SEC Basketball Tournament 2011: Who Needs To Win To Make the Big Dance

The SEC has never been a conference dominated by basketball, sending a few teams to the NCAA tournament each year, but it’s not a conference you can sleep on, either.

The Florida Gators are back, despite a few lapses early in the season. Behind SEC Player of the Year Chandler Parsons and SEC Coach of the Year Billy Donovan, the Gators won their third outright SEC championship. The previous two came just before the Gators went on to win back-to-back national titles.

Again don’t sleep on the SEC.

John Calipari will try to regain some of his old magic with Brandon Knight and his Kentucky Wildcats in the NCAA tournament, but some teams will need to upset these two favorites to make it to the Big Dance.

Vanderbilt, Florida and Kentucky will all be thinking about their seeds when they tip off in the SEC Tournament, while Tennessee may also ride some early season non-conference wins over Pitt and Villanova into the Big Dance.

Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi St. have been the bubble teams all season long.

Georgia has a better overall and conference record than the Volunteers, but the Dawgs didn’t excite or surprise anyone all season long. They’ll need to really kill a pitiful Auburn in their first-round game Thursday and then upset Alabama in the quarters if they want a bid.

Alabama is the big threat to topple the favorites in the SEC. Bama did enough to win the SEC West, which won’t impress anyone handing out bids, and earned a bye in the first round of the SEC and may have punched their ticket by beating Georgia in the last game of the season. But, like many SEC teams, they showed inconsistency on the season, and they still may need to at least get to the championship game Sunday to get a bid.

And if they get there, don’t count on them losing. They can bring the heat when they need to.

Mississippi St. needs to win it all. They finished second in the SEC West after a tumultuous season that saw them suspend a couple players for fighting (each other), beat Tennessee but lose to LSU. But they showed good signs at some points in the season and are a threat to anyone.

Same goes for Ole Miss who beat both Alabama and Kentucky this season. They might have dreams of the Big Dance, and never underestimate the power of dreams.

Teams like Florida, Kentucky and Vanderbilt are safe to make the NCAA tournament, but that doesn’t mean anything this weekend. With the likes of Alabama and Mississippi St. fighting for their lives and Tennessee fighting for its dignity, the SEC Tournament should be one wild ride.

The SEC Tournament begins Thursday March 10 with the final coming Sunday March 13.