Player of the Week
Tre Mann (Florida) — The 6-foot-5, 190-pound sophomore guard averaged a double-double with 20 points and 10.5 rebounds in back-to-back wins on the road against Auburn and Kentucky. In addition, he averaged two assists and 1.5 steals in these two matchups as well. Mann marked his first career double-double on a 19-point scoring output and grabbed 13 boards at Auburn. He managed to pump in 11 of the Gators final 20 points to finish off the Wildcats and became the only Gator since 1970 to lead the team in both points and rebounds in back-to-back away-game wins.
Who’s Hot?
Moses Moody (Arkansas) — The long, freshman guard at 6-foot-6, 205-pound freshman posted an average of 21 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists in wins against a tough No. 6 Alabama team and LSU. Moody set a career high in assists with four against Auburn, and then in the following game he set a new high with five assists. He also missed just three foul line attempts, shooting 16-of-19 from the stripe in his 24-point effort over Alabama.
Alabama — The Tide clinched its first regular season SEC championship since 2002 with a win over Mississippi State, 64-59. The win ensured Bama’s hopes in snagging the No.1 seed in the upcoming conference tournament. To me, this program’s turnaround over the last few seasons has been remarkable: For the three seniors in Herb Jones, John Petty Jr., and Alex Reese, just two years ago they were a part of a team who earned the 1-seed in the 2019 NIT tournament but fell in the first round to 8-seed Norfolk State. After a grueling two years, these three have come a long way to wear these SEC regular season title rings,
Who’s Not?
Kentucky — It’s obvious that this season has been tough for the Cats, but I wanted to truly delve deeper into the setback this program currently faces. Coach Calipari took over just over a decade ago in 2010 and since then they’ve not only made the tournament each season but have found great success in March as well. In addition, they have recorded their lowest win percentage in program history (.438), unless you date back to the 1920s.
Frank Martin (South Carolina) — The status of the Gamecocks head coach could be in jeopardy after this season. Despite leading them to a Final Four appearance in 2017, SC is 6-13 this season and has lost six of their last seven conference match ups: Most recently, they endured a 28-point beat down at the hands of Arkansas, 101-73. He has not had a losing season since 2014/2015 where the Gamecocks went 14-20 but has been on the .500 fence the three seasons prior to this one. I am curious to see how they perform in the SEC tournament and how it affects the future of Coach Martin.
SEC Seeding and Quarterfinal/Semifinal Predictions:
#1 – Alabama
#2 – Arkansas
#3 – Florida
#4 – LSU
#5 – Tennessee
#6 – Missouri
#7 – Ole Miss
#8 – Kentucky
#9 – Mississippi State
#10 – Georgia
#11 – Auburn
#12 – Texas A&M
#13 – South Carolina
#14 – Vanderbilt
Quarterfinals:
#4 LSU vs #5 Tennessee
#8 Kentucky vs #1 Alabama
#10 Georgia vs #2 Arkansas
#11 Auburn vs #3 Florida
Semifinals:
#1 Alabama vs #5 Tennessee
#2 Arkansas vs #3 Florida