Carolina Vs Tennessee For East Division Title Tonight
March 5th, 2009 ║ Posted By: John Pennington ║ Permalink ║ Tags: South Carolina, Tennessee
With Kentucky and Florida both losing last night, tonight’s battle between Tennessee and South Carolina will go an even longer way toward determining the SEC East race.
Here’s how things shake out:
If Tennessee wins tonight…
Tennessee and Carolina are both 9-5 right now. Kentucky and Florida are both 8-7 and play against each other this weekend in Gainesville. (Thanks for a reader’s observant catch of my typo.)
If Tennessee beats Carolina tonight and Alabama this weekend (to finish 11-5), the Volunteers will be the East Division champs and Carolina (based on tiebreakers) will receive the division’s second-place bye in the SEC Tournament.
If Tennessee beats Carolina tonight and loses to Alabama (to finish 10-6), the Volunteers would still win the East even if USC beats Georgia in their season finale (to also finish 10-6). UT would hold the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Cocks (having swept the season series).
That’s the simple part: if Tennessee can win in Columbia tonight, they’ll be East Division champs and a top seed in the SEC tourney.
If Carolina wins tonight…
If South Carolina beats Tennessee tonight and wins against Georgia this weekend (to finish 11-5), the Gamecocks will be the East champs regardless of UT’s game with Alabama. For the Vols, however, things would get tricky. If Tennessee loses to Carolina and Alabama (to finish 9-7)… and Florida beats Kentucky this weekend… the Vols would still get the #2 seed in the tourney (they swept Florida this year). If they lose to Carolina and Alabama and Kentucky beats Florida, the Wildcats would get the bye in the tournament as the East’s #2 (they swept the season series from Tennessee).
If Carolina beats Tennessee tonight and loses against Georgia this weekend (to finish 10-6), the Cocks would still need for Tennessee to lose to Alabama (and finish 9-7) for USC to win the East. Tennessee would hold a tiebreaker over Carolina based on division record.
If Carolina loses both of their remaining games (to finish 9-7), they will still get the #2 seed in the SEC Tournament due to tiebreaker advantages they hold over Kentucky and Florida.
In summary, out of four scenarios for winning the SEC East, Tennessee holds the upper hand in three of them.
However, Tennessee can still slip below second place in the East and miss out on a bye if they lose their last two games and Kentucky beats Florida.
South Carolina is guaranteed at least a #2 seed in the SEC tourney and the bye that goes with it… regardless of their final two games.
Clear?
