SEC Tournament Bracket 2015: Teams with the Most to Play for in Nashville

For those college basketball fans keeping an attentive watch on the bubble, the SEC tournament is the place to be for the next week.

Of course, plenty will be watching the tournament to see if the top-ranked Kentucky Wildcats can remain unbeaten.

But the fun will come with seeing which of the SEC's three bubble teams do enough to impress the selection committee. Between that trio and the No. 1 overall seed, plenty of teams head into Nashville with serious stakes.

Kentucky Wildcats

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On one hand, Kentucky has almost nothing to lose in the SEC tournament. The Wildcats can suffer a 50-point defeat in the quarterfinals and still be assured of the top overall seed in the Big Dance.

On the other hand, it would really stink to get this far and then suffer your first loss of the year. Some will argue that a loss now would help Kentucky in the NCAA tournament. The players would learn more in defeat than they could in victory. Plus, now is the time to lose, rather than later.

All of that might be true to a certain extent. But only eight teams in Division I history have gone unbeaten, and nobody's pulled it off since Indiana in 1976.

A loss in the SEC tournament would prevent the Wildcats from becoming one of the greatest teams in college basketball history.

Texas A&M Aggies

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Texas A&M is one of the aforementioned three schools with its NCAA tournament livelihood on the line in the conference tourney. And among the three, the Aggies are arguably in the most precarious position. They can't afford an early exit in Nashville.

The problem with A&M's resume is that it doesn't have enough marquee wins. The Aggies' two best wins came against LSU, and they finished an unimpressive 2-6 against teams in the RPI top 50.

Sports Illustrated's Seth Davis doesn't see Texas A&M as an NCAA tournament team right now:

FOX Sports' Stewart Mandel added that defeats to Florida and Alabama within the last week set the Aggies back as well:

The best thing you can say about the Aggies is that they didn't lose their easiest games. Against teams with an RPI of 150 or worse, A&M went a perfect 12-0.

However, that still won't be enough to convince the selection committee without a win or two in Nashville.

Ole Miss Rebels

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Also on the bubble but in a slightly more comfortable position sits Ole Miss. The Rebels are only a spot ahead of Texas A&M in Ken Pomeroy's rankings, but they have three wins against RPI top-50 teams and are 8-8 against RPI top-100 teams, compared to 7-10 for A&M.

Non-conference wins against Cincinnati and Oregon—the latter of which was at a neutral location and the former of which was on the road—help bolster Ole Miss' resume.

However, USA Today's Dan Wolken made a salient point about the Rebels' conference record. Aside from a win on the road against Arkansas, there isn't much of substance there:

That's why Ole Miss should approach the SEC tournament with some urgency. The Rebels are seeded sixth, which means a win over third-seeded Georgia might be necessary for them to secure their place in the Big Dance.

LSU Tigers

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LSU is pretty much in the same boat as Ole Miss. The Tigers have built a somewhat strong resume, going 2-1 against teams inside the RPI top 25 and 5-2 against those in the top 50. They also beat the Rebels twice during the regular season.

However, LSU did go 8-3 against sub-150 teams and lost to Texas A&M twice.

The Tigers and Aggies could meet in the quarterfinals, and the winner might vault into the NCAA tournament; that's how small the margin for error is.

LSU should get a boost in the form of leading rebounder and second-leading scorer Jordan Mickey. Head coach Johnny Jones revealed that Mickey should be healthy enough to play in the SEC tournament as he recovers from a shoulder injury.

"I think he should be available for us this weekend, especially by Friday," said Jones, per Sheldon Mickles of The Advocate in Baton Rouge. "That's the good thing about having a double-bye. It should give him some additional days to get treatment, get rest and continue to heal his shoulder and get ready."

Mickey is averaging 16 points and nearly 10 boards a game. Having him on the court might be enough for LSU to get past A&M and subsequently into the tournament.

Note: You can view the full tournament bracket on SECSports.com.