Auburn is not as bad as Sabertooth claims. To win 7 league games requires a team to be decent. According to the RPI rankings used by the Selection Committee, Auburn was the 32 ranked team with the 51st ranked strength of schedule. That schedule is harder than Pittsburgh, Creighton, Illinois (teams all ranked in the top 25). Are they awesome - no. Are they horrible, no. They are somewhere in between.
MikeD - I will agree to a certain extent Auburn is not a horrible team. I did not say that. They are just not a very good team. Are they a first place team? NO!! To win 7 SEC games, they beat the teams they should have beat. Take a look: Vanderbilt @Arkansas @South Carolina Alabama Mississippi LSU @Mississippi Find a quality win other than maybe Alabama. Auburn like some other teams are benefiting from the SEC strength of schedule. They way I look at it there 3 teams separated from the rest, two just below them, a bunch in the middle, and 3 bad teams at the bottom. Can the three bad teams at the bottom win on any given night. Yes. This is how I rank the SEC. Kentucky Florida Georgia Mississippi State Tennessee LSU - Alabama TIE Auburn Ole Miss Vanderbilt South Carolina Arkansas The NCAA tournament will probably take 6 teams from the SEC because of it’s RPI ranking. 7 teams from the SEC - maybe. Essentially, LSU is fighting Auburn and Alabama for the last spot. Current SEC records: Auburn 7-6 (No Quality win outside the conference) LSU 5-8 (Beat #1 Arizona) Alabama 5-8 (Beat Oklahoma, Xavier and Ohio State) (Better SOS) Auburn plays at home against Florida and Arkansas and away against Mississippi State. 8-8 is a realistic record for Auburn. Alabama play Mississippi and South Carolina home and LSU away. 7-9 is a realistic record maybe 8-8. Where does LSU fit in? At a minimum winning 2 of 3 remaining games and a strong showing in the SEC Tournament for a possibility. A strong showing is playing on Saturday, which is essentially the Final Four. Alabama has the definite edge on getting the last spot plus they held the #1 ranking at one time, which would throw egg in the face of the NCAA if team ranked #1 at one time in the season does not get into the BIG DANCE.
can't play much better than that. i still hate how starters are in with 2:00 to go though. no point in risking injury up by 30-40 so late in the game.
Re: MikeD - I will agree to a certain extent The NCAA doesn't care. They don't do the voting. A premium is also placed on how well a team plays late in the season. If, as discussed earlier, the Tigers can win 2 of 3 then go deep into the SEC tourney, they'll have an advantage over Bama who has stunk it up of late (until Tennessee). If both teams play well it's going to be a dogfight. It may come down to personalities and I don't like our chances if that's the case.
The NCAA looks at 3 things: Quality wins ( which is related to the RPI), last 10 games and overall record. If we continue our good play, wins at Tenn and Ole Miss are obtainable. Unfortunately as we all know, it is very difficult to win on the road in the SEC. I would love to see the #2 seed in the west come down to the LSU Bama game. That would be a very important game obviously as we would get a bye in the first round of the SEC tournament. I also think many people are discounting the importance of the SEC tournament in the eyes of the NCAA committee. 2 wins in the tourney would probably help us if we go 1-1 away the next 2 games and beat bama. That would put us winning 7 out of the last 9 games we played. I cant imagine the NCAA will take less than 5 teams from the SEC in the NCAA. That would mean automatics Kentucky, Miss St, Florida, Tennessee and Georgia would be in. The 6th would be either LSU or Alabama. Stick a fork in Auburn, they are done! I also knew that T would find something wrong in a 31 point victory. Guess it was bad coaching again.
There's a thread on WEN discussing potential bracketing in the SEC tournament. If they are accurate, we will be playing Kentucky very early (1st or 2nd game depending on a bye). That would be fatal to our semifinal chances. Anyway. NIT would be OK with me. If we go to the Big Dance we'll likely get knocked out in the 1st or 2nd round. Might go a little deeper into the NIT. I just like watching the Tigers play and, face it, we have no shot at the NC. JMHO.
It's all about the dance. Sure you can build on next season in the NIT but anything can happen if you get in the tourney that counts. Chances are slim but at least there's a little hope. I don't think the Tigers are scared of Kentucky on a neutral floor, especially in N.O. That could be the game that springs them into the dance if they don't win the SEC tourney. I'll sure miss Dupree. I wish Collis played this good all year. I wonder how much his eye injury and ankle bothered him early. Is D. Mitchell a future PG for the Tigers are is Brady going to play him on the wing like this year? P.S. The only way the NIT could be a satifying year is if the Tigers would end up at the Garden, but I'd still rather a shot at the dance any day.
nice win for you last night . . it didn't see or hear the game but heard you guys were shooting lights out. Good win . . see you in the NIT (with us).
Breakdown of bubble teams This is from ESPN.com and I think it does a good job breaking down the SEC West bubble teams: Alabama need to finish the regular season with three straight wins or risk the NCAA selection committee telling it a sub-.500 conference record -- no mater if it's in the SEC -- won't get you into the dance. The Tide couldn't build on its first SEC road win, losing at Mississippi State on Wednesday. While by no means a bad loss, it was a necessity after losing in places like Arkansas, Mississippi and Vanderbilt. Alabama (15-9, 5-8, RPI 27) has some nice numbers. But will they be enough? Auburn is in the same boat, but for another reason. The Tigers are 7-6 in the SEC, but need to beat either Florida or Arkansas at home, or Mississippi State on the road, to remain at .500 in conference heading into the SEC tournament. Auburn and Alabama each beat the other at home, so that's a wash. The Tigers could finish higher than the Tide in the SEC West, but be left behind by the committee, if marque wins weigh more than conference records on March 16. Stay tuned. Speaking of Tigers, the boys from LSU are back in the conversation after routing Auburn on Wednesday. Remember, LSU (16-9, RPI 49) handed Arizona one of its only two losses of the season back in December. And after a five-game SEC skid, LSU has won four of six to give itself a shot at .500 in the conference. It'll need to beat both Tennessee and Mississippi on the road, not to mention the Tide in the finale at home, but we'll keep an eye on Baton Rouge for a few more days. As for the for Tennessee (15-9, RPI 50), the skid reached three straight in Kentucky. Again, not a bad loss, but the Vols need to right the ship in a hurry to get back to the standing they were at just a week ago when they'd won six straight. Tennessee is 7-6 in the rugged East Division, which could easily send four teams to the dance. With two at home against LSU and Mississippi State, all isn't lost with a game at Vanderbilt before the SEC tournament starts.
