A wild Saturday in the SEC continued in the evening with No. 17 Tennessee’s home win against the No. 3 Auburn Tigers. Arkansas had already upset No. 6 Kentucky earlier in the day, and now both the top-two teams in the conference have gone down.
The Tigers led for most of the game against the Volunteers, but UT began to pull away in the final minutes of the contest and ultimately held on for a 67-62 win.
It was a huge victory for a Tennessee team looking for a top-four seed in next month’s NCAA Tournament, but this outcome could have wide-reaching impacts beyond Knoxville.
Saturday’s results have created a complete log-jam at the top of the conference. Auburn still stands at the top with a 13-3 record, and now there’s a three-way tie for second place between Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky, all of whom stand at 12-4.
Now, here’s where things get interesting: If the Tigers lose in one of their final two contests against South Carolina or Mississippi State, the team that has stood atop the conference all season could miss out on the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament.
Both the Razorbacks and the Volunteers have the tiebreaker over Auburn, and while Bruce Pearl’s team could have clinched at least a share of the regular-season title with a win, the Tigers now could miss out on a conference title entirely, depending on how the next week plays out.
Regardless, we could be set for a very intriguing tournament in a league that has quickly become one of the nation’s best in basketball.
Still, Auburn losing this game could impact even more than potential seeding in Tampa in two weeks. The Tigers have spent most of the season as a projected No. 1 seed in March Madness, including a lengthy stay as the No. 1 overall side during a 19-game winning streak earlier in the season.
This team has now lost three times in the month of February and considering it was already listed as the fourth No. 1 seed heading into this weekend by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, the Tigers could be about to drop a seed line in tournament projections.
Two of Lunardi’s projected No. 2 seeds — Purdue and Kentucky — lost on Saturday. But Duke, the top team on the two-seed line right now, could now jump Auburn. The Blue Devils take on Syracuse on the road on Saturday night, and Coach K’s team is currently the only true lock from the ACC to make the tournament in what has been a down year for the conference.
Perhaps Auburn wins its final two games and renders this discussion irrelevant, but the Tigers’ third loss in SEC play could have a trickle-down effect on other teams, both in the conference and NCAA Tournaments.
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