Tennessee basketball: 5 disadvantages Vols face in the SEC Tournament

4. Four of six teams on their side beat them or gave them a huge scare. 

You might look at Tennessee basketball’s SEC Tournament bracket and say they’re lucky. After all, two of the three teams in the conference that beat them are on the other side. And there’s certainly an argument to sell that.

But both of those teams barely beat them in their own house, and one of them, the LSU Tigers, is dealing with a suspended coach and player right now. So the Vols would be better off playing those guys in Nashville.

Meanwhile, on their side, they just happen to share a bracket with the one team who actually blew them out in a game, the Kentucky Wildcats. True, UK is banged up with Reid Travis out, but that game proves they can torch the Vols.

Then there are three other teams who can cause trouble on that side. UT just barely held on to beat the Ole Miss Rebels, Vanderbilt Commodores and Alabama Crimson Tide. Only one of those teams, Ole Miss, will have less of a home location advantage than they had when the Vols faced them, seeing as how that game was in Oxford.

But Vanderbilt, despite not playing at Memorial Gym, did give the Vols a scare in Nashville. And that’s where the tournament is. Meanwhile, Alabama should have beaten the Vols in Knoxville the weekend before they reached their No. 1 ranking. Simply put, this is not an easy road when you look at it from a certain perspective.

Update: Vanderbilt was eliminated by losing to Texas A&M Wednesday night. But that doesn’t change the fact that Alabama, Kentucky and Ole Miss are still on this side.