Then there was Bama

[GatorJeff]

Originally Posted by ufgatordad

then the sec tourney is for seeding?

Not just for seeding. Its a separate distinction, trophy. The SEC keeps records for it. It is certainly worth winning for more than the automatic bid.

[tommyuf21]

Originally Posted by GatorJeff

Not just for seeding. Its a separate distinction, trophy. The SEC keeps records for it. It is certainly worth winning for more than the automatic bid.

We never won an SEC tourney before Billy. We have three now, plenty of work to do to bring that number up to a respectable level.

This is the year to win both.

[GatorPlanet]

Originally Posted by HALLGATOR

Also, the tourney has the added advantage of giving a team a chance to get in The Dance that might not have otherwise.

Correct. We frequently have a bubble team play their way into the Dance by picking up a win or two in the SEC tourney.

[GatorLurker]

Originally Posted by tommyuf21

We never won an SEC tourney before Billy. We have three now, plenty of work to do to bring that number up to a respectable level.

This is the year to win both.

Before Billy D Georgia Tech had more SEC Tournament championships than UF. Think about that for a minute or so.

SEC regular season and SEC tournament are two different things. Personally I think that the former is more impressive than the later, but the later gets a ticket to the Dance.

[ETGator1]

I'm not ready to claim the SEC title just yet. We have a lot of work to do plus bama has an easier closing schedule than UF:

Tue, Feb 19 @ Missouri - tigers will be fighting for NCAA tourney life

Sat, Feb 23 vs Arkansas - kicked our rear in piggieland - I don't like the piggies

Tue, Feb 26 @ Tennessee - we seem to lose a lot at UT

Sat, Mar 2 vs Alabama - maybe a showdown for the conference lead

Wed, Mar 6 vs Vanderbilt - the only certain win I see left on schedule

Sat, Mar 9 @ Kentucky - must beat the kitty cats and refs in front of 24,000

With 6 to go and with a 2 game lead, I can see us in a fight to the end for the SEC title.

[GatorJeff]

Hard to imagine Bama winning in Gainesville. The biggest riks are at Missouri and at Tennessee.

[tommyuf21]

I wouldn't claim it either, but we have done just about everything you can ask out of a team up to this point.

I'm not going to expect us to win out as I can see at least one more loss before the end of the regular season.

I'm penciling in 3 wins for Bama for certain, with the home games against Mississippi State, Auburn and the Poodles. It's hard to see them losing those. Now the question is, can they take 2 out of their 3 road games against us, LSU and Ole Miss?

I'm predicting they go 4-2 down the stretch and finish 13-5. We would have to lose 4 out of 6 in that scenario (with one of those games being against them) in order to lose the regular season title. With the way we have been playing up to this point, that is a collapse.

[tommyuf21]

Originally Posted by GatorJeff

Hard to imagine Bama winning in Gainesville. The biggest riks are at Missouri and at Tennessee.

We can go a long way towards putting this to rest with a win on Tuesday.

[GothamGator]

Everyone here is correct. The SEC Champion is the team (or teams) with the best regular season conference record. The SEC also has a tournament for money and to try and get an extra team into the dance, but the best team in the regular season is the Champion.

That's as it should be. The regular season is the fairest test, even with unbalanced schedules. That 18-game crucible of home and away games is a much better way of determining who is better than the crapshoot of a single-elimination tournament with no days off.

[The_Graygator]

We still have Vandy and Mizzou on the road, correct? We need to beat them to clinch it IMO. That said, I would love an SEC season with only on conference loss.

[tommyuf21]

Originally Posted by GothamGator

Everyone here is correct. The SEC Champion is the team (or teams) with the best regular season conference record. The SEC also has a tournament for money and to try and get an extra team into the dance, but the best team in the regular season is the Champion.

That's as it should be. The regular season is the fairest test, even with unbalanced schedules. That 18-game crucible of home and away games is a much better way of determining who is better than the crapshoot of a single-elimination tournament with no days off.

We all remember what happened a few years ago in Atlanta during the Tornado Tourney when the Poodles won the tourney in Georgia Tech's gym. The idea that team was the best the league that year is blasphemy.

[ETGator1]

I agree. At Mizzou is huge for both teams.

ESPN has two good games on Tuesday night with UF at Mizzou and Indiana at Michigan State.

I think we will win the SEC. I'm just not ready to claim it. (G)

[ETGator1]

SEC Basketball Standings:


Florida 11-1 21-3
Alabama 9-3 17-8
Ole Miss 8-4 19-6
Kentucky 8-4 17-8
Missouri 7-5 18-7
Arkansas 7-5 16-9
LSU 6-6 15-8
Tennessee 6-6 14-10
Georgia 6-6 12-13
Texas A&M 5-7 15-10
Vanderbilt 4-8 10-14
Auburn 3-9 9-16
South Carolina 2-10 12-13
Mississippi State 2-10 7-17

[tommyuf21]

Originally Posted by The_Graygator

We still have Vandy and Mizzou on the road, correct? We need to beat them to clinch it IMO. That said, I would love an SEC season with only on conference loss.

@ Missouri
Arkansas
@ UT
Alabama
Vanderbilt
@ UK

[co_gator89]

It's true. The regular season (18 games) carries a lot more weight than the SEC tourney (3-5). The tournament is just that one last chance for someone to steal a bid. If you're guaranteed a spot in the big dance, it doesn't matter all that much.

[Jaggator]

Thanks to all above for the explanation about the regular season SEC champion vs tournament champion. Hope it doesn't turn out to be a regular season tie.

[Brodeur]

I'm not worried about Alabama, they've really benefited from an easy SEC schedule. They only play UF, UK, Mizzou, and Ole Miss once, and don't have to go to Arkansas. That's arguably the biggest reason they're sitting second in the standings.

UF should easily beat Bama in Gainesville which will all but clinch the regular season title.

[PIMking]

Originally Posted by Jonas

yeah, I'm not really worried about Bama. They will drop a couple of more.

Bama isn't that good this year and even here they don't think too much of the team. Just shows you how bad the SEC is this year

[tilly]

SEC Champions trophy (Sorry... couldn't find one with the Gators):




SEC "Tournament" Trophy: