ANALYSTS SAY

four from SEC get into tournament.

FAYETTEVILLE — With one week remaining in the regular season, the SEC has four teams targeted to reach for the men’s NCAA Tournament by most national analysts.

The quartet of Kentucky, Florida, South Carolina and the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville have the strongest chances to make the field, and it has been that way since the Razorbacks bounced back from consecutive losses to Missouri and Vanderbilt and kicked off a five-game winning streak.

Jerry Palm of CBSSports. com projected Kentucky as a No. 3 seed, Florida as a No. 4, South Carolina as a No. 8, and Arkansas as a No. 10 in his latest bracket. He also lists Georgia as one of his first four teams out of the field.

ESPN.com’s Joe Lunardi has Kentucky as a No. 2 seed, Florida as a No. 3, South Carolina as a No. 7 and Arkansas as a No. 9.

Ken Pomeroy of Pomeroy College Basketball Ratings has only two SEC teams — No. 6 Kentucky and

No. 7 Florida — in his top 25. Also in his top 50 are South Carolina at No. 28, Arkansas at No. 41 and Vanderbilt at No. 43.

Kentucky, with a 14-2 SEC record, is one game ahead of Florida (13-3) in the standings with two games remaining. The Wildcats, who are seeking their 50th SEC regular-season championship, finish with a home game against Vanderbilt tonight and a road date at Texas A&M on Saturday. The Gators host Arkansas on Wednesday and travel to Vanderbilt on Saturday.

The Commodores, who have won four games in a row and are No. 48 in the RPI rankings, can make a strong play for an at-large NCAA Tournament berth with games against the SEC front runners to conclude the regular season.