The SEC has the consensus best team in the land but then the next highest team is ranked 30th in my system. However, there are seven teams between 30 and 50, and two more between 50 and 70. While Kentucky got the bulk of the attention, there was a lot going on in the middle of the league. You get that many teams together of fairly equal quality and conference record is going to be determined by just a handful of possessions.

The losers in this deal turned out to be Florida and Vanderbilt, who found themselves on the wrong end of late-game shenanigans more often than they deserved. Accusations were hurled, character was criticized, and in the end, neither team is going to get an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. There’s new life for both teams at Bridgestone Arena, but this is where #TeamBadLuck truly separates itself.

By virtue of getting an eight-seed, the Gators will face Kentucky in their second game, assuming they survive a potentially close contest with Alabama. Vandy, on the other hand, is a seven-seed, and avoids the Wildcats until the title game. They also get a bump in this analysis on account of playing a few miles from campus.

Bracketmatrix.com tells us that only Kentucky and Arkansas can relax in Nashville. Georgia, LSU, and Mississippi are reasonably safe, but another win would help each team’s cause. Texas A&M might have a chance with a couple of wins here.

Southeastern Conference

All-kenpom.com: Karl-Anthony Towns, Kentucky (kPOY); Willie Cauley-Stein, Kentucky; Aaron Harrison, Kentucky; Dakari Johnson, Kentucky; Bobby Portis, Arkansas.

March 11-15 at Nashville.

                Rd1  Qtrs Semis Final Champ
 1 Kentucky     100   100  92.5  84.7  76.4
 7 Vanderbilt   100  76.6  42.8  25.5   5.0
 2 Arkansas     100   100  50.7  27.3   4.6
 3 Georgia      100   100  56.1  26.6   4.2
 4 LSU          100   100  57.6   7.0   3.4
 5 Texas A&M    100  80.7  38.9   4.5   2.1
 6 Mississippi  100  62.7  29.7  13.3   2.0
 8 Florida      100  54.2   4.4   2.2   1.0
11 S. Carolina 81.3  34.6  13.8   5.2   0.6
 9 Alabama      100  45.8   3.2   1.4   0.6
10 Tennessee    100  23.4   6.5   2.0   0.2
13 Auburn      51.2  10.0   1.9   0.07  0.01
12 Miss. St.   48.8   9.2   1.6   0.06  0.009
14 Missouri    18.7   2.7   0.4   0.05  0.002