores to their shining moment in New Orleans.

Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer

The Kentucky Wildcats won the first of two SEC Tournament semifinals on Saturday afternoon inside New Orleans Arena, but the Florida Gators also won something very important in the Big Easy: a new sense of confidence. Kentucky earned the right to face the Vanderbilt Commodores for the tournament championship, but a shorthanded Florida team might have revived its season… and its hopes for making a deep run in March.

There were two storylines at work in this game. The first one naturally concerned Kentucky’s quest to go unbeaten in the SEC, balanced against the tension point of carrying a long unbeaten streak (the Wildcats had not lost since Dec. 10 against Indiana) into the NCAA Tournament, the longest streak since Indiana went unbeaten in 1976. Would Kentucky fight as hard as it possibly could to win this game, or would the Wildcats relent in light of the fact that they had already gone 16-0 in the SEC regular season and had very little left to prove in this conference tournament?

The second storyline concerned Florida and its ability to reconstruct itself as a team following the loss of key forward Will Yeguete to a season-ending injury. Florida had to call upon more reserves and play with a smaller lineup. Gator head coach Billy Donovan was not left with much time before the NCAA Tournament to adjust his rotations and tweak the way in which his team needed to play. Florida’s roster also needed to show a level of intensity that had been plainly absent over the previous two weeks; the Gators needed to get over the loss of Yeguete not just in terms of Xs and Os, but in terms of being depressed about their diminished status as a team. Florida needed to convince itself that it could still challenge elite teams and remain a factor for the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

The Gators didn’t beat Kentucky, but they came close, and in doing so, they might have jump-started themselves for a new March beginning.

Florida hit seven three-pointers in the first 23 minutes of play, engaging Kentucky in a fast-paced game that took the Wildcats out of their preferred tempo. Kentucky possesses world-class basketball players, but the Cats like to play more slowly so that their big men, Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, can dominate near the rim. Florida played the way it had to, and even though the Gators suffered an extreme drought – seven points in a span of roughly 13 minutes in the second half – they were still able to frustrate Kentucky’s offense and remain close… so close, in fact, that if Florida wing Brad Beal had made an open corner three with 1:12 left in regulation, the Gators would have taken a 69-68 lead. That shot missed, however, and Kentucky hit its foul shots at the end to hold on.

Kentucky will play for the SEC Tournament championship. Florida has played itself back into the conversation in March Madness.

(3) Vanderbilt 65 (7) Ole Miss 53

The Vanderbilt Commodores reached their first SEC Tournament final since 1951 by beating the Mississippi Rebels in Saturday’s second semifinal in New Orleans. Ole Miss had to win the SEC Tournament to make the NCAAs, so the Rebels must now settle for an NIT bid. Vanderbilt wore down Ole Miss, which was playing its third game in three days and had to make the quick turnaround from an overtime game the night before against Tennessee. Vanderbilt looked fresher in the second half, taking away the Rebels’ legs and dominating on the glass, where Ole Miss is normally very proficient. Vanderbilt grabbed 11 offensive rebounds to just four for Ole Miss. Both teams shot 41 percent (rounded) from the field, but Vanderbilt earned 14 more shot attempts and hit six more. John Jenkins scored 23 points to lead Vanderbilt. Jarvis Summers scored 15 for Ole Miss. Vanderbilt will play Kentucky in the SEC final.

Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer

(5) Alabama 63 (12) South Carolina 57

The Alabama Crimson Tide were hardly elegant or effective in their first-round game against the South Carolina Gamecocks. They allowed the last-place team in the league to hand around far longer than they should have. They created some drama for themselves against a Gamecock club that carried a very low RPI rating into this contest. Had Alabama lost, there would have been at least a little reason for Alabama and its fans to feel nervous on Selection Sunday. With this win, though, the Crimson Tide are now an NCAA Tournament lock. Their profile can’t get dragged down enough for them to miss the field of 68 at this point. They’ll play a highly-rated (relatively speaking) Florida team in the SEC quarterfinals, but that game will matter for seeding purposes, not inclusion into the field.

Alabama held off South Carolina despite making only one three-pointer and 19 field goals overall. Why? Alabama made 24 foul shots compared to just five for the Gamecocks. Alabama’s power near the rim was evident in this game, and it was the main reason why South Carolina couldn’t really change the equation in this contest… enough to make a difference, anyway.

