They’re starting to pull away.
Following last weekend’s basketball action, Alabama and Florida are now in firm control of their respective divisions as we begin the back half of the conference schedule. If Bama avoids a major collapse, it looks like everyone else in the West is now playing for second place.
Below are the the updated league standings, followed by the NCAA resumes of those SEC squads still alive — or clinging for life — when it comes to Big Dance invitations:
SEC East
| School |
SEC Record |
Games Back |
Overall Record |
| Florida |
7-2 |
— |
18-5 |
| Tennessee |
5-3 |
1.5 |
15-8 |
| Georgia |
5-4 |
2.0 |
16-6 |
| Kentucky |
4-4 |
2.5 |
16-6 |
| S. Carolina |
4-4 |
2.5 |
13-8 |
| Vanderbilt |
4-4 |
2.5 |
16-6 |
SEC West
| School |
SEC Record |
Games Back |
Overall Record |
| Alabama |
7-1 |
— |
15-7 |
| Miss. State |
4-4 |
3.0 |
12-10 |
| Arkansas |
4-5 |
3.5 |
14-8 |
| Ole Miss |
3-5 |
4.0 |
15-8 |
| LSU |
2-6 |
5.0 |
10-13 |
| Auburn |
1-8 |
6.5 |
8-15 |
NCAA Tournament Resumes
| Kentucky |
In if the tourney started today |
| RPI Rank |
12 |
| SOS Rank |
10 |
| Vs RPI Top 50 |
4-4 |
| Losses Outside Top 50 |
2 (Alabama, Ole Miss) |
| Remaining vs Top 50 |
5 (Tennessee, at Vanderbilt, Florida, Vanderbilt, at Tennessee) |
The Wildcats are in, they’re only playing for seeding at this point.
| Florida |
In if tourney started today |
| RPI Rank |
14 |
| SOS Rank |
6 |
| Vs RPI Top 50 |
6-1 |
| Losses Outside Top 50 |
4 (UCF, Jacksonville, S. Carolina, Miss. State) |
| Remaining vs Top 50 |
4 (Tennessee, Georgia, at Kentucky, at Vanderbilt) |
The Gators are also just playing for seeding at this point. That and an SEC regular season championship.
| Vanderbilt |
In if tourney started today |
| RPI Rank |
19 |
| SOS Rank |
20 |
| Vs RPI Top 50 |
3-4 |
| Losses Outside Top 50 |
2 (S. Carolina, Arkansas) |
| Remaining vs Top 50 |
5 (Kentucky, at Georgia, Tennessee, at Kentucky, Florida) |
The Commodores are already in — like those above — thanks to their RPI and strength of schedule.
| Tennessee |
In if tourney started today |
| RPI Rank |
21 |
| SOS Rank |
3 |
| Vs RPI Top 50 |
6-2 |
| Losses Outside Top 50 |
6 (Oakland, Charlotte, Southern Cal, College of Charleston, Arkansas, Alabama) |
| Remaining vs Top 50 |
5 (at Kentucky, at Florida, Georgia, at Vanderbilt, Kentucky) |
The six losses to teams outside the RPI Top 50 look bad, but UT’s schedule and six wins vs RPI Top 50 teams make them a lock at this point.
| Georgia | On bubble if tourney started today |
| RPI Rank |
36 |
| SOS Rank |
48 |
| Vs RPI Top 50 |
2-6 |
| Losses Outside Top 50 |
0 |
| Remaining vs Top 50 |
4 (Xavier, Vanderbilt, at Tennessee, at Florida) |
The RPI and strength of schedule are good, but not great. The Bulldogs might be aided by the fact that the SEC has now climbed from #6 to #5 in RPI among conferences.
| Alabama |
Out if tourney started today |
| RPI Rank |
97 |
| SOS Rank |
146 |
| Vs RPI Top 50 |
2-2 |
| Losses Outside Top 50 |
5 (Seton Hall, Iowa, St. Peter’s, Providence, Arkansas) |
| Remaining vs Top 50 |
3 (at Vanderbilt, at Florida, Georgia) |
Anthony Grant has done a spectacular job and his team appears to be improving as the season rolls on. Unfortunately, the strength of schedule and RPI rank likely mean the Tide will have to win the SEC tourney to get an NCAA bid.
Also — Ole Miss (RPI #55) and South Carolina (RPI #104) are well outside looking in. With a miracle run to close the regular season plus a good showing in the SEC tourney they might get an at-large bid, but it looks like they’ll need to win in Atlanta to reach March Madness.
[...] what does that tell us? That our NCAA Tournament projections from Monday can be backed up with data and facts:* Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee and Vanderbilt are all locks [...]