Four teams entered the SEC Tournament feeling good about their NCAA Tournament possibilities. But only three were called on Selection Sunday when the brackets were released.
Kentucky (26-8, 13-5 SEC) earned the league’s automatic berth via winning the tournament and will be a No. 4 seed in the East Region that will face No. 13 Stony Brook on Thursday.
Texas A&M (26-8, 13-5 SEC), which lost to Kentucky in overtime on Sunday afternoon, earned a No. 3 seed and will face No. 14 Green Bay on Friday.
And barely sneaking in were the Vanderbilt Commodores (19-13, 11-7 SEC) – who lost to Tennessee in the second round of the SEC Tournament, but managed to land a No. 11 seed and a trip to the “First Four” on Tuesday against Wichita State.
South Carolina (24-8, 11-7 SEC), meanwhile, will have to settle for a top seed in the NIT after being left out of the field of 68. The Gamecocks feasted on a relatively easy non-conference schedule, something the tournament committee seemed to hold against them when making final selections. Alabama, Florida and Georgia will join SC in the NIT field. LSU, another potential NIT squad, declined to pursue any kind of postseason berth after a disappointing finish to the season.
Tennessee, which had its season conclude on Friday after falling to LSU in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament, finished the season 3-6 against NCAA Tournament teams with wins over Kentucky, Vanderbilt and UNC Asheville to go along with losses to Kentucky, Vanderbilt (twice), Gonzaga, Butler and Texas A&M.