(7) Ole Miss 68 (10) Auburn 54

The Auburn Tigers were hit by bad news earlier on Thursday when it was reported that suspended player Varez Ward was the subject of a point-shaving investigation by the FBI. The jokes circulated around the internet that Auburn didn’t need to engage in point shaving because the Tigers’ offense was already quite limited. Auburn then proceeded to struggle in its SEC first round game, ending its season and mercifully putting an end to this campaign. Auburn needed to close this chapter and move on to 2013, especially with fresh clouds of controversy swirling about the program. Auburn’s administration reacted properly to the Ward situation, but this team and coach Tony Barbee will benefit from being able to attack the offseason with a new perspective.

Ole Miss must make the final of the SEC Tournament to have any shot at an at-large NCAA bid. The Rebels took care of this game – and Auburn – in businesslike fashion, limiting the Tigers to 33 percent shooting while clobbering them on the glass, 44 rebounds to 28. Nick Williams scored 22 points and grabbed five boards to lead Ole Miss, which will now face Tennessee in the SEC quarterfinals.

(11) Georgia 71 (6) Mississippi State 61

The Mississippi State Bulldogs saw the other bubble teams in America crashing out of conference tournaments. They knew that if they could merely avoid a really bad loss to the Georgia Bulldogs, who finished in next to last place in the SEC, they would stand a good chance of making the NCAA Tournament.

They could do the deed.

Mississippi State, one of most underachieving programs in the nation given its collections of talent over the past decade, is still in the NCAA mix, but the percentages probably work against MSU, which got taken down by Georgia in a desultory display on Thursday in New Orleans. Mississippi State got throughout outplayed by Georgia, allowing the No. 11 seed in a 12-team tournament to hit 51 percent of its shots. Another sign of MSU’s listless defense was found in the fact that Georgia committed only seven turnovers. Georgia was simply not bothered by MSU, a team that… well… didn’t bother to compete when so much was at stake. Georgia now moves on to play Vanderbilt in the SEC quarterfinals.

Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer

The Kentucky Wildcats had won all 16 Southeastern Conference regular season games they played this season. Waiting for the NCAA Tournament, their arrival at the SEC Tournament placed them in a position where they would simply not have as much motivation as each of their opponents. Such was the case in the first SEC quarterfinal on Friday at the New Orleans Arena. The LSU Tigers threw the kitchen sink at Kentucky and briefly led early in the second half, making this game closer than many people expected yet underscoring the fact that Kentucky is not placing supreme emphasis on this particular tournament. Kentucky was able to handle an eighth-seeded foe, but as this tournament goes along, higher-seeded teams might have an opening to give Kentucky a conference loss.

Anthony Davis was, as you’d expect, the difference maker for Kentucky in this game. The freshman delivered three baskets on three straight possessions late in the second half to fend off an LSU rally. Davis finished with 12 points, 14 rebounds, and six blocked shots in another imposing performance. Kentucky struggled, though, from three-point range, hitting just 1 of 8 shots and showing the rest of the SEC that the Wildcats are very mortal from the perimeter. Kentucky now plays Florida in the SEC semifinals. If the Gators can hit long-distance shots, the Wildcats will be forced to draw from a deeper well of energy if they want to win. The question will then become, “Will Kentucky want to win badly enough one week before the NCAA Tournament?”

(4) Florida 66 (5) Alabama 63

Given the fact that one of its key reserves, forward Will Yeguete, was lost for the season with an injury a few weeks ago, the Florida Gators were probably not expected to do much at the SEC Tournament. Their ability to beat the Alabama Crimson Tide in the quarterfinals represents a strong statement, a declaration that this team’s resolve might be greater than a lot of skeptics think. Florida did not play an elegant game, but it played a resilient game to move to the semifinals for a date with Kentucky. Coach Billy Donovan’s team withstood a few turnovers in the final minutes to prevail, aided by some shaky moments from the Tide.

Following a Florida turnover, Alabama’s JaMychal Green had a chance to tie the game at 64 with two foul shots at the 21-second mark of regulation, but Green missed one of the two foul shots. Then, Florida dribbled and passed the ball for 11 whole seconds before Alabama fouled. The unfathomable lack of awareness by Bama cost the Tide at least one extra possession if now two. Florida’s Kenny Boynton, fouled with 10 seconds left, hit two foul shots. Bama, given only one shot attempt when it could have had more, misfired just before the final horn, and the Gators advanced.

