All for Tennessee
Fansided

A look into the 2018 Men’s basketball SEC Tournament with predictions

By Billy Williford

NASHVILLE, TN - MARCH 12: The Kentucky Wildcats and Arkansas Razorbacks tip off during the championship game at the 2017 Men's SEC Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena on March 12, 2017 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TN - MARCH 12: The Kentucky Wildcats and Arkansas Razorbacks tip off during the championship game at the 2017 Men's SEC Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena on March 12, 2017 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 10
Next
Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images
Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images /

The SEC Tournament tips off this week with huge March Madness implications. Here is a look into it with predictions from the All for Tennessee staff.

It’s that time of year again where the smell of printer paper never smelt so fresh, and the copier never sounded so sweet. That’s right boys and girls; it’s March Madness time! And for Tennessee basketball, that begins with the SEC Tournament.

One of the things that has always amazed me about the NCAA Tournament is that even if your team isn’t in the big dance, the tournament is still so appealing and millions of hours are lost watching basketball on the clock. Most of the time you’re on the edge of your seat rooting for your bracket to be correct. Every tournament seems to be engrained in the memory banks and lives on forever.

Remember the magically run the No. 11 seeded George Mason had in 2006? Of course, you do, it was terrific, and you remember every single big play that happened during their fantastic run. Even though they busted you bracket, deep down you found yourself rooting for the George Mason Patriots.

What about Florida Gulf Coast in 2013? They were the No. 15 seed who made it to the Sweet 16! The following year revealed another No. 11 seed in Dayton who made the Elite Eight.

There is no denying that the NCAA Tournament trumps almost any other sporting event of the year. But, flying under the radar is all the tournaments that happen right before the big dance. The Conference Tournaments are sometimes just as good and have their own Cinderellas’. In 2008, the SEC featured a Georiga team who was 4-12 in conference play, and they won the tournament to make it into the NCAA Tournament.

This year’s SEC Tournament has the potential to be incredible. There are about ten teams that have a legit shot at winning it. Throughout the season the competition has been the best in the nation and even some members of the national media -shout out to Dick Vitale- agree that the SEC was the best conference this year.

The Auburn Tigers and Tennessee Volunteers are a huge reason why the conference was as good as it was as both teams were projected to finish near the bottom of the conference and both far exceeded exceptions. In this post, we’re going to analyze the tournament in every way.

Here’s a look at key players to watch for in the SEC Tournament and teams that could hoist the trophy. We also give our predictions on how the tournament will obviously shake out since the SEC has been so clear this season.

Home/Vols Basketball