SEC Basketball: 2023 SEC Tournament preview, predictions
By Matt Melton
How will the 2023 SEC Tournament impact the NCAA Tournament?
As with every other conference across the country this week, the 2023 SEC Tournament will have implications on potential seeding for the upcoming NCAA Tournament, as a total of eight teams are currently projected in the field of 68 according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi.
As for those teams, Alabama is the lone projected one-seed of the group, and can certainly secure a No. 1 seed with a strong showing in Nashville. The next highest seed from the SEC is Tennessee as a No. 3 seed, and regardless of what the Volunteers do in Nashville, it feels likely that they end up on the three-or-four line on Selection Sunday.
Next, there are four-to-five teams who are currently safe when it comes to making the NCAA Tournament, but could certainly improve their seed with a strong showing in Nashville. Those teams, as well as current projected seeds according to Lunardi, are: Kentucky (6), Texas A&M (7), Missouri (8), Arkansas (9), and Auburn (9).
There is also one program however that you could argue has the most to benefit from a strong showing in Nashville – Mississippi State.
Mississippi State is currently projected as a No. 11 seed according to Lunardi entering the week, sitting in the “Last Four In” category on the bubble of the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs will likely have to beat Florida in the second round to keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive, as well as then defeat Alabama in the quarterfinals to feel safe going into Selection Sunday.
As for every other team, you could make an argument that Vanderbilt could potentially play their way onto the bubble with a deep run, but aside from the Commodores, the remaining five groups will likely have to win the SEC Tournament in order to go dancing via the league’s automatic bid.