(7) Ole Miss (2) Tennessee (OT)

A week filled with bubble teams failing to get the job done continued at the SEC Tournament, as the Tennessee Volunteers – legitimately in the conversation following a late-season surge – stumbled against the Mississippi Rebels in New Orleans, surely knocking themselves out of NCAA consideration and into the NIT. Tennessee tied the game with two seconds left on a 25-foot banked-in three by guard Skylar McBee, but Ole Miss impressively regrouped in overtime, scoring nine of the first 11 points in the period to take a 70-63 lead with 1:29 left. Tennessee shaved the Ole Miss lead to two, at 72-70, with only 15 seconds left, and Ole Miss appeared to have turned the ball over on an inbounds play with 13 seconds to go, but the officials missed an out of bounds call and mistakenly awarded the ball to the Rebels, who sealed the deal at the foul line. Four players scored in double figures for Ole Miss, led by Terrance Henry, who scored 19 points and snagged seven rebounds.

(3) Vanderbilt 63 (11) Georgia 41

The Vanderbilt Commodores haven’t just struggled in the NCAA Tournament over the years, they’ve also labored in the SEC Tournament. Friday night in the final SEC quarterfinal, they took care of business against the 11th-place team in the league. Vanderbilt locked down on defense in the second half, allowing just 16 points to the Georgia Bulldogs after halftime. The defensive display carried Vanderbilt into the semifinals for a clash with the Ole Miss Rebels.

Georgia hit only 32 percent of its shots and only 2 of 17 threes. The Bulldogs were hounded by Vanderbilt in the second half, which is why a one-point Georgia lead at the intermission turned into a runaway for the third-seeded Commodores. What made this 22-point win all the more impressive for Vanderbilt is that it hit only six threes in 25 attempts. If Vanderbilt can supplement this level of defense with good shooting, it can beat any team in the country.

Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer

Tuesday, February 28

Vanderbilt 77 Florida 67

Ole Miss 77 Arkansas 75

Wednesday, February 29

Alabama 55 Auburn 49

Mississippi State 69 South Carolina 67 (OT)

Tennessee 74 LSU 69 (OT)

Thursday, March 1

Kentucky 79 Georgia 49

Saturday, March 3

Georgia 67 South Carolina 55

Ole Miss 60 Alabama 51

Mississippi State 79 Arkansas 59

Auburn 67 LSU 52

Tennessee 68 Vanderbilt 61

Sunday, March 4

Kentucky 74 Florida 59

It’s a strange yet exciting time in the Southeastern Conference. As the regular season comes to an end, guess who is the No. 2 seed for the upcoming conference tournament. The Kentucky Wildcats are number one, but you’d think that preseason Final Four contenders (in the eyes of many pollsters) Florida and Vanderbilt would have found a way to occupy that slot, right? Or, maybe an immensely talented club from Mississippi State would have filled the vacuum?

Nope. It’s the Tennessee Volunteers. Yes, the same Tennessee team that lost to the likes of Oakland, Austin Peay, the College of Charleston, and Georgia during the regular season. The team that couldn’t win a single non-conference game of consequence in November or December. The team that was coming off the disastrously scandal-plagued Bruce Pearl era and was going into battle with both a new coach and a depleted roster. The team that was mired at the bottom of the SEC standings in the first few months of the season.

Yes, Tennessee is the second seed in New Orleans for the SEC Tournament following a pair of wins this past week, featuring a takedown of Vanderbilt on Saturday afternoon. The Vols have bought into head coach Cuonzo Martin’s focus on defense, and they plainly outworked Vanderbilt from start to finish. Tennessee was faster to loose balls and far more committed to defending the backboard. Vanderbilt has Final Four-level talent, but the Commodores didn’t have a fraction of the willpower and ruggedness displayed by the Vols, who have put themselves into the NCAA conversation. If Tennessee can win two games this week in the SEC Tournament, it will put itself in the conversation for an at-large bid. That fact alone is really rather remarkable.

Another fact that’s remarkable is that Kentucky, for all of its accomplishments as a program, hadn’t won 30 regular-season games before. Well, it has now. The Wildcats, by becoming the eighth power-conference team in the past 30 years to go unbeaten in the regular season, won game No. 30 on the last day of the regular season. Coach John Calipari’s team looks somewhat mentally fatigued, so it might be well-advised to lose in this week’s conference tournament. Kentucky fans won’t exactly mind, though, if their Wildcats win yet another SEC Tournament championship.

