The SEC tournament will start tonight in Nashville as Tennessee takes on Auburn in the annual “who cares less?” game. Last year, Auburn did make a run as they won three consecutive games, but it was utterly useless in the end.
Ole Miss doesn’t play until Thursday at 6 p.m. when they take on Alabama. The Rebels only played Alabama once this season, defeating the Crimson Tide 74-66 on January 7 in the first action inside The Pavilion.
Alabama possesses a lethal guard in Retin Obasohan. Obasohan played well that night in Oxford, scoring 23 points on 8 of 13 shooting. Obasohan is averaging 17 points per game on 47 percent shooting. The Rebels will need to have a handle on him if they’re going to see success on Thursday. Martavious Newby could be a prime candidate to take Obasohan in their man-to-man defense as Moody is the Rebels’ best perimeter defender. Moody also gives the Rebels a physical presence on the wing.
If the Rebels were to win on Thursday night, they would take on Kentucky Friday night in front of approximately a billion Wildcat fans.
The Kentucky fan base is notorious for selling out the SEC tournament, and the Rebels will have to deal with a mini-Rupp if they’re lucky enough to play on Friday.
Ole Miss dropped their only contest with the Wildcats this year 83-61. Rebel fans might not remember much about that contest, but it wasn’t a favorable one. The Rebels were out rebounded 41-27, and the Wildcats grabbed 20 offensive rebounds. Kentucky is not a favorable matchup for the Rebels, as the Wildcats are dominant inside, and the Rebels aren’t exactly deep in the post. Ole Miss will have to shoot extremely well if they’re able to stay with Kentucky in this hypothetical match up.
While Ole Miss will likely have to win the SEC tournament for their name to show up in the NCAA tournament next week, it will be an interesting tournament for a number of other SEC teams.
Alabama came into last week squarely on the bubble, but then the Crimson Tide dropped back-to-back games against Arkansas and Georgia, respectively. The Crimson Tide will likely have to have to at least reach the finals of the tournament to have a shot to make the NCAA.
LSU and Florida are definitely on the outside looking in heading to Nashville. The good news for them is that they’ll get chances to garner quality wins, although Johnny Jones is still LSU’s coach and he’ll screw it up. Florida will take on Arkansas on Thursday, and if the Gators win, they’ll get an opportunity to take on Texas A&M Friday. The Tigers will likely play Vanderbilt Friday, a NCAA tournament lock most likely, with a chance to enhance their resume.
Ole Miss, along with Georgia, Auburn, Tennessee and Mississippi State, will have to win the SEC tournament and grab the at-large bid if they have any hopes of playing in the NCAA tournament next weekend.
– Collin Brister
