There are six weeks of SEC basketball action left to be played. There are seven weeks left until Selection Sunday. There’s also an SEC tourney to be played in the week in between.
Clearly, there’s a lot that can happen between now and early-March. But if the NCAA selection committee were gathering today, there would be six SEC squads with strong enough RPIs to garner consideration for at-large bids: Kentucky, Florida, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Alabama and… Ole Miss.
Below is a thumbnail look at the SEC tourney resumes as of this weekend (RPI provided by RealTimeRPI.com:
Kentucky (19-1, 5-0)
#5 in RPI
#64 in Strength of Schedule
Record Vs RPI Top 50: 4-1
Losses Outside RPI Top 100: None
Verdict: Just a question of grabbing a #1 seed
This Week: at Georgia, at LSU
Alabama (13-6, 2-3)
#30 in RPI
#12 in Strength of Schedule
Record vs RPI Top 50: 2-6
Losses Outside RPI Top 100: None
Verdict: Highly likely, but they need to work on Top 50 record
This Week: at South Carolina, Arkansas
Vanderbilt (14-5, 4-1)
#31 in RPI
#13 in Strength of Schedule
Record vs RPI Top 50: 3-3
Losses Outside RPI Top 100: Indiana State
Verdict: They’ll be in, but they need to start protecting their home floor
This Week: Tennessee, Middle Tennessee State
Ole Miss (13-6, 3-2)
#35 in RPI
#27 in Strength of Schedule
Record vs RPI Top 50: 1-3
Losses Outside RPI Top 100: Auburn
Verdict: A longshot, but UM can help their chances with six more games vs RPI Top 50
This Week: Florida, South Carolina
Florida (15-4, 3-1)
#38 in RPI
#98 in Strength of Schedule
Record vs RPI Top 50: 1-2
Losses Outside RPI Top 100: Rutgers, Tennessee
Verdict: Barring a collapse, the Gators will get in
This Week: at Ole Miss, Mississippi State
Mississippi State (16-4, 3-2)
#39 in RPI
#70 in Strength of Schedule
Record vs RPI Top 50: 3-2
Losses Outside RPI Top 100: None
Verdict: The Dogs should get if they take care of business.
This Week: LSU, at Florida
The six teams below are so far down the RPI list that it’s unlikely they can get themselves back onto the NCAA bubble barring long win streaks. For these squads, it looks like winning the SEC Tournament in New Orleans will be their only hope:
Arkansas (14-5, 2-2)
#63 in RPI
#83 in Strength of Schedule
Record vs RPI Top 50: 2-3
Losses Outside RPI Top 100: Houston
This Week: Auburn, at Alabama
LSU (12-7, 2-3)
#73 in RPI
#69 in Strength of Schedule
Record vs RPI Top 50: 2-4
Losses Outside RPI Top 100: Coastal Carolina, South Alabama
This Week: at Mississippi State, Kentucky
Georgia (10-9, 1-4)
#120 in RPI
#52 in Strength of Schedule
Record vs RPI Top 50: 0-6
Losses Outside RPI Top 100: Georgia Tech
This Week: Kentucky
Auburn (12-7, 2-3)
#133 in RPI
#159 in Strength of Schedule
Record vs RPI Top 50: 0-5
Losses Outside RPI Top 100: UTEP
This Week: at Arkansas, at Tennessee
Tennessee (8-10, 1-3)
#164 in RPI
#62 in Strength of Schedule
Record vs RPI Top 50: 2-5
Losses Outside RPI Top 100: Oakland, Pittsburgh, Austin Peay, Coll. of Charleston, Georgia
This Week: at Vanderbilt, Auburn
South Carolina (8-10, 0-4)
#198 in RPI
#104 in Strength of Schedule
Record vs RPI Top 50: 0-5
Losses Outside RPI Top 100: Elon, Tennessee State, Southern Cal, Providence, Auburn
This Week: Alabama, at Ole Miss
MrSEC.com Current Prediction: 5 bids for Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt
Grilling…
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