Mississippi State is squarely on the bubble as it enters the SEC Tournament. The Bulldogs must win their opening-round game against Georgia, and they might need to win a possible quarterfinal against Vanderbilt on Friday. Alabama is probably in the field, but a win over South Carolina in Thursday’s first round would seal the deal for the Crimson Tide.

Southeastern Conference Tournament Matchups:

First Round:

Game 1: (12) South Carolina vs. (5) Alabama

Game 2: (9) Arkansas vs. (8) LSU

Game 3: (10) Auburn vs. (7) Ole Miss

Game 4: (11) Georgia vs. (6) Mississippi State

Quarterfinals:

Game 5: Game 1 winner vs. (4) Florida

Game 6: Game 2 winner vs. (1) Kentucky

Game 7: Game 3 winner vs. (2) Tennessee

Game 8: Game 4 winner vs. (3) Vanderbilt

Semifinals

Game 9: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner

Game 10: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner

Championship

Game 11: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner

 
Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer

Tuesday, February 21

Kentucky 73 Mississippi State 64
Florida 63 Auburn 47

Wednesday, February 22

Tennessee 73 Ole Miss 60
LSU 61 Georgia 53
Vanderbilt 59 South Carolina 48

Thursday, February 23

Alabama 79 Arkansas 68

Saturday, February 25
Kentucky 83 Vanderbilt 74
Georgia 76 Florida 62
Ole Miss 72 LSU 48
Alabama 67 Mississippi State 50
Arkansas 77 Auburn 71
Tennessee 73 South Carolina 64

It’s a very happy time to be an Alabama basketball fan. A few weeks ago, when head coach Anthony Grant suspended three players shortly after a fourth had gotten himself in trouble, it appeared highly possible, maybe even likely, that the Tide would not be able to make the NCAA Tournament. Given the fact that Alabama went 12-4 in the 2011 SEC season yet did not make the Big Dance due to a soft SEC and a horrible non-league profile, the notion of missing out on the field of 68 yet again would have been crushing for the program. However, in the wake of Grant’s tough love toward his players, a team has chosen to get stronger instead of falling apart. Alabama and Grant are showing the country – and the cutthroat world of big-time college basketball – that coaches can do the right thing and still win games. Teams can hew to the right road and still prosper. It’s a great message, a message that was broadcast loud and clear this past week by a Tide team that is most definitely rolling along toward an NCAA bid. Alabama went on the road and thumped Arkansas on Thursday before coming home and drilling Mississippi State on Saturday. The two-game sweep has put Alabama in position to get a first-round bye in the SEC Tournament. Of far more significance, however, is the fact that Alabama has beaten two decent teams, one of them on the road, to shore up its conference profile and supplement non-conference wins over Purdue and Virginia Commonwealth. The Tide might not be a “lock” for the NCAAs, but they’re definitely off the bubble. They simply need to win their next two conference games – against lowly Auburn and struggling Ole Miss – to feel safe about inclusion in the 68-team field. The second half of February has been quite transformative for this team’s mindset, outlook and expectations.

On the other hand, Mississippi State can’t feel very good about itself at all, and neither can Florida. Mississippi State failed to lock down the win over Kentucky it needed to feel good about its NCAA chances. Then, the Bulldogs got blown out at Alabama, creating a five-game losing streak and putting MSU squarely on the bubble. MSU’s losing streak is bad enough; the fact that most opponents are no better than the Bulldogs in terms of raw talent (only Kentucky is a clearly superior foe in that regard) is what really has to sting coach Rick Stansbury. Florida is suffering because of the loss of key rebounder-defender Will Yeguete, who suffered a broken foot in a Tuesday win over Auburn. The Gators, sans Yeguete, lost on Saturday at Georgia and looked helpless in doing so. Georgia administered a thorough beatdown to a team that failed to fight with the pride or passion you’d expect from a Billy Donovan-coached club. Donovan lit into his team after the defeat, knowing that his players will have to change their approach to the sport if Florida is to win a few games in the Big Dance.

There was one other game in the league worth noting: Kentucky absorbed a strong challenge from Vanderbilt to sweep the Commodores and remain unbeaten in the conference at 14-0. It’s highly likely that Kentucky will go to Florida next Sunday with a chance to run the table in the SEC, an impressive accomplishment for any power-conference team.

Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer

Tuesday, February 14

Florida 61 Alabama 52

LSU 69 Mississippi State 67 (OT)

Wednesday, February 15

South Carolina 57 Georgia 56

Tennessee 77 Arkansas 58

Thursday, February 16

Vanderbilt 102 Ole Miss 76

Saturday, February 18

Kentucky 77 Ole Miss 62

Florida 98 Arkansas 68

Alabama 62 Tennessee 50

Auburn 65 Mississippi State 55

LSU 68 South Carolina 58

Sunday, February 19

Vanderbilt 61 Georgia 52

It’s a worrisome time in the SEC… well, only from the perspective of those who follow the league’s men’s basketball teams. The SEC is a powerhouse in football, baseball and women’s basketball, but another week of men’s basketball has left a lot of people wondering if this league is going to get more than three teams into the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

At the beginning of the week, Arkansas and Mississippi State had realistic opportunities to put the clamps on NCAA bids – not necessarily becoming stone-cold at-large locks, but certainly gaining ground on many other bubble teams who have so clearly failed to take care of business. Mississippi State put together a number of top-100 RPI wins in its non-conference schedule, while Arkansas collected home-court wins over Michigan, Mississippi State, and Vanderbilt even though it struggled on the road. The Bulldogs and the Hogs were both in the eyes of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee. They had chances to prove themselves worthy of a spot in the field of 68.

They both slipped on the banana peel… twice. It was as ugly as it sounds, too.

Mississippi State lost on the road to LSU – an improving but still mediocre team – and lowly Auburn, one of the bottom-feeders in the league. The Bulldogs had already absorbed a horrible home-court loss to Georgia on Feb. 11, so these two losses now throw MSU squarely onto the bubble, in a big vat of teams all fighting for any amount of leverage they can find. Mississippi State hosts Kentucky and goes to Alabama next week. If the Bulldogs can’t at least split those two games, they’re going to be in big, big trouble as they pursue an at-large berth. An Alabama team that beat Tennessee this past week has gained new life in the chase for an at-large bid; the Tide’s game with Mississippi State could very well be seen as a play-out game, with the loser being almost surely eliminated unless Mississippi State beats Kentucky.

Arkansas faltered just as badly as Mississippi State did. The Razorbacks played two teams – Tennessee and Florida – who are clearly better than LSU and Auburn, but it was the way in which Arkansas lost that caused eyes to open in the SEC. The Hogs were once again a non-competitive team on the road against Tennessee, remaining winless away from home in SEC play. Arkansas’s complete inability to transfer its home-court excellence to the road is what makes the Hogs a hard team to include in the field of 68, despite their quality wins. The Razorbacks therefore needed to beat Florida at home this past Saturday to have a realistic chance of going dancing.

Instead, they got bounced out of the dance hall. Arkansas had hoped to carry its winning aura onto the road, but what happened this past week is that it brought its ugly brand of road-ball to its home court at Bud Walton Arena. Coach Mike Anderson’s team was never remotely competitive in a 30-point loss to Florida. The Gators led by more than 20 points at halftime and were never remotely threatened throughout the second half.

Yes, this is why the SEC could be a three-team league. Ole Miss lost twice to fall down the ladder. Tennessee’s loss to Alabama snuffed out any slight hopes of a Vol run to the field of 68. The SEC will probably get four teams into the tournament, but Alabama and Mississippi State will have to fight for that fourth bid. Arkansas? Welcome to the NIT, in all likelihood.

Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer

Tuesday, February 7

Kentucky 78 Florida 58

Alabama 68 Auburn 50

Wednesday, February 8

Georgia 81, Arkansas 59

Tennessee 69 South Carolina 57

Vanderbilt 76 LSU 61

Thursday, February 9

Mississippi State 70 Ole Miss 60

Saturday, February 11

Kentucky 69 Vanderbilt 63

Tennessee 75 Florida 70

Georgia 70 Mississippi State 68 (OT)

LSU 67 Alabama 58

Arkansas 76 South Carolina 65

Ole Miss 61 Auburn 54

This was a trippy, weird week of basketball in the Southeastern Conference. Teams that were expected to stabilize instead came apart. Teams that were likely to remain chained and bolted to the bottom of the conference made upward pushes, shaking up the league dynamic and creating fresh uncertainties pertaining to the NCAA Tournament and NIT chases in this part of the college basketball world.

