SEC Tournament 2012: Teams That Must Make Noise to Secure NCAA Tournament Bids

It's a foregone conclusion that Kentucky will maintain its perfect record against conference foes this season with a run to the 2012 SEC Tournament Championship.

But that doesn't mean the Wildcats are the only ones with something to play for in New Orleans this week. What the league lacks in dominant teams beyond UK, it makes up for with a solid core of NCAA Tournament-worthy teams.

Vanderbilt and Florida should be in regardless of what happens, though these three teams have plenty of work to do to work themselves off the ever-precarious bubble.

Tennessee

Tennessee came on strong down the stretch under first-year head coach Cuonzo Martin, winning four in a row and eight of nine to close out the regular-season schedule and finish second in the SEC.

Still, bad losses to the likes of Georgia, College of Charleston, Pittsburgh, Oakland and Austin Peay have dragged down the Volunteers' RPI down to a moribund 75th. A win or two (or three) would do wonders to boost the Vols' resume for the Selection Committee, which shouldn't be too much to ask for so long as the likes of Jarnell Stokes, Trae Golden and Jeronne Maymon continue to produce as they have of late.

Alabama

It's put-up-or-shut-up time for the Crimson Tide, who've yet to make their way into March Madness since Anthony Grant took over in Tuscaloosa in 2009. A 20-10 record looks decent on paper...until you consider that the best of those 20 wins came against Tennessee (above) and Mississippi State (below).

'Bama has a nice duo—JaMychael Green and Trevor Releford—to ride to a pair of victories, though the suspended Tony Mitchell certainly would've helped the team's cause in pursuit of a spot in the Big Dance.

Mississippi State

Teams don't get much more enigmatic than Mississippi State. The Bulldogs are equally as likely to run to the title game as they are to lose to lowly Georgia in the first round.

That all depends on which side of the bed Rick Stansbury's squad wakes up on. They have the requisite talent to play in the NCAA Tournament, behind Dee Bost, Arnett Moultrie, Renardo Sidney and Rodney Hood, but lack the maturity to put all the pieces together on a consistent basis.

What better time than the conference tourney for MSU to turn that beat around?

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