On Saturday, the then No. 19 Kentucky Wildcats beat the then No. 15 Missouri Tigers 91-83, capping off a historic SEC regular season.
The Wildcats became the third team ever to win eight top-15 matchups with first-year head coach Mark Pope. Meanwhile, third-year head coach Dennis Gates flipped Mizzou from its disastrous 8-24 season last year to a respectable 21-10 record with a 18-2 home record.
“If you can come to Kentucky, and you can do something all time at the University of Kentucky, when you think about the people that have rolled through here,” Pope said on Saturday. “For this group to hold that (eight wins against top-15 opponents) record is just insane.”
Six of Kentucky’s top-15 triumphs were against in-conference opponents, including two wins over border state rival Tennessee. Meanwhile, the other two games were against No. 6 Duke and No. 7 Gonzaga at neutral sites prior to SEC play.
“I mean, every single game that you play in this conference is an elite level game,” Kentucky guard Koby Brea said on Saturday. “ You play against a really good team (in Mizzou), their whole roster is really good. Obviously they’re coached by good coaches, and the SEC has been different this year.”
Last season, Mizzou was winless in the SEC with a 0-18 record. This season, the Tigers finished with 10 SEC victories including wins over No. 4 Alabama and No. 5 Florida, and a non-conference upset over then No. 1 Kansas.
“The next stop is trying to compete for an SEC Tournament Championship,” Gates said on Saturday. “To be able to win 10 games in this conference is a great accomplishment.”
Kentucky clinched the sixth spot in the SEC Tournament over the Tigers, who clinched the seventh spot, and the eighth spot, Ole Miss. All teams finished with 21-10 records with a 10-8 in-conference record.
The Wildcats got the nod over Mizzou and Ole Miss due to the SEC tiebreaker.
“When you have the level of athletes, the level of players, the situations (the SEC brings), sheesh,” Gates said. “We got losing records (coming out of the SEC) that’s going to the NCAA Tournament, losing records.”
All SEC teams except for LSU and South Carolina were ranked in the top-25 AP Poll at one point this season.
Currently, Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Missouri, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt have likely secured bids for March Madness. No team in the SEC has been eliminated from contention.
“Think about that, SEC teams going through three to five games or three to four-game losing streaks and staying in the top-25, that’s unheard of,” Gates said. “What it says is this (conference) is more difficult than anyone thinks.”
Additionally, Arkansas, Georgia, Oklahoma and Texas have chances of making a bid. If so, the NCAA Tournament would feature 14 SEC teams, breaking the record of 11 teams making it to the tournament out of the same conference originally set by the Big East in 2011.
“It’s really important (to be emotionally steady) because when you win an SEC Tournament, like it’s back-to-back with (March Madness), you can’t think about the last game that happened even if you win by how many points,” Mizzou guard Marques Warrick said on Saturday. “You got to get on with the next one, if you lose in the SEC Tournament, you know, it’s on to the big dance, so you got to move on. Can’t get too high, can’t get too low.”
Warrick, a fifth-year senior, will have his first chance at the SEC and as a higher seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Lexington native formerly played four seasons for the NKU Norse. The Tigers will face the winner of LSU and Mississippi State in the second round.
“So, you’re playing away, obviously, half the (season), and every environment that we’ve gone into this season has been rocking, and that’s a credit to everybody’s fans’ support right now,” Kentucky forward Andrew Carr said on Saturday. “And, of course, our fans, even away games they’re showing out every year, the ‘Go Big Blue’ chants always.”
In his fifth season, Carr will have his first taste of the SEC Tournament as a member of the Wildcats in a second round matchup between either Georgia or Oklahoma. The forward previously played for Wake Forest and Delaware. It will be Carr’s first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since his sophomore season at Delaware.
Selection Sunday will be aired live on Sunday, March 16, at 6 p.m. ET on CBS. This will determine the seeding for all NCAA Tournament qualified teams for their shot at a coveted National Championship.