Alabama began the week with high hopes after it beat Ole Miss the week before in double overtime. The Tide had an opening, a path to renewed contention for an NCAA bid. Coach Anthony Grant’s team whacked Auburn on Tuesday in the kind of decisive display that had been missing from the Tide this season. However, just when this squad was rounding into shape, the outlook darkened considerably… even though Grant acted with integrity and enhanced the honor of the Alabama program. For reasons that have not yet been disclosed, Grant suspended veteran players JaMychal Green, Trevor Releford and Andrew Steele a day before the Tide’s game at LSU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Even though Grant was mum about the specific reasons why he suspended the players, the simple fact that he held them out of the lineup speaks volumes about Grant’s priorities as a coach. So many men in his position would have tried to mete out tough love while still putting those players on the floor. Grant insisted on sending them home to the Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa. Chasing an NCAA bid did not matter as much as sending a specific message to players about the boundaries of acceptable conduct. It’s an impressive and rare statement in this modern era of collegiate athletics. Alabama paid a short-term price for these suspensions, losing at LSU when a fuller lineup might have gotten the job done. In the long run, however, Grant and Alabama could win on levels removed from basketball. The health of the program could even benefit from this move, as parents realize that Grant takes the welfare of young people seriously.

Back on the court, another reversal of fortune in the SEC this week occurred in Gainesville, Florida. The Florida Gators – after getting whacked on Tuesday by the ascendant Kentucky Wildcats – figured to get healthy at home against the Tennessee Volunteers. This was especially likely since the Gators lost at Tennessee earlier in the year. Surely, Florida would not get swept by a Volunteer team that has languished at the bottom of the SEC East this season. However, coach Cuonzo Martin’s Vols were able to make lightning strike the same place twice. Tennessee pounded Florida on the boards and clearly outworked the Gators in a win that gives the Vols the look of a dangerous team in the upcoming SEC Tournament. Florida – a team that was picked for the Final Four in the preseason by a fair number of prognosticators – is now likely to have a seed outside the top four in the NCAAs. Coach Billy Donovan has to be greatly disappointed with the performance of a largely veteran team this year.

There was one demonstration of stability in the SEC this past week: Kentucky, the big dog, smashed Florida and outfought Vanderbilt to remain unbeaten. The Wildcats are sure to be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and their two wins over the past week increased the likelihood that Big Blue will be the top overall seed for the Big Dance come March 15.

Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer

Tuesday, January 31

Arkansas 82 Vanderbilt 74

Kentucky 69 Tennessee 44

Wednesday, February 1

Auburn 59, Georgia 51

Thursday, February 2

Florida 74 South Carolina 66

Saturday, February 4

Kentucky 86 South Carolina 52

Florida 73 Vanderbilt 65

Mississippi State 91 Auburn 88

LSU 71 Arkansas 65

Alabama 69 Ole Miss 67 (2 OT)

Tennessee 73 Georgia 62

It was a thoroughly engrossing week of basketball in the Southeastern Conference. Most games turned out as expected, but they proved to be fascinating nevertheless. The big story in the league was not so much the successes of some teams, but the setbacks of others.

The Arkansas Razorbacks, after beating Vanderbilt last Tuesday, ran their home-court record at Bud Walton Arena (in Fayetteville, Arkansas) to 16-0. However, as the Hogs went to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for a Saturday soiree with the LSU Tigers, they weren’t a clear favorite for a very simple reason: They couldn’t win on the road – not even once this season. Five times, Arkansas went on the road (and played a sixth game at a neutral site), and five times, coach Mike Anderson’s Razorbacks lost. They had to win at LSU to burnish their NCAA Tournament credentials, but that doesn’t mean they were expected to do so.

They didn’t.

Everybody knows that LSU basketball isn’t what it once was. The 2006 Final Four is a very distant memory, not just because George Mason is the non-winning team everyone remembers from that Final Four, but because LSU butters its bread on King Football and owns a glittering reputation in the world of collegiate baseball as well. LSU hoops has to win big to remain a central conversation piece in Baton Rouge, and that simply hasn’t happened in the past few years. Yet, while it’s easy to ignore LSU basketball on this larger scale, smart people shouldn’t dismiss the capabilities of this program and its resourceful bench boss, Trent Johnson. After taking down Arkansas with a focused and gritty display, LSU and Johnson should be seen as a factor in the 2012-2013 SEC season. This is a team that will stick around.

