ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has released his February 27 bracketology, which features some movement for a few SEC teams.
After sitting at the No. 3 seed for a while, the Kentucky Wildcats moved up to the two line after taking sole possession for first place with a win over Florida on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Vanderbilt made its first appearance in the field of 68 by earning the honor of being Lunardi’s last team in the field. He has the Commodores matched up with Providence in the 12 vs. 12 play-in game in Greeneville.
The three teams that are locks from the league are no surprise.
The Gators remained at a No. 3 despite the loss in Lexington, South Carolina held firm on the seven line with a blowout win over Tennessee, and Arkansas moved up to a No. 9 seed.
Elsewhere, Georgia has moved to the last team on the First Four Out line, while Tennessee is the first team on the Next Four Out line.
Blake’s Analysis:
Obviously, bracketology at this stage of the season is based on a lot of speculation. No bracketologist can accurately predict the outcomes of the last week of the regular season or every single potential outcome of a conference tournament.
So, as always, take these numbers for what they are: a snapshot of what would happen if the season ended today.
However, that doesn’t mean we can’t ponder what lies ahead.
The most intriguing development in the newest bracketology is the addition of Vandy to the field. The Commodores face the toughest final week schedule of anyone in the SEC with a road trip to Kentucky and a home game against Florida.
Winning one of those would force the committee to seriously think about the idea of putting a 15-loss Vandy team into the field(the likely number of losses barring an SEC tournament title), which would be the first time anyone has made it with 15 losses.
Meanwhile, Lunardi has Arkansas trending up now after the Hogs won their fifth straight game over the weekend. Not too long ago, it looked like Mike Anderson’s squad was playing its way out of the field. Now, this team is definitely in unless it loses its next three games.
As for Kentucky and Florida, both will wind up in that 2-4 range depending on how next week’s tournament in Nashville plays out.
But what about Georgia and Tennessee? They both stay on Lunardi’s list of teams that have a shot, but remain out for now.
The Vols could stay in the mix thanks to games against LSU and Alabama to finish out the season. Although, neither win would do much from an RPI standpoint since Alabama is 96 and LSU is 174..
And for Georgia, it simply needs more quality wins on its résumé.
The Bulldogs do have eight wins against the Top 100, but only one against the Top 50 (Vandy). A tough strength of schedule could give this team a shot, especially if Georgia can win at Arkansas in its regular season finale.
Of course, at this stage, five SEC teams getting in seems like the most likely scenario.