Tournament seeds hazy
Crystal ball needed to unravel rankings
FAYETTEVILLE — As the SEC Tournament approaches, teams are trying to figure out which will be seeded where next week in St. Louis.
It’s enough to drive a Vanderbilt graduate student crazy.
The Arkansas Razorbacks could be a No. 4. Or No. 5. Or No. 6. Or No. 7.
It all depends on how a wild regular-season conference race ends Saturday.
One thing is certain for the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville: If the Razorbacks win at Missouri on Saturday, they’ll be the No. 4 seed — no matter what happens in any other games — and have a double bye into Friday’s quarterfinals.
But what if the Razorbacks lose to the Tigers? Where Arkansas will be seeded then gets a lot more complicated.
None of the 14 seeds have been determined, with six ties in the standings from top to bottom.
Auburn and Tennessee are tied for first at 12-5. Arkansas is 10-7 and tied with Florida and Kentucky for third.
Missouri and Mississippi State are tied for sixth at 9-8. Alabama and Texas A&M are tied for eighth at 8-9 with Georgia, LSU and South Carolina at 7-10 and tied for 10th. Ole Miss and Vanderbilt are tied for 13th at 5-9.
If Auburn and Tennessee both lose Saturday — when the Tigers are at home against South Carolina and the Vols are at home against Georgia — the SEC regular-season champion will have six losses for the first
time since the conference began playing basketball for the 1933-34 season.
Razorbacks Coach Mike Anderson said the standings speak volumes about the strength and balance this season in the SEC, which ESPN is projecting will have eight teams in the NCAA Tournament.
“We talked about how strong our teams were going to be from top to bottom,” Anderson said. “I think it’s been on display all throughout the conference, teams beating up on each other.”
If Arkansas beats Missouri, it means the Razorbacks will have to win three games to take the SEC Tournament title rather than four.
“It’s a lot at stake in this particular game, obviously,” Anderson said. “What this game represents is an opportunity to go out and put ourselves in pretty good position in terms of the seedings for
the SEC Tournament.”
If the Razorbacks win Saturday, they’ll be the No. 4 seed because the Florida-Kentucky winner will hold the tiebreaker advantage and be the No. 3 seed behind Auburn and Tennessee.
If Arkansas loses and finishes in a three-way tie for fourth with Missouri and Florida, the Razorbacks will be the No. 5 seed and open the SEC Tournament on Thursday.
If the tie involves Arkansas, Missouri and Kentucky, the Razorbacks are the No. 6 seed.
A four-way tie at 10-8 between Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi State and Florida or Kentucky would drop the
Razorbacks to the No. 7 seed.
Anderson said he isn’t focusing on the all the mathematical scenarios.
“I always try to keep things simple for our guys, and even for me,” he said. “It’s the next game. Let’s see if we can continue to get better.
“We’ve got a one-game season. So let’s go out and play and see what happens.”
It’s possible Missouri freshman forward Michael Porter Jr. — a projected NBA top-10 pick who has played just the first two minutes this season because of a back injury — could return against Arkansas.
Porter has resumed practicing after receiving medical clearance last week, but Missouri Coach Cuonzo Martin
said Thursday that no decision has been made about his status for Saturday’s game.
That decision, Martin said, will depend on how Porter responds physically after getting more contact in practice today.
“It’ll really come down to how Mike feels,” Martin said. “Then we’ll go from there. You’re coming off back surgery and you’re really talking about his third practice. … We just want to get the reps under his belt so he can be effective.
“He knows he’s not going to be at the level from a conditioning standpoint, but as long as he feels good, that’s the first thing.”
Anderson said the Razorbacks expect to go against Porter and are preparing with that in mind.
“I have no idea what’s going to happen,” Anderson said. “We’re planning on him playing.”
Trying to determine if Porter will play is about as tough as doing the math for the SEC Tournament seeding scenarios.
“We talked about how strong our teams were going to be from top to bottom. I think it’s been on display all throughout the conference, teams beating up on each other.”
Razorbacks Coach Mike Anderson