Another team that will stick around is Florida. The nation won’t find out until March to see if Florida is a success or failure, because it’s hard to render a clear verdict on the Gators right now. Coach Billy Donovan’s team lost to Rutgers and Tennessee, leaving the door open for criticism. It competed hard and well at Ohio State and Syracuse, only to lose by single-digit margins in early-season tests. This is a team that is expected to return to the Sweet 16 and make a push for the Final Four, but the readiness of the Gators remains in doubt. It’s less doubted, though, after a solid performance on Saturday in a win over Vanderbilt. Florida guard Kenny Boynton scored 18 points and held his more celebrated counterpart, Vandy shooting guard John Jenkins, to just 15. Florida hit 11 of 24 threes and found a way to give the Commodores their second road loss of the week.

Saturday’s other interesting SEC game came in the West, as Alabama fought off Ole Miss in what was a true bubble game for both teams. In the middle of the SEC and without a lot of high-value wins, the Crimson Tide and the Rebels both needed this game equally, and after 50 minutes, Alabama eked out a precious triumph because of its defense, which was able to create turnovers and translate them into much-needed easy buckets. Ole Miss had been making strides in recent weeks, but this loss pretty much puts the brakes on the notion that the Rebels will have a good shot at an NCAA bid. Alabama still has work to do in its own right, but the Tide are at least in better shape than the Rebels at the moment.

Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer

Tuesday, January 24

Kentucky 57, Georgia 44

Vanderbilt 65, Tennessee 47

Wednesday, January 25

Mississippi State 76, LSU 71

South Carolina 56, Alabama 54

Arkansas 56, Auburn 53

Thursday, January 26        

Florida 64, Ole Miss 60

Saturday, January 28

Florida 69, Mississippi State 57

Kentucky 74, LSU 50

Vanderbilt 84, Middle Tennessee 77

Alabama 72, Arkansas 66

Ole Miss 66 South Carolina 62

Tennessee 64 Auburn 49

In the Southeastern Conference, the cream seems to be rising to the top. That’s another way of saying that the SEC East is surging while the SEC West is doing the big fade.

It’s been apparent for the past several seasons, and it’s no different this season: Even though the SEC does bracket its postseason tournament by divisions, the balance of power is completely tilted to the East over and against the West. Only Mississippi State has been a regular presence in the division over the past several years. LSU burned brightly for a time but then faded just as quickly from the national scene. Alabama made the Elite Eight in 2004 and has made some runs now and then, but the Crimson Tide are not about to make the NCAAs this season unless they go on a massive winning streak and do some damage at the SEC Tournament. The only team holding down the fort in the West is Mississippi State, and so when the Bulldogs went to Gainesville, Florida, this past Saturday to take on the Florida Gators, another West-East showdown was going to say much about the comparative strength of the two divisions. Florida entered the contest as the third-place team in the East, so if the Gators had been able to beat back the Bulldogs – the undisputed leaders of the West – a definitive statement would be made about the pecking order in SEC basketball.

Now, it can be proclaimed with airtight certainty: The sun sets in the West in real life… and in SEC hoops. Mississippi State was comprehensively outclassed by a Florida squad that had more weapons and better low-post defense.

Mississippi State needs its burly forward, Renardo Sidney, to play well in order to have a supremely good chance of making a big run in March. Sidney is an oft-troubled junior who has had run-ins with coach Rick Stansbury in the past, but he hit a 3-pointer the week before to beat Vanderbilt on the road and give MSU renewed assurance that it would have a spot in Bracketville on Selection Sunday. However, in this game against Florida, Sidney was corralled by the Gators. He was held to just five points on a day when his teammate, point guard Dee Bost, scored just 12 points in his own right. Mississippi State’s offense was kept in check for the duration of this contest; the Bulldogs attempted as many foul shots as they committed turnovers (14), a terrible statistic for any basketball team. Meanwhile, Florida hit 11 of 24 threes and turned the ball over just five times. The Gators were far more efficient and comfortable, and that’s why they strolled to the finish line first. The East stamped itself as superior to the West, proving that even without a flourishing Tennessee program, one half of the SEC is definitely better than the other. It’s the exact opposite of football, in which the West is king.

Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer