What Are the Georgia Bulldogs' SEC Basketball Tournament Scenarios?
by T Kyle King on Mar 4, 2011 9:15 AM EST
in SEC Basketball
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PrintIf college basketball season ended today, here is how the SEC standings would look, taking into account all applicable tiebreakers:
| Position | East Team | SEC | All | West Team | SEC | All |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Florida Gators | 12-3 | 23-6 | Alabama Crimson Tide | 11-4 | 19-10 |
| 2 | Vanderbilt Commodores | 9-6 | 21-8 | Mississippi St. Bulldogs | 8-7 | 16-13 |
| 3 | Kentucky Wildcats | 9-6 | 21-8 | Arkansas Razorbacks | 7-8 | 18-11 |
| 4 | Georgia Bulldogs | 9-6 | 20-9 | Mississippi Rebels | 6-9 | 18-12 |
| 5 | Tennessee Volunteers | 8-7 | 18-12 | LSU Tigers | 3-12 | 11-19 |
| 6 | South Carolina Gamecocks | 5-10 | 14-14 | Auburn Tigers | 3-12 | 10-19 |
Florida, Alabama, Vanderbilt, and (perversely) Mississippi State all would have first-round byes. Third-seeded Kentucky would take on sixth-seeded Auburn for the right to face Mississippi State in the second round. Third-seeded Arkansas would take on sixth-seeded South Carolina for the right to face Vanderbilt in the second round. Fourth-seeded Ole Miss would take on fifth-seeded Tennessee for the right to face Florida in the second round. Fourth-seeded Georgia would take on fifth-seeded Louisiana State for the right to face Alabama in the second round.
The winner of Mississippi State’s second round game would face the winner of Florida’s second round game in the SEC Tournament semifinals, while the winner of Alabama’s second round game would face the winner of Vanderbilt’s second round game. The winners of those two games, of course, would meet in the finals for the right to represent the league in the NCAA Tournament as the conference champion.
Assuming the Western Division standings do not change between now and the end of the season, a fifth-place finish by Georgia would require the Fox Hounds to go through the Rebels to get to the Gators, a fourth-place finish by the Bulldogs would require the Red and Black to go through the Bayou Bengals to get to the Crimson Tide, a third-place finish by the Classic City Canines would require the Athenians to go through the Plainsmen to get to the Magnolia State Mongrels, and a second-place finish by the Hoop Dogs would allow Georgia to skip the first round entirely and go straight to facing the winner of the Gamecocks’ battle with the Razorbacks.
Which course strikes you as the preferable path to the conference tourney semifinals? Honestly, I think I’d rather see Georgia finish third (assuming that is mathematically possible after Tennessee’s Thursday night win over South Carolina), as I like the Bulldogs’ chances of beating Auburn and Mississippi State in succession to get a third crack at the Gators on a neutral court.
Go ‘Dawgs!
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For anyone who's interested, here's the SEC Tournament Schedule for next week:
(All games played at the Georgia Dome, all times Eastern)
2011 SEC Tournament – First Round – March 10, 2011
E5 vs W4 12:00 PM SEC Network
W6 vs E3 2:15 PM SEC Network
W5 vs E4 6:30 PM SEC Network
E6 vs W3 8:45 PM SEC Network
2011 SEC Tournament – Quarter Finals – March 11, 2011
E1 vs E5/W4 Winner 12:00 PM SEC Network
W2 vs W6/E3 Winner 2:15 PM SEC Network
W1 vs W5/E4 Winner 6:30 PM SEC Network
E2 vs E6/W3 Winner 8:45 PM SEC Network
2011 SEC Tournament – Semi Finals – March 12, 2011
Semifinal 1 12:00 p.m (Major Network)
Semifinal 2 2:15 p.m. (Major Network)
2011 SEC Tournament – Championship – March 13, 2011
Championship Game 12 p.m. (Major Network)
I plan on trying to make it to a game, assuming I get the chance to, so my selfish reasons would be these:
Obviously, I’m pulling for the second seed. I don’t care about a possible easier path, there’s not much easier than not having to play a first round game. Plenty of things can happen in one game (injuries, fatigue, LOSING, etc.) that I would prefer to avoid, so if at all possible, give me that bye.
Aside from that, my vote would be for the fourth seed. First, it gives us an easier route to the semi-finals, in my opinion. LSU in the first round and Alabama in the second would be a direct repeat of the last two games of the regular season for us, so the gameplans would be fresh in mind and we’d be familiar with the teams. Also, the fourth seed would allow me to attend the game at 6:30, whereas a 3 or 5 seed, I would still be at work.
On that note, is anyone else going to try to make the tournament?
by hailtogeorgia on Mar 4, 2011 9:49 AM EST up reply actions
Here are our scenarios:
Win against Alabama: this assures us of atleast a 4th seed, so pull for this above all else (natch). If this happens, we then want either the 2nd or the 4th seed, not the 3rd. For that to happen, we need Vanderbilt and Kentucky to both do the same thing in their final games (either both win or both lose). If they both lose, we get the 2nd seed and the bye, if they both win, we get the 4th seed and the LSU>Bama draw. If one of them wins and one loses, we get the 3rd spot and an Auburn>MSU draw (which isn’t terrible, either).
Lose against Alabama: this is our worst nightmare. If we lose against Alabama, we have to pull for a Kentucky win, or we’re going to be sitting in fifth, regardless of what happens with Vanderbilt. The reason being is this: if Tennessee wins and we lose, they tie us (and we would also be tied with Kentucky). We lose the tiebreakers however you cut it, so we’d be in fifth.
So, how should you root, in order?
1. Pull for Georgia to win (again, natch).
2. If we win, pull for Vanderbilt and Kentucky to do the same thing.
3. If (and I don’t even want to mention it) we lose, PULL FOR KENTUCKY. I hate it as much as you do, but if we lose tomorrow, we are all going to be huge Cats fans on Sunday. There is no other choice.
Anything but E5
We can’t win if I’m not punishing my liver with a bottle of Maker’s Mark… and I think they might frown on me bringing that into the classroom.
"If there's one thing worse than chlamydia, it's Florida." ~ Emma Stone, Easy A
Agreed. I don't want the fifth seed.
The other thing the 2/4 seed possibilities give us is evening games, as opposed to day games. 2 seed gives us our first game Friday at 8:45, 4 seed would give us a 6:30 thursday game and (if we win) a 6:30 Friday game. The 3/5 pairing would limit us to day games on Thursday and Friday, which would kind of suck for anyone who has a job or school.
by hailtogeorgia on Mar 4, 2011 10:44 AM EST up reply actions
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