The SEC tournament gets underway Wednesday afternoon in Greenville. Let’s call this the “other” part of the SEC tournament preview, as we focus on the other 13 teams in the upstate this week
1. Awards season
Rhyne Howard was named Player of the Year, but the Gamecocks were the big winners when the SEC coaches awards were announced Tuesday. Dawn Staley was named coach of the year for the fourth time in the last seven seasons. She is tied with her former coach Van Chancellor, who had four coach of the year awards across 23 seasons (interrupted by 10 years in the WNBA). Pat Summitt is the standard-bearer with eight coach of the year awards during a 19-season span.
Aliyah Boston was Freshman and Defensive Player of the Year, and was all-freshman, -defense, and -SEC. Tyasha Harris was all-SEC, and Zia Cooke was all-freshman. Mikiah Herbert Harrigan was second team all-SEC.
Read the full story here:
2. Who needs wins
Kentucky and Texas A&M. Kentucky finished the season losing two of three, and Texas A&M lost its last two. Both have dropped out of the top 16, which means they won’t be hosting the first two rounds. Kentucky has the tougher road. The Wildcats project as a six seed, have an RPI of 25 and a strength of schedule of 33.
Texas A&M has an RPI of 17 and strength of schedule of 15, and was a four seed before the losses to Alabama and South Carolina to end the season. The Aggies can also point to losing Chennedy Carter for seven games as a mitigating factor, although they haven’t played a lot better since she returned. If nothing else, Texas A&M needs a win just to get some confidence back.
“It all depends on the SEC Tournament, getting hot at the right time, staying healthy,” Texas A&M coach Gary Blair said.
Kentucky is paired with Mississippi State, who the Wildcats beat in the regular season, for a potential semifinal game. Texas A&M is paired with South Carolina.
3. Who really needs wins
Alabama and Tennessee. Who is the hottest team in the SEC after South Carolina? That would be the Crimson Tide. They are the two teams nobody wants to play, so you can bet there were a bunch of people breathing sighs of relief when Alabama and South Carolina got matched up in the quarterfinals. One of them has to knock out the other. Their four-game winning streak is second longest in the SEC behind South Carolina’s 23, and it includes consecutive wins over Mississippi State and Texas A&M. The Tide are now 18-11 on the season and 8-8 in the SEC. That finish has put Alabama right on the bubble. In fact they are Charlie Creme’s first team out. Alabama opens Thursday at noon against Georgia, the last team to beat Alabama. If they win that, then comes a noon game on Friday against the Gamecocks. Win that, and you would have to assume Alabama is in.
Tennessee is in, but only as a 10 seed. The Lady Vols have been surviving off name recognition (they’ve never missed the NCAA tournament) and an early season win over Notre Dame that seemed impressive at the time. They don’t have any particularly good wins, unlike Alabama. The Crimson Tide actually have the better RPI (57 compared to 58) and a significantly better strength of schedule (40 to 89). If Tennessee loses Thursday against Missouri or (gasp) Ole Miss, it could be a very nerve-wracking selection Monday.
4. Who is set
The top two teams, South Carolina and Mississippi State, are more or less set regardless of what happens in the SEC tournament. A poor showing could cost South Carolina the number one overall seed, but I can’t envision it costing them a 1 seed or a spot in Greenville. The Gamecocks are playing for pride as much as anything - a 16-0 regular season would feel hollow without the tournament title, too.
Mississippi State was a three seed in the top 16 reveal, and they are probably locked into that seed. Maybe if all four twos go one and done and the Bulldogs win the title, they would have a shot at moving up, but that requires a lot of help. However, Mississippi State did finish the season just 3-2 in its last five games, so a couple of wins would be a confidence booster.
Seeds 9-14 are also set, but for the opposite reason. Georgia and Florida could be playing for the WNIT, I suppose, but does anyone count that? Missouri, Vanderbilt, Auburn, and Ole Miss are just trying to delay the offseason.
5. The bracket
The SEC Tournament is in Greenville, SC at Bon Secours Wellness Arena. This year is the second of three straight years there, a run that actually began with a standalone year in 2017.
The first three days of the tournament will be televised on the SEC Network. Games start at 11:00 am Wednesday, and then noon on Thursday and Friday. Those early games are of most interest to Gamecock fans, since they determine who South Carolina will play Friday at noon.
The semifinal games on Saturday switch to ESPNU, and start at 5:00 pm (South Carolina’s slot if it advances). The final is at 2:00 pm on Sunday on ESPN2. Tickets for all games and individual sessions are still available. Historically, the tournaments in Greenville have been fairly well-attended (even with South Carolina’s early exit last year). After witnessing South Carolina’s sellout against Texas A&M last weekend, Blair made a plea to fans.
“Let’s take this same 17,000 and go to Greenville to support women’s basketball,” Blair said. “Not just South Carolina. We need to support women’s basketball.”
I'm not going to be the one to break it to Gary that the Well only seats 15,000.
