View from 315A

On Sunday, Georgia won the SEC basketball tournament. They won four games (three in two days) to win the event. This is remarkable as they had only won four games in conference all season prior to the tourney! They were ranked fifth out of six teams in the SEC Easy. With the win, they received an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Ironically, due to the tornado, they won the championship on their arch rivals’ home court.

Absent from the NCAA tournament field are last year's two finalists, Ohio State and two-time defending champion Florida. The Gators are the first defending champions to fail to qualify for the tournament since Kansas in 1989. The Jayhawks were on probation.

Tennessee’s loss in the conference tournament dropped them to a #2 seed. UNC is the #1 overall seed and since the Vols are in their region, this implies that the committee viewed the team as the eighth best in the nation. This was disheartening. Hopefully this will inspire the team.

UT entered the day still hoping for the school’s first ever #1 seed. Despite their loss to Arkansas, the Vols were still ranked first in the RPI rankings. This makes them only the fourth team in fifteen years to hold that distinction without also meriting a 1 seed. UT also claimed the nation’s toughest strength of schedule and non-conference RPI in addition to compiling a 12-4 record against the NCAA tournament field and a 6-2 mark against top 25 opponents.

Tennessee finished fifth in the final AP Poll. The only schools to hold the #1 ranking at some point during the season were UNC, Memphis, and UT.

The good news is that this was a disappointment. Just three years ago, when the Vols received their only other #2 seed in school history, it was a time of great celebration. The fact that this same ranking is now a disappointment shows just how far the program has come.

Tennessee was the #5 seed last year, in Bruce Pearl’s other season as coach.

UT’s opens the NCAA tournament Friday in Birmingham, Ala., against Patriot League champion American. The Vols are 2-0 all-time in NCAA Tournament action in Birmingham, having defeated Louisiana-Lafayette and Connecticut in 2000 en route to a Sweet 16 appearance.

The American Eagles (I am not kidding) are 21-11 and making their first NCAA tournament appearance. With a win, the Vols face the winner of South Alabama (26-6) and Horizon League champion Butler (29-3) on Sunday at 2:30. MPW and I spent the night contemplating getting tickets, but the fact that the Vols play on Easter ultimately will keep us in Knoxville.