Bracketology Bubble Watch: Where do fringe tournament teams stand?
Southeastern Conference
Lead-pipe lock: Tennessee (1), Kentucky (2), LSU (5)
Firmly in the field: Mississippi State (7)
Some perspiration: Auburn (8), Ole Miss (8)
Double the deodorant: Florida (11), Alabama (10)
Mississippi State Bulldogs (15-5, 3-4 SEC)
NET: 26 | KPI: 23 | SOR: 23 | BPI: 28 | KP: 28 | Sag: 29
Q1: 2-2 | Q2: 6-3 | Q3: 3-0 | Q4: 4-0
Mississippi State has stumbled a bit as of late, losing two of three, but they still firmly belong in the field. The Bulldogs are very consistent across the board in metrics used by the committee and they deserve to sit relatively high in the seed lists. Additionally, three of their next four games come at home so they could be in the “lead-pipe lock” section very soon. Mississippi State has definitely flown under-the-radar as a dark horse team to make a deep run. They are experienced, talented, and ready to go.
Auburn Tigers (14-6, 3-4 SEC)
NET: 24 | KPI: 44 | SOR: 40 | BPI: 13 | KP: 15 | Sag: 18
Q1: 1-5 | Q2: 4-1 | Q3: 4-0 | Q4: 4-0
Auburn desperately needed to get back on track this week after losing three consecutive games and they did just that with a dominating home performance against Missouri. Due to their record and absurdly high quality rankings, the Tigers are still very clearly in the NCAA Tournament right now but their resume remains not all that impressive. In fact, they only own one win over the KenPom top-100 and that came over Washington at home in the second game of the entire season. This will hurt their seeding.
Ole Miss Rebels (14-6, 4-3 SEC)
NET: 37 | KPI: 41 | SOR: 36 | BPI: 49 | KP: 40 | Sag: 46
Q1: 3-6 | Q2: 2-0 | Q3: 3-0 | Q4: 6-0
Ole Miss is definitely trailing off a bit after their hot start. They have dropped four of their last five games and definitely need to get back on track. Thanks to ranking in the top-50 in every notable measure used by the committee, the Rebels deserve to be in the Big Dance right now but they need to pick things back up again. With two straight home games coming up and then a winnable road game against Georgia following, this upcoming stretch might be just what the doctor ordered.
Florida Gators (12-8, 4-3 SEC)
NET: 39 | KPI: 57 | SOR: 59 | BPI: 29 | KP: 31 | Sag: 30
Q1: 1-6 | Q2: 3-1 | Q3: 3-1 | Q4: 5-0
Florida still lacks quality wins on the whole but deserves to be on the right side of the cutline, in my opinion, because…well…no one else deserves to be either. The Gators rank extremely well in quality metrics and their strength of schedule should be commended. Obviously, they need to win a few more games to separate themselves from the cutline but the Gators have won three of four and seem to be trending up as they head into a very difficult stretch of schedule.
Alabama Crimson Tide (13-7, 4-3 SEC)
NET: 43 | KPI: 33 | SOR: 44 | BPI: 46 | KP: 46 | Sag: 47
Q1: 2-4 | Q2: 5-0 | Q3: 3-3 | Q4: 3-0
Even though Alabama has three Q3 losses, they are in fairly solid shape. Like Ole Miss, they rank in the top-50 in every major category and that should help their placement. The Crimson Tide also have one of the more favorable schedules remaining left in the SEC so hopefully they will be able to take advantage and move into a safe position within projected fields.