Greetings, BBN!
The midweek games shook up the pecking order a good bit. Missouri upset Tennessee by four in Columbia to gain a huge Quad 1 win for the resume that also shot them up into a tie for 5th in the league standings. Kentucky snapped its three-game losing streak at South Carolina with a nine-point victory over the Gamecocks, greatly helped by a 19-point performance from Denzel Aberdeen.
Oklahoma put Auburn’s NCAA Tournament hopes on life support after handing them their 13th loss, Florida
won at Texas, Vandy bested Georgia, Alabama continued its winning streak, LSU prevailed in 2OT in Oxford, Mississippi, and Arkansas knocked Texas A&M back down again after the Aggies’ brief winning streak. Let’s take a look at the updated standings heading into the weekend:
SEC Basketball Standings
Notes:
- Four teams are tied for fifth at 9-6. Of those four, Vanderbilt and Kentucky are safely in the bracket and not near the NCAA Tournament bubble. Missouri and Texas A&M have more to prove over the final stretch to assure themselves spots.
- Kentucky has a tricky stretch to close out the year. They must host Vanderbilt, play at Texas A&M, and then host Florida for their finale. Fortunately, as mentioned above, they aren’t on the bubble, so they just need to avoid losing all three before the SEC Tournament, and they’ll be fine.
- There’s likely only one way Florida doesn’t win the SEC regular season title. If they lose to Arkansas this Saturday and lose at Kentucky in their finale, the Razorbacks can take a share of the crown if they themselves win out.
- Alabama drained 22 three-pointers in their 100-75 victory over Mississippi State Wednesday night. They also led by as many as 39. Their toughest remaining game is this Saturday in Knoxville against a Tennessee team looking to avoid dropping two in a row.
- Biggest game of the weekend: Arkansas at Florida. The Razorbacks and Gators have not met yet this season, and it’ll feature Boogie Fland against his old team. With a win, Florida will all but clinch an outright SEC regular-season title.
