The 2020 SEC Tournament begins on Wednesday at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., and the event is always a big one for the Big Blue Nation and Kentucky basketball as the Big Dance is right around the corner.
Below you'll read the Cats Illustrated staff offer some thoughts on three topics:
Who's the favorite? Who's going to flop? Who is the darkhorse candidate?
Which team will win the SEC Tournament?
Jeff Drummond: You have to give the nod to Kentucky based on what the Wildcats did in the regular season, winning the league title by a full three games. That's rare in a power conference. You have the Ashton Hagans scenario and John Calipari's distaste for the SEC Tournament looming as potential hazards, but the Cats are still the smart play.
David Sisk: I've said this over and over. If we don't get round three of Kentucky and Auburn, it will be a shame. These two are clearly the best that the league has to offer. I'm going with Kentucky to win it all if there are no further issues regarding Ashton Hagans. But the Cats cannot beat the Tigers if there are internal problems in the camp. From what we have seen this season, Kentucky is clearly the best team in the conference. Auburn is second, and their style will make for a very tough and interesting Championship game.
Travis Graf: Kentucky. It’s hard to pick against any Kentucky basketball program in the SEC Tournament with a high level of confidence. The ‘Cats have more talent than anyone else in the field and it’s like a home game for Big Blue Nation. Ashton Hagans comes back with a high level of focus and Kentucky locks up a two seed with an impressive showing in Nashville.
Justin Rowland: Kentucky is the SEC's best team and John Calipari has won this event six times in his 10 previous years with the Wildcats. In a year with no great teams in the league, those two facts should be enough to make Kentucky the solid favorite. However, since this hasn't been a dominant Kentucky team they don't have enough margin for error that we should regard them as the overwhelming favorite. I would give Kentucky a 40-percent chance or so to win this tournament, which are far better odds than I would give everyone else but the field will still make this challenging.
Which team should be on flame-out watch?
Drummond: I think Florida is the flame-out candidate, especially if Kerry Blackshear cannot play. The Gators have no other inside presence and just haven't shown the ability to win four games in four days. That said, if I was Kentucky, I would not want to play them a third time if they had Blackshear healthy. They've come close to knocking off the Cats twice, and I subscribe to that theory of not giving a team that many chances in one season.
Sisk: Florida will be without Kerry Blackshear Jr, and I just don't like the way LSU plays. But Kentucky worries me as well. If there is strife or they are players who don't play, it will be a tough week. I feel like they got a very tough draw. Alabama is scary if they are clicking, and Tennessee is a guaranteed battle. Then Mississippi State could loom in the semi-finals. They are a big, strong, athletic team who has a lot to play for. The Cats better have it all together this week.
Graf: Auburn. Despite being them being the two seed, I just don’t trust the Tigers playing away from their home court. I could even see them potentially dropping their first game to a much less talented Missouri or Texas A&M team, since those teams have already beat Auburn once this season. Don’t look now, but the once red hot Tigers have lost 4 of their last 7, and the three games before that went into overtime.
Rowland: Considering every team other than Kentucky has at least six conference losses it wouldn't be a huge upset to see any team go home a round early but my pick here will be LSU. The Tigers were obviously very good and a bit fortunate to start conference play but are just 3-4 in their last seven and 4-5 in their last nine. They are 1-2 on neutral sites this year and have struggled to win games away from Baton Rouge lately. They were impressive in a 30-point win against UGA going into the tournament but they should be on watch.
What team has a chance to make some noise as a darkhorse?
Drummond: I feel like I do this about every year, but maybe Arkansas now that Isaiah Joe is back healthy. The Razorbacks have the dangerous style and coaching to pull it off. Alabama kind of falls into the same category, a dangerous team if the 3s start raining.
Sisk: If Mississippi State can get to the finals or win the whole thing as a four seed that would turn heads across the country, but they would have to go deep to be a dark horse. I'm going with Arkansas at the eleven seed. I think that is by far the easier side of the bracket. They should beat Vanderbilt, and then they get South Carolina. That game is winnable, and so is the next one with and LSU team that just does not impress me on either side of the floor. They have four players in double figures and Mason Jones and Isaiah Joe can put a team on their back. I don't think they beat Auburn, but they can win three games and get to the semi-finals.
Graf: Tennessee. I know that I picked Kentucky to win the tournament, but if they don’t, I have a good feeling that it’s because the Volunteers got the best of them in the quarterfinals. Rick Barnes and co. have been a thorn in Kentucky’s and Calipari’s side since he first arrived at Tennessee, knocking Kentucky out of this tournament a year ago. Does Jordan Fulkerson take the SEC by storm over the next week?
Rowland: Note that "make some noise" does not mean win the tournament. I say that otherwise I couldn't justify picking Vanderbilt here. The Commodores are 3-15 in the SEC and I do not believe they can realistically win the SEC Tournament. However, it would not shock me if Jerry Stackhouse's team rallied and won a couple of games. They are currently one of just two SEC teams riding a two-game winning streak and have been much more competitive on the back half of the SEC slate than they were early. Playing in Nashville, I'll call for Vanderbilt to beat Arkansas and then South Carolina.
