The SEC Tournament is upon us, and there’s only one certainty: chaos.
A favorite took care of business on Friday. Favorite, singular. The other three games were taken by the underdogs on a chaotic day of basketball in Nashville. What more could we expect from the SEC Tournament? I’m not intending to spoil the results, but the league may have effectively increased its tournament participants by 33% in one day.
Takeaway #1: Mississippi State is entering the tournament as a much better team than last March.
The Bulldogs made the tournament last year in Chris Jans’s first season in Starkville but did so despite a horrific offense, one that ranked 363rd amongst D-1 teams in 3P%. (There are only 362 teams in D-I during the 2023-24 season.) Although they played Pitt close, they couldn’t escape the First Four and went home early.
As evidenced by their runaway win over Tennessee, (their second victory over the Vols this year) Mississippi State is certainly able to click offensively. The big difference between this year and last year? Josh Hubbard. The freshman has averaged 17.0 PPG this year and just dropped 18 on the Vols today. He can hit from anywhere on the court, which has improved the Bulldogs’ spacing immensely this season, adding a much-needed dimension to the offense. They’ve gone from a 26.6 3P% last season to a 32.8 3P% this season, and there’s reason to think they’ve got a much better chance at making a run than they had last year.
Takeaway #2: When they want to, Auburn can beat a quality opponent away from home
Auburn entered Friday 1-7 in Quad 1 games. Not good by any stretch of the mind. They might be 2-7 tomorrow after they beat South Carolina by 30+ points for the second time this season. Then again, they might not. The Gamecocks started the day at No. 48 in the NET Rankings, but if they fall to No. 51, the neutral-site contest would count as a Q2 game for Auburn.
Regardless, South Carolina has shown to be a quality team, and those who have been counting Auburn out (myself included) will have to wait at least another day to hit the “I told you so” button because the Tigers simply dominated on the defensive and offensive end of the ball today. While they haven’t excelled away from Auburn this year, this is certainly a step in the right direction. If they can string out performances like this over the next couple of weeks, put the rest of the country on alert.
Takeaway #3: Wade Taylor IV can lead the Aggies to multiple tournament wins…if they get there.
Despite certain accounts on Twitter claiming the Aggies are now basically guaranteed a tournament bid after their win over Kentucky, they are still firmly on the bubble. But make no doubt, this performance is a huge step towards hearing their name called Sunday. How’d the Aggies walk away with a 97-87 win? Wade Taylor IV dropped 32, his sixth time scoring 30 or more points in a game this season. If he plays every game like this, Texas A&M won’t just win a couple more games in the SEC tournament, they’ll be a tough out in the real tournament, too.
An additional variable to consider is the emergence of Manny Obaseki, as the junior has averaged 16.6 PPG in the Aggies’ five-game winning streak despite a season average of just 5.7 PPG. The Allen, Texas native has always had the potential, and if he can keep performing like this, watch out.
Takeaway #4: Alabama (still) can’t defend when it’s needed most
For most of the season, even in wins, the Crimson Tide’s defense has resembled Swiss cheese, a colander, or a cast net. Anything with several holes could be the Alabama defense. Two games ago, Alabama gave up 105 to Florida. Today, they did slightly better, only giving up 102. It’s a shame that an offense that’s been so lethal is so often rendered meaningless by a defense that just plain and simple doesn’t work. Sure, the Crimson Tide could set the nets on fire from deep for a game or two in the tournament, but their opponents will be certain to set the nets on fire in every game.
For Florida, it was a great way to get back on track after a close loss to Vanderbilt and a close win over Georgia in their past two games, and with Texas A&M defeating Kentucky and Mississippi State taking out Tennessee, the rest of the tournament is wide open. The Gators could very well be cutting down the nets (do they do that for conference tournaments) on Sunday in Nashville.