I'm one to never get ahead of myself, but this team has me wondering. For the sake of any of us who want to make plans, its important to look ahead. That said, we have Georgia and Mike White this Saturday. Then the next 3 out of 4 on the road at Tennessee, Auburn, and Miss State, all ranked. Opportunities and expectations will change fast in the next 2 to 3 weeks. So take caution. I wanted to see where the NCAAT locations were this year in case we played close in the first 2 rounds. Our closest hopes would be to make the South Regionals in Atlanta. I'll post some links and tourney info to get this started for the rest. Feel free to add any more as the momentum grows.
https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketbal...ment-schedule-dates?utm_campaign=mbk-rr-links Locations of first 2 rounds... First Four Dayton, Ohio UD Arena March 18 - 19 First/Second Lexington, KY Rupp Arena March 20 -22 First/Second Providence, RI Amica Mutual Pavilion March 20 - 22 First/Second Seattle, WA Climate Pledge Arena March 21 - 23 First/Second Wichita, KS Intrust Bank Arena March 20 - 22 First/Second Cleveland, OH Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse March 21 - 23 First/Second Denver, CO Ball Arena March 20 - 22 First/Second Milwaukee, WI Fiserv Forum March 21 - 23 First/Second Raleigh, NC Lenovo Center March 21 - 23 Perhaps it might be a good thing we played one at Rupp already this year???
If we can get a 4 seed or less we could end up at the Lexington KY site or in Raleigh NC hopefully in the South Region. I know they scramble the teams all over the US any more but the higher seeds usually play closer when possible. They won't have us face a higher SEC team like Auburn in the early rounds so lots to be determined.
Regional Locations... East Regional Newark, NJ Prudential Center March 27 - 29 West Regional San Francisco, CA Chase Center March 27 - 29 South Regional Atlanta, GA State Farm Arena March 28 - 30 Midwest Regional Indianapolis, IN Lucas Oil Stadium March 28 - 30 I'm guessing the South Region is going to be stacked this year even if they send teams everywhere. Right now Auburn has the edge to get there but who else will the selection committee have them face to get there. It's all about the matchups, right???
And if you didn't know and want to get way ahead of yourself, the finals are in San Antonio TX this year. April 5-7
And the way to early Joe Lunardi Bracketology for those who follow this sort of thing. He has Florida as a 2 seed in the West. Take note, he has Tennessee as a 2 seed in the East with Duke the 1 playing in Raleigh. As of Jan 23 Men's Bracketology: Does Duke have a straight shot to the No. 1 overall seed?
The next 5 opponents are Georgia, at Tennessee, Vandy, at Auburn, and at Miss State. If we can win 3 and only lose 2 that puts us at 7 and 4 with a much better schedule to finish the conference than what we started with. I'd say 7-4 gives us a real shot at top 4 seed in the SECT and a 2-3 seed in the NCAA. But if we are 6-5 we have plenty of work to do to get a top 4 spot in the SEC. The Georgia game is almost a must to get us there. They have been difficult to beat lately so expect a closer outcome than you might think.
Our losses have been due to an inability of our guards to defend the three against a player coming off the bench and our guard(s) having poor shooting nights. Usually have less than 10 total team assists as well. There were two games where Will saved us from otherwise loses. We can beat anyone when everyone is playing well. Micah return should help D and add another depth player with experience. You hope his legs can handle his body and does not suffer Greg Oden and Sam Bowie type issues in the future.
Micah's legs were replaced by bionic titanium prosthetics encased in stem cell muscle and skin. And Oscar Pistorius blades for feet and speed and jumping. Also some Wiley Coyote rockets. This is not widely known because he's only been seen in warmups, but I give to you the GatorPlanet Seal of Authenticity and Truth. Bank it.
think we did ok on the Georgia front... If we continue to play like we are, we shouldn't be less than a 2 seed...but still LOTS of SEC left to play
Well Kentucky(4-3) gets hot to start the second half and holds on to beat Tennessee(4-4) in Knoxville. This gives Florida a little more cushion from the field. Its strange to think UT once held the number 1 spot and they have only won half their conference games. This makes Saturday's game in Knoxville even more intense. Alabama plays at Miss State tomorrow in the next interesting match up of ranked teams in the SEC.
A downside of the loaded SEC this year will be competition for the first round spots in Lexington or Raleigh. Duke will likely get one of the Raleigh spots, so Florida needs to be top 3 SEC to claim one of the others or else hello Cleveland. Lunardis Bracketology currently has Tennessee there as a 2 seed bc Auburn, Bama, and Florida take up the spots above them.
