SEC Basketball: 2021 conference tournament preview and predictions
By Ian Mumm
Preseason expectations for many teams in SEC Basketball did not come to fruition during the 2020-2021 season. Key injuries (Florida – Keyontae Johnson) and NCAA rulings (Auburn – Sharife Cooper) drastically altered the projected landscape of the conference. Not to mention the typical Kentucky lethargy early in the season last much longer than in typical seasons. However, the pandemic itself may have had the biggest influence on teams in the conference this season.
With top freshmen like Moses Moody (Arkansas), Cameron Thomas (LSU), and Jaden Springer (Tennessee) entering the college ranks with tremendous pressure to perform, it has been difficult for these plays to make smooth adjustments to the college game.
Rather the level of play has not been an issue, but more so the ability to find and stay in rhythms interrupted by program pauses. These hiatuses have produced an abundance of on-court highs and lows across the conference, as well as drastic overreactions to who teams really projected to be.
The one exception this season has been the Crimson Tide. Nate Oats team maintained and met lofty expectations from start to finish. Alabama secured their first regular-season conference title since the 2010-11 campaign when the SEC’s structure awarded titles to the top team in each division. Now the Tide have a much stronger opportunity to also bring home their first conference tournament title in 30 years when the program featured NBA stars Robert Horry and Latrell Sprewell.