Thank heavens that’s over.
For whom was the 2024-24 SEC basketball season a pleasureable one this year? The league threatened, again, to climb into elite status in the nation’s conversation, but again found itself short. Bizarre disappointing seasons at Arkansas, Texas A&M and Missouri aren’t to blame outright, but imagine if at least two of those teams had lived up to expectations, eh.
Instead, what we received is a league that looks largely the same as it has the last decade-plus, since it came out of its weird late 2000s funk. Four or five awfully good teams, one or two of whom could threaten for a title and the rest comprised of teams whose first-round exit in the NCAA Tournament would shock no one.
Kudos, regardless to the South Carolina Gamecocks. A long moribund program in the SEC – save the miracle Final Four run last decade – USC finished in a tie for second this year in the regular season. For their gift, the Gamecocks lost all their tiebreakers and finished as the 5-seed for the league’s conference tournament.
It’s there that three teams will make or break their NCAA Tournament chances. The aforementioned Razorbacks need a championship, nothing less will result in a ticket. The Aggies could use at least one win, maybe two. And Mississippi State sits just the same.
The basics are finished. It’s tourney time. And for a bunch of fans, three days from now, they’ll too be joining the chorus.
Thank heavens that’s over.