🏀 SEC Basketball Breakdown: A conference swallowed by madness - Columbia Missourian

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SEC Basketball Breakdown: A conference swallowed by madness

After months of Tennessee dominance in the standings, the SEC now has a three-way tie for first place.

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After months of the status quo, of Tennessee resting atop the perch of the Southeastern Conference, the league has now reached a tipping point. Three teams — the No. 7 Vols, No. 4 Kentucky and No. 13 LSU — are now tied for first place in the SEC standings.

The peaceful complacency of one team having a firm grip on the whole league has now slipped into chaos and madness. Did anyone expect this?
I’m going to assume no, and anyone who says they did is either a liar or insane. Because just a few weeks ago, Tennessee was ranked No. 1 in the country and barreling toward the regular season title.

Then, Kentucky thoroughly defeated the Volunteers 86-69 on Feb. 16 in Lexington, Kentucky. This was just four days after the Wildcats lost at home to LSU, 73-71, on a heartbreaking, last-second tip-in for the Tigers that probably should have been called goaltending.

LSU is clearly a good team, but what makes it scary is the Tigers appear to have found that late-game magic that matters so much this time of year.
MU fans don’t need to be reminded of LSU’s 15-1 run to force overtime and beat Missouri in overtime in Columbia on Jan. 26. Then, the non-goaltending. And on Saturday, LSU beat Tennessee 82-80 in overtime on a dubious foul called on the Vols, who have now lost two of the last three.

In a span of three weeks, the Volunteers have dropped six slots in the AP Top 25, and LSU has climbed eight.

Meanwhile, the Cats keep clawing. On Saturday, they trounced Auburn — a team ranked 14th by KenPom that gave Missouri its worst loss in the last two years on Jan. 30 —by 27 points.

To make things even nuttier, two teams are tied for fourth place — Ole Miss and South Carolina — but let’s not go down that rabbit hole.

All that considered, Saturday brings arguably the most intriguing SEC game of the year: a rematch between Kentucky and Tennessee. The Vols will be on their home court and looking for revenge after losing the first matchup.

While the winner of that game will have reason to celebrate, the real winner will be LSU, which doesn’t face a ranked team for the rest of its season. It plays at Alabama and at Florida back-to-back, two tough games, but there’s a path for the Tigers to take the regular season title.

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Florida’s chances at the dance
If you go by the metrics, Florida has always had talent that has outweighed its record. KenPom has the Gators at No. 29, and NET has them at No. 31. Yet Florida has had a middling year, and it wasn’t long ago when it was just 4-6 in the SEC.

But now, Florida is peaking at the perfect time, winning four straight games. Given, two of those wins were over Vanderbilt and Missouri at home, but the Gators managed to beat LSU in overtime Wednesday in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

It’s not a bad thing for your best win of the season to come right as you’re trying to make your NCAA Tournament case, and the Gators have a good one now. CBS Sports’ latest Bracketology update has them as a 10 seed.

Vanderbilt’s chances at a winless league record

Missouri fans might feel bitter that their team has taken a massive step backward after making the NCAA Tournament last season, but a quick glance at what’s happening in Nashville, Tennessee, will make them feel a bit better.

The Vanderbilt Commodores are now 9-18 on the season and 0-14 in the SEC. Every SEC team within the last 15 years has finished with at least two conference wins, so we’re approaching hallowed ground here.

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Arkansas

It wasn’t so long ago when the Razorbacks ripped off a three-game win streak that gave them a positive league record and a chance at booking a ticket to the dance.

But now? Arkansas is currently on a five-game losing streak and sitting 10th in the SEC standings. It’s gotten ugly quick in Fayetteville.
To make matters worse, none of the past five teams the Hogs have lost to are ranked, and two — Missouri and Texas A&M — have been in the conference’s cellar for quite a while.