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Each Tuesday, we'll take a look ahead at the week in SEC hoops. What lies ahead for Mizzou and how will the games impact the standings?
THE WEEK AHEAD
Tuesday, Feb. 13: Texas A&M at Missouri, 6:00 p.m., ESPNU
Arkansas at Ole Miss, 6:00 p.m., SEC Network
South Carolina at Tennessee, 8:00 p.m., ESPNU
LSU at Alabama, 8:00 p.m., SEC Network
Wednesday, Feb. 14: Mississippi State at Vanderbilt, 6:00 p.m., SEC Network
Kentucky at Auburn, 8:00 p.m., ESPN2
Georgia at Florida, 8:00 p.m., SEC Network
Saturday, Feb. 17: Missouri at LSU, 1:00 p.m., ESPN2
Alabama at Kentucky, 1:00 p.m., CBS
Auburn at South Carolina, 2:30 p.m., SEC Network
Texas A&M at Arkansas, 3:00 p.m., ESPN
Florida at Vanderbilt, 3:00 p.m., ESPN2
Tennessee at Georgia, 5:00 p.m., SEC Network
Ole Miss at Mississippi State, 7:30 p.m., SEC Network
WHAT MIZZOU NEEDS TO DO
Entering the week on a four-game winning streak, Missouri has put itself in prime position to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013. Essentially, the Tigers just need to split their remaining six games to feel confident about making the field. Therefore, winning one of two fairly challenging matchups this week would keep the Tigers on their promising path.
However, at this point, some Tiger fans may be less concerned with simply making the field of 68 and instead focused on the team's seeding for the NCAA and SEC Tournaments. A win Tuesday over No. 21 Texas A&M would likely help the Tigers in both regards. Defeating the Aggies — arguably the only team in the league hotter than Missouri right now, after they beat Auburn on the road and trounced Kentucky at home last week — would give Missouri a sixth "Quadrant-One" win, measured as home wins over teams ranked between No. 1 and No. 30 in the RPI and road wins over teams between No. 1 and No. 75. Plus, it would deal a setback to Texas A&M, which is now just a game back of the Tigers in the SEC standings and currently holds the tiebreaker by virtue of a 60-49 win in College Station on Jan. 20.
As a whole, the SEC standings continue to be extraordinarily packed. Missouri currently sits fourth, which would give the Tigers a double-bye in the SEC Tournament. With two wins this week and one loss apiece by Florida and Tennessee, the Tigers could move as high as second by week's end. However, Missouri is also only a game out of ninth place. With just three weeks remaining in the regular season, perhaps this will be the week that finally brings some separation to the league standings and some clarity as to where Missouri might be seeded for the league tournament in St. Louis. Then again, we're 6 weeks into league play and it hasn't happened yet, so don't count on it.
