Over the last few seasons, the Big East has been the standard of college basketball, while the SEC has been struggling to get teams into the tournament. In the previous three years the SEC has had 13 teams in the big dance, while the Big East eclipsed that number by two teams in only the last two years. Aside from the powers of Kentucky, Vanderbilt, and Florida, the SEC has shown that it has some depth this season. The SEC Tournament this upcoming week will show the country the highly competitive games in this conference.
Alabama (20-10, 12-4) has made great strides this season leading the SEC West with a surprising 12-4 record in conference play. Alabama has one of the most underrated guys in the league with JaMychal Green. He is averaging 16 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. He has been the commander of the team and has been the go-to-guy in many tough games. He put up 18 points and 11 rebounds to help beat Kentucky in a huge home win earlier in the season. Tony Mitchell has been the X Factor in Alabama's success. He is a big man who can shoot threes from deep. Tony is versatile and can be very tough to defend. He can post up and shoot the 18-foot jumper. Alabama is sitting on the bubble. They have a bye in the first round of the SEC Tourney and will have to play Georgia or Auburn in the second round. It is imperative that they win their quarterfinal game if they want to make it to the big dance. Their quality wins only come in conference play over Tennessee in overtime on the road, home versus Kentucky, and home vs Gerogia. They have some bad non-conference losses to Saint Peter's, Iowa, and Seton Hall all on a neutral court. They are dangerous due to their big men play with JaMychal Green and Tony Mitchell, but have struggled to find a knock down shooter. They will have their chance in the SEC tournament to prove they deserve to be in the field of 68.
Tennessee (18-13, 8-8) has been one of the most disappointing teams in the country after their early non-conference success. In the preseason ESPN/USA Today poll, they were ranked number 20. At one point in the season they were ranked as high as number 6. Plagued with allegations from the NCAA against Bruce Pearl has proved to be a true struggle for such a veteran team. In Pearl's eight game absence due to an NCAA suspension the team went 5-3 under interim coach Tony Jones . With 2 seniors and 2 juniors regularly starting, it was a shock to see the wheels come off the bus after starting out 8-0. They are 10-13 since that point. With star Scotty Hopson returning with the help of star freshman Tobias Harris, Tennessee initially looked very impressive. They started the season beating the likes of Villanova and Pittsburgh. Then they lost 3 straight games to Oakland (to learn more about Oakland look at the article, "Teams Who Will Destroy Your Bracket"), Charlotte, and USC. Two of those games were also at home. However, they did comeback and beat a good Belmont team by four points at home. (to learn more about Belmont look at the article, "Teams Who Will Destroy Your Bracket") Finally they were smothered by Charleston at home by 13. The rest of the season has been a roller coaster, one step forward and one step back. One of the problems is obviously the controversy surrounding Coach Pearl but also their lack of consistency. The main problem is that the scoring has only come from Scotty Hopson and Tobias Harris. Melvin Goins, the team's point guard, hasn't shown up in the big games. In the games versus Kentucky and Florida, he scored 9 and 7 points respectively. In the loss to Georgia, Scotty and Tobias scored 50 of their teams' 63 points in a loss at home. They have to play Arkansas in the first round, who beat them earlier in the season by three points. If they win that game they will meet Florida. Tennessee looks like a double digit at large team but you never know what might happen if they lose their first round game to Arkansas. The problem is, you don't know if your going to get the Tennessee team that beat Vanderbilt twice in conference play or the Tennessee team that doesn't show up to play for the full 40 minutes.
Georgia (20-10, 9-7) is a team who can definitely play with the best teams in the country. They have beaten all the teams on their schedule that they should have beaten. However, they are 3-9 against tournament bound teams. They have not been able to win games in the last two minutes. It is surprising seeing as they have such talented players to ride down the stretch. Georgia has lost 9 games within 10 points. They lost two games in double overtime to Notre Dame and Florida, two highly ranked teams There inability to finish games will not help them in the SEC Tournament because of how even all the teams in the conference are. They are only averaging 70 percent from the line, which may be hurting them down the stretch. This is including their best player Trey Thompkins, who only shots 68 percent at the strike. For a team that is already struggling with finishing games, it doesn't help missing free throws. Last year I watched Georgia play at Madison Square Garden against St. Johns. I was absolutely amazed by the 6-10 Thompkins. He is as Dicky V says a "PTP." This man made me jump out of my seat whenever he threw it down. He scored 19 points and had 7 rebounds that game. Trey Thompkins has continued to show success throughout his junior season. He is a candidate for the SEC player of the year averaging about 16 and 8. Another player who has been a huge factor in Georgia's success is Travis Leslie. The Junior from Decatur, GA is averaging around 14 and 7. If Leslie can get his shot going, he can get hot. He has a solid 3 point jumper and has really worked on his mid range game. Right now Georgia is on the outside looking in. They will have to have a good showing in the SEC tournament. They will need to beat a weak Auburn team and then face Alabama. The winner of that game will most likely go dancing, while the loser may be on the outside looking in. Georgia can definitely be a threat especially with their athletic front court who can match up with any team in the country but they have to play better in the last couple minutes of the game in order to make a run in the SEC tournament.
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