Did we just clinch a 1 seed? (Tennessee goes down)

Normally, no. But it’s far more likely this year (and completely permissible), especially if Tennessee and Bama are seeded 5-6 overall.

 

Iowa State should be no higher than a 4. The field will be filthy with SEC teams, so some matchups may be unavoidable.

 

Texas is the 2nd lowest team on KenPom at #44. That means that techincally every team in the SeC not named South Carolina should be in the field of 68. Techically.

 

With 30+ auto bids, they’re likely too far out to have a chance.

 

The conference is so deep, it's hard to believe honestly.

I am normally a go gators I do not care if everyone else loses in the first round kind of guy. However, this year I really hope most make it out the first round so the SEC hater types don't come out of the woodwork, idk who but I'm sure someone will be the basketball version of Kannell if the SEC loses more than half their teams opening day.

 

The top 4 teams in a conference have to be placed in different regions; it is part of the seeding guidelines.

 

For reference:

"Each of the first four teams selected from a conference shall be placed in different regions if they are seeded on the first four lines."

As Auburn/Florida/Alabama/Tennessee will clearly be top 4 seeds, the committee is required to put each in a separate region.

How the field of 68 DI men’s teams is picked for March Madness | NCAA.com

 

that's true, and they won't...but if we're talking about the top 68 teams in college basketball it's clear 15 of 16 SEC teams should be on that list. It's insane.

 

No doubt, and south carolina is probably actually that good too. Unfortunately, the goal isn’t to get the top 68 teams in. Maybe top 40? The rest wouldn’t sniff the tourney without the auto bids.

 

I think the primary goal of an invitational is to give the actual best team a shot to win.

A secondary goal: entertainment. And "cinderella" upsets are part of the March Madness lore. I'm glad "lesser" programs are in, over the bottom of the SEC. Collegiate athletics has become too "rich get richer", glad to see some room for the "collegiate" part.

 

I don't think they saw this dynamic happening, though. I find it interesting that numerous brackets have put SEC teams in the same region as 1-2. Wonder how hard and fast a rule this is for the committee.

If it does play out that way, only makes sense for us to be the 1 in San Fran, Tennessee the 2 in Indy (opposite Houston), and Bama the 2 in Newark (opposite Duke), with Auburn at 1 in GA. That probably leaves Tech as our 2 and either Iowa State or Michigan State opposite Auburn. Would love to get Indy instead, but I honestly think San Fran would be a nice full circle thing for Golden. I'd take it.

 

I see what you're saying.
But... Quad 1 wins are also real games:
Auburn 15-3
Houston 9-3
UF 7-4
Duke 6-3

That said. I agree that it should be 1. Auburn, 2. Gators imho

 

It is what it is...
Who knew that UNC, Virginia, Wake Forest and Witchita St would be down this year when these games were scheduled?

 

Yeah, it turned out to be a somewhat weak non-con schedule, but it definitely wasn’t weak scheduling.

 

I know it doesn't factor in, but we should get credit for attempting to bulk up the schedule with traditionally strong programs.

It's hard to know when scheduling out that teams are going to have down years, especially with how much of a Wild West it is year to year with NIL.

 

Dinging for November games in March seems kinda silly. But with limited data, we're left with little choice.

There should be a mid-season non-conference week. The week between NFL conference games and the superbowl. Everyone still has their streaming subscriptions and are all tuned-up for sports.

Every P5 team plays two other p5 teams. Ideally from 2 different conferences to get all sorts of comparative analysis.

I think it would be great for ratings and wicked fun to watch!

 

Speaking of the Gators, they may need a win on Saturday if they want to hold on to their No. 1 seed projection in March Madness. Per Lunardi, a Florida loss to Ole Miss on Saturday would open the door for Alabama or Tennessee on the 1-line.

Joe Lunardi lays out stakes for Alabama-Auburn, other key SEC games

 

The conference slate is strong enough to make up for it. Win the games and you’ll end up where you want to be. We’re still in a good position for a one seed, and a two seed isn’t the end of the world.

You can’t really reward teams for scheduling, and the real SOS can’t be fully evaluated until the end of the season when you have the data to show whether teams are actually good or not. It is what it is. If you’re arguing with another fan, they’d be pretty dumb to argue we scheduled a weak OOC schedule though. If you’re talking about rankings and seeding, you kind of have to go with what actually happened and rank us based on the real data.

 

Really not worried about Tennessee or bama in the tournament. I think we beat either one. It’s gonna take a miserable shooting night, poor foul calls, and a monumental effort for most of the teams in the tournament to beat us before the final four. I really like our chances this year but like any other, we’ll need God to smile on the gators a bit.

 

Teams from the same conference shall not meet prior to the regional final if they played each other three or more times during the regular season and conference tournament.

Teams from the same conference shall not meet prior to the regional semifinals if they played each other twice during the regular season and conference tournament.


With 12 or more SEC teams in the tournament, as a 1 seed, I can see us definitely playing a 4 seed in the sweet 16 (regional semi) or a 3 seed in the elite 8. (regional final)