Well, it's mid-February, and for college basketball fans, it means teams are entering the season's home stretch and are jockeying for berths in the NCAA tournament. As we've seen all season, the Tennessee Volunteer's men's basketball team has been inconsistent. However, the team is tied for first in the SEC Eastern Division as the stretch drive begins.
With a 7-3 conference record, Tennessee is tied with South Carolina and Kentucky for the top spot, and Florida lurks only one game behind them. For the Volunteers, the schedule is not kind the rest of the way. Four of their remaining six regular season games are on the road, beginning Wednesday at Ole Miss. More importantly, the Vols still have to play road games at Florida, South Carolina, and Kentucky.
When comparing the schedules of the teams involved, Florida may be the one with the easiest path to the divisional title. In addition to playing Tennessee at home, they also get South Carolina and Kentucky at home. So, if a person places a lot of stock on home games, the Gators may be the team to beat.
However, Tennessee has played well on the road in SEC play. The Vols are 3-1 on the road with the only loss being a heartbreaking one-point decision at Auburn. Still, there is a big difference between winning at Arkansas and at Kentucky.
In the remaining six games, I look for the Vols to go 3-3. They should win the two remaining home games against Alabama and Mississippi State. Plus, they should be good enough to win at least one of the remaining road games.
If that happens, the Vols will finish with a 10-6 conference record. It probably won't be good enough to win the division, but it should lock up an NCAA tournament berth. The Vols played a challenging non-conference schedule, and if everything shakes out like I have predicted, their overall record will be 19-11. If the Vols were to add one or two wins in the SEC tournament, it would make their case for the NCAA tourney that much stronger.
It's almost tournament time. Take time to enjoy the following weeks.
6 comments:
"If the Vols were to add one or two wins in the SEC tournament, it would make their case for the NCAA tourney that much stronger."
The Vols are already in the tourney. Thats a good thing because they never do well in the SEC tourney.
'The Vols are already in the tourney. Thats a good thing because they never do well in the SEC tourney.'
I agree; the Vols usually stink it up in the SEC tourney. I'm not ready to say they are a lock for the NCAAs though. They are a couple of bad losses away from being on the bubble.
Ole Miss 81 Tennessee 65. I didn't get to see a lot of the game, so I don't have many specific comments. However, if the Vols can't beat Ole Miss on the road, how will they beat Kentucky, Florida, or South Carolina?
Kentucky 77 Tennessee 58. Embarrassing. Right now, the Vols are not an NCAA tournament team. Wednesday's game against Mississippi State is huge.
Tennessee 81 Mississippi State 76. Nice bounce back from the Kentucky debacle. Scotty Hopson probably played his best game of the year. The next two games will make or break the regular season: we play at Florida and at South Carolina. It will be rough going.
Tennessee 79 Florida 75. I think the Vols officially clinched their NCAA tourney berth today. Beating Florida clinches a winning conference record, and this is the type of road victory the NCAA selection committee likes to see coming down the stretch. Still, a few more wins wouldn't hurt.
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