The 2024-25 No.1 Auburn Tigers have been one of the ultimate cue balls in college basketball history. The metaphorical cue stick, i.e. Coach Bruce Pearl, contacts his players, who maneuver other talented players and teams in what has been the deepest league in the game’s storied history.
Many years, there have been several league teams that weren’t named “Kentucky,” that had national championship and Final Four moxy, but they weren’t in the March equation.
Television analysts and writers have tried to slide the league under the ACC and Big Ten. For the last five seasons, the Big 12 was named the creme de la creme, but the SEC rose and now we’ve seen a season-long explosion.
Pearl has his Tigers connected in all phases of the game. In Saturday’s 94-78 win at Kentucky, we saw the way teams have to choose their poison against the Tigers.
Johni Broome was handed two immensely questionable fouls which took him potentially out of his game as the Tiger’s first attack option.
Kentucky then had to matchup with Tigers’ guards Chad Baker-Mazara, Tahaad Pettiford and Tre Kelly which amounted to a mis-match.
Kelly led all scorers with 30 points, while Baker-Mazara added 22 and Pettford scored 21 as the Tigers summoned their deep guard corps. Denver Jones, who is the Tigers’ defensive stopper, was X-rayed and suffered a bone bruise.
“This is our fifth team in the last eight years that has won either a regular season or tournament championship,” said Pearl. “So, I’m just super, super proud and super happy.”
Auburn will reconvene on Tuesday evening in College Station where they will battle Texas A&M, who fell at Florida, 89-70.
The Gators were able to neutralize Wade Taylor, the Aggies leading scorer, who finished with 11 points and didn’t score from the field until there was 9:56 remaining.
The Aggies still are in the 3-seed category. Defensively, they generally keep themselves in games although that wasn’t the case in Gainesville.
Florida is still a likely 1-seed after the Gators posted five players in double figures, led by 25 from Will Richard. They held the Aggies to 39 percent from three.
Florida is at No. 6 Alabama on Wednesday and the winner should receive a 1-seed.
“We have a chance to go into Tuscaloosa on Wednesday and if we win that game, then we’re in the driver’s seat to get second place,” explained Gators coach Todd Golden. “So, we have a lot on the line left. We got a lot we’re still playing for. We’re still playing for a 1-seed.”
The Tide lost their second in a row when Tennessee guard Jahmai Mashack’s three at the buzzer lifted the Volunteers to a 79-76 win. Tennessee held Alabama to 31 percent from the floor in the second half.
The Vols should once again enter that 1-seed line as their defense usually sets the tone when needed most. Although Mark Sears finished with 24 points in 37 minutes, the Vols held the Tide to 2-of-8 from the floor over the last 2:33.
“I knew when the way they lined up, (Mashack) and I made eye contact and I felt like if he could get it, We get it as far down the floor, if we could just get it across half court and have one second on the clock, we got a play where I thought we could get a high-percentage shot instead of the shot from half court,” explained Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes.
Vanderbilts’s 97-93 win over Missouri guaranteed the Commodores an NCAA Tournament berth in Coach Mark Byington’s first season. The Commodores have many players that teams have to identify in matchups and Chris Manion took care of his responsibilities with 23 points and 11 rebounds.
The Commodores look like an 8 or 9-seed which could match them against an SEC power in the second round. This team averages 62.5 shot attempts and guard Jason Edwards is a money player who gets things done in the clutch.
Meanwhile, the Tigers should be around a 4-seed as they score the ball with Mark Mitchell inside and Tamar Bates and Caleb Grill finding the threes. It’s a complete, physical team. They can thrive on the playmaking of Anthony Robinson, II, and Tony Perkins.
The Magnolia State deserves Ole Miss as potentially a 7-seed with Mississippi State checking in as a 10-seed.
The Rebels outlasted Oklahoma, 87-84, in Norman as guard Sean Medulla, an Oklahoma native, led five Rebels in double figures with five threes.
If Pedulla starts a game on a scoring roll, he is incredibly hard to stop. Ole Miss ended a three-game losing streak, but they match up with Tennessee and Florida this week to end the season.
The Bulldogs defeated LSU, 81-69, after defensive problems in the two games before against Alabama and Oklahoma. MSU can score and rebound and while they need to be up-tempo offensively, they average 9.3 steals per night.
As Auburn dominated Kentucky in Lexington, the Wildcats still should see a 7-or-8-seed line. They’re without Jaxson Robinson for the rest of the season and Lamont Butler has also been injured and not near 100 percent on the point.
The Wildcats have lost their depth and cannot match up with their bench. Otega Oweh and Koby Brea have to pick their games up in the backcourt while Amari Williams will be solid on the interior. Lack of defense will make Kentucky’s March tournament much shorter than usual.
Georgia circled its wagons and returned to the brackets after defeating Florida, 88-83, at home. The Gators trailed by 26 early and rallied and took a two-point lead with over a minute to play. The Bulldogs then dominated the rest of the way.
Mark down Georgia as a 10-seed as no one will pay much attention to them, but they hold opponents to 40.9 percent from the floor. Guard Silas Demary is the matchup issue as he had 26 against the Longhorns after a 21-point offering vs. Florida.
Arkansas, Texas, and Oklahoma lost once again. South Carolina detained the Razorback, 72-53, as Coach John Calipari looks like he will have to cut the nets in Nashville to make an NCAA Tournament appearance in year one in Fayetteville.
