Bigger SEC men’s tourney ready for Music City show

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Southeastern Conference brings its expanded men’s tournament to Nashville, with Texas and Oklahoma visiting Music City for the first time as league member and even a neutral court can look like a cage match after the meat-grinder of a regular season.

Tennessee coach Rick Barnes certainly wants the Volunteer faithful to make the short drive and paint Bridgestone Arena orange and white.

Hey, it’s March! Any advantage helps, and his Vols lost three road games by a combined five points including a 2-point loss in January at then-No. 1 Auburn.

With six of the SEC’s seven ranked teams inside the top 15, the league has never been stronger. An unprecedented 13 members are hoping to grab NCAA Tournament berths and two likely No. 1 seeds as well.

The SEC’s 16 teams will play 15 games over five days starting Wednesday with No. 9 seed Arkansas and coach John Calipari kicking it off against 16th-seeded South Carolina. Regular season champion and No. 3 Auburn is looking to repeat as the tournament champ, though No. 5 Alabama won the 2023 title and Tennessee took the trophy home in 2022.

Barnes makes clear he wants to see his fourth-seeded Vols win after being one-and-done last year.

“Right now, there’s a lot of teams fighting for their lives to try and get to the NCAA Tournament,” Barnes said. “We’re fighting to get better, and that’s what’s on our agenda that we have got to continue to grow. And otherwise, right now, we’ve got two games left if we don’t get better. And so right now it’s up to us as a program to see how long of a run in terms of games that we want to make here.”

Breathe easy

Auburn (27-4) won’t play until Friday along with Tennessee, No. 2 seed Florida and third-seeded Alabama. Auburn likely needs to repeat to be atop the No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament after the Tigers’ overtime home loss to Alabama to wrap up the regular season. That’s just fine with coach Bruce Pearl.

“Winning championships are things you’re going to celebrate your whole life,” Pearl said. “That’s never going to get taken away from you. We’re in postseason now, and postseason is all about step-up.”

Star big man Johni Broome agrees with his coach.

“We’re going to Nashville to win a tournament championship,” Broome said.

Florida also may have a grip on a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Alabama can make its own argument by beating second-seeded Florida in the semifinals.

Welcome to Nashville!

The SEC’s newcomers get to see the party just steps from Nashville’s honky-tonk district. Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington went from taking James Madison to the NCAA Tournament to the verge of ending the Commodores’ NCAA drought for a program that last went dancing in 2017.

Calipari has been here many times but faces far different expectations in his first season at Arkansas. He’s trying to get the Razorbacks back to the NCAAs after missing out last year. Mark Pope, his replacement at No. 15 Kentucky (21-10), earned a first-round bye and the sixth seed though expectations of a 32nd tournament title likely are tempered this time around for Wildcats’ fans.

Injury watch

The pressure on Pope for another tournament title is eased by the season-ending injury to guard Jaxson Robinson. He had surgery to fix a wrist injury, costing Kentucky one of its top scorers (13 points a game). Guard Kerr Kriisa has been out since early December. But 6-foot-11 forward Andrew Carr played a season-high 34 minutes in a win at Missouri.

Texas have guard Chendall Weaver back after missing 13 games with an injured hip. He played nearly five minutes in a regular season-ending loss to Oklahoma, but he is a key defender and rebounder.

Todd Golden expects to have backup forward Sam Alexis back after missing the last seven games with a sprained left ankle. Mississippi’s Matthew Murrell, banged up all season, will have a couple days of rest that coach Chris Beard said should benefit him before the Rebels’ opener Thursday.

Bubble watch

Arkansas has a chance to improve its tournament security against South Carolina, which went 2-16 in league play. Oklahoma can breathe a little easier by beating Georgia on Wednesday night, and Texas likely needs more than one win to play its way into a NCAA Tournament slot.

LSU (14-17) and South Carolina (12-19) are the SEC’s only teams under .500 for the season. Their best hope of playing in the NCAA Tournament? Win five games in five days in this event’s first time around with a true double-bye giving the top four seeds two extra days off.