I don’t think the players on the top four teams are going to mentally get into this tournament. They are all on high seed NCAAT teams and may be looking ahead to the NCAAT. I’m going with a capable team that really needs it. Texas A&M.
Water is wet!
BB players want to win! I will be completely shocked if TX A&M wins the tournament. Stranger things have happened.
UK or Auburn are the safe bets.. I see Tennessee winning a tough one on Friday, should at least make it til Saturday i would hope. They're just not as good away from TBA. Their luck in this tournament has been bad.
Disagree. The statistics are clear it is hard to win on the road in the SEC.
In fact, the NCAA statistical average says it is a little above 50%.
We are about the statistical average of 50% 7-7 So you could infer that we are AVERAGE.
Now, the devil is in the details
1) All of our losses are to NCAA Tournament teams
2) All of our losses are to teams who will be seeded 6th or higher.
3) All of our losses are to top 25 teams
4) Three of our wins (in the last 10 games) are against a 1 seed, a 2 seed and a 4 seed
Villanova 18 points - we were out classed! Nov 20th
Texas Tech - 5 points - really a one shot game Dec 7th
Alabama - 5 points - This was a toss up with 1 minute to go Dec 29th
LSU -12 points - No post presence Jan 8th
Kentucky - 28 points Jan 15th [It was one of those nights - we actually played pretty decent offense, but Ky was flat out ON!!!]
Texas - 1 point - This is a one shout game! Jan 29th
We are 9-1 since the start of February, 5 of those games are on the road : record 4-1
That lone loss I attribute to a big win over KY and poor officiating by the striped shirts.
I do not like to go back any further than that because Aidoo did not get any serious playing time until February!
The same argument could be used about BHH coming on and becoming a starter in February.
They bring the ability to bring different dimensions to the game.
I can't wait to see if we go 1-1; 2-1; or 3-0 in Tampa.
We have 4/5 freshman with NO tournament experience going into this weekend ... so, who knows what we will get.
They may handle it well. They may lose their lunch.
In any case, I am excited!