By Michael Gross

🔐 none

“Near Lock”

Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, Vandy, Florida 

“Good Shape” none

“Bubble”

Georgia, Missouri, Kentucky, Auburn, Texas A&M, LSU, Oklahoma, Texas

“Fringe Bubble”

Ole Miss, Miss St.

              Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas and Vanderbilt all look like very solid bets to make the NCAA Tournament. Florida has recently joined those 4 teams in the “near lock” category following their convincing wins over Georgia, Tennessee and Oklahoma.

            Speaking of Georgia and Oklahoma, let’s look at their profiles. 2 weeks ago the Bulldogs were 13-1. Since then, they’ve lost 2 of 3 and we see nothing more than a home win over Auburn. Now we have a Q3 loss to add to the equation. They could really use a win over Arkansas. Oklahoma has lost 3 straight and is now 2-6 in Q1/2 games. They really need a home win over Alabama to turn the tide.

LSU is also trending in the wrong direction. They are 0-4 in SEC play after a heartbreaking home loss against Kentucky. They have a win over SMU which is nice and a loss to SC that isn’t nice. They are 1-4 in Q1/2 games. Big bubble game at home against Missouri this weekend. 

Missouri is an SEC bubble team heading in a positive direction. Not long ago they were 12-3 with 0 good wins and a questionable loss to Notre Dame. Since then, they’ve won 3 of 4 including home wins over Auburn and Florida as well as a road win In Lexington! Very solid work done by Dennis Gate’s team. If they can win at LSU, that might bump them up to “Good Shape”. 

Kentucky might have saved their season for the moment with that buzzer beater at LSU. Still they are only 4-6 in Q1-3 games. It’s a tough ask to beat Tennessee on the road, but it might be necessary. 

Auburn has played a tough schedule, but has struggled to beat good teams. That will have to change, but first they have to take care of business against South Carolina at home. Texas has changed the course of their season with 2 huge wins over Alabama and Vanderbilt. They are still just 3-6 in Q1-3 games. Longhorns need to take care of business at home against Texas A&M. A&M is starting to compile a decent profile! They are 4-4 in Q1/2 games including 2 road wins. Adding a 3rd road W this weekend would help their case even further.

          Ole Miss and Miss St. are hanging around, but still have a long way to go!