Some of us predicted this but it's still good to see it. As the regular season winds down and some of the bracketology folks take a closer look at things, we're sliding up the boards a bit.

I pointed this out on one of the threads but heading into Saturday Jerry Palm of CBS didn't even have us as one of the bubble teams, and what a miracle, just by winning a road game at Ole Miss suddenly today we're his third team out.

For people with 2022 PTSD who have decided our fate is already set, this is a good indicator that it's not. The big difference between this year and that year is that we weren't even close to cut line going into the SEC Tournament, and this year we're very close to it. That year we probably needed to jump like 10-12 teams, this year it's more like 3-4.

Of course this is all moot if we don't win Thursday, but it's still good to see.

We probably need to win 2 to be a lock IMO.

Good news but I do not like our chances vs Kentucky with how they can score the ball.

Too much young talent that has gotten better.

bobinator said:

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Some of us predicted this but it's still good to see it. As the regular season winds down and some of the bracketology folks take a closer look at things, we're sliding up the boards a bit.

I pointed this out on one of the threads but heading into Saturday Jerry Palm of CBS didn't even have us as one of the bubble teams, and what a miracle, just by winning a road game at Ole Miss suddenly today we're his third team out.

For people with 2022 PTSD who have decided our fate is already set, this is a good indicator that it's not. The big difference between this year and that year is that we weren't even close to cut line going into the SEC Tournament, and this year we're very close to it. That year we probably needed to jump like 10-12 teams, this year it's more like 3-4.

Of course this is all moot if we don't win Thursday, but it's still good to see.

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I was curious how we compared to that team.

Any idea what NET was prior to entering that SEC Toury run ?

2022 rules would be a plus and minus for this year's tourney hopes. Non-conference schedule was a big factor while conference tourney results didn't move the needle. My guess remains NIT bound but hope to be wrong!

It would be great also if Miss St would just lose on Thursday ..

Sigh....we should've never been in this position. What a waste of a season.

MatthewRothell said:

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I was curious how we compared to that team.

Any idea what NET was prior to entering that SEC Toury run ?

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NET was 56, and we had some big problems. We were 3-8 in Quad 1 games and had a non-con schedule rank of 262. That's why nobody had us close to the edge going in.

Six days later we had a NET of 43 and three additional good wins, but it was just too little too late.

What we learned from that is you need to already be in the conversation when the committee starts working earlier in the week.

The committee has told us the conference tournament games do not matter unless a 1 team league conference winner does not win the conference tournament.

Craigy said:

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The committee has told us the conference tournament games do not matter unless a 1 team league conference winner does not win the conference tournament.

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Who did they tell? And when?

I think Texas A&M is much closer to being in the field than other bracketologists suggest.

46 NET
45 SOR
5-6 Q1
11-9 Q1+Q2
Three wins vs Top 3 seeds - Tennessee, Kentucky, Iowa State
6-6 road record
Top 25 NCSOS
(but also 4 Q3 L 😬😬😬)

— JBR Bracketology (@JBRBracketology) March 11, 2024

AggieEyes said:

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We probably need to win 2 to be a lock IMO.

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Win 2 and we may make it to Dayton

Redfishag93 said:

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Good news but I do not like our chances vs Kentucky with how they can score the ball.

Too much young talent that has gotten better.

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It's a good thing we PROBABLY don't have to beat them to get in although keeping it close in a loss would be much better than getting stomped.

Yeah, not good. Kentucky was playing without their best 7 footer (7'2!) the first time we played them. Additionally, their three freshman studs have all now played a full conference schedule to get better. Really hoping we can just beat Ole Miss again and that will be good enough.

If I'm a betting man I am taking that +400 UK to win the SECT.

Win Thursday and I think we are in Dayton.

Win 2 (meaning beating Kentucky on Friday) and we are a solid 10 or even 9 seed.

Kentucky's defense still sucks though, and I think we have a better chance at controlling tempo against them than we would against Alabama.

Will Marble be back for that game?

Method Man said:

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Will Marble be back for that game?

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Mikeyshooter assured us it won't take long to play out so just be patient.

Hopefully taking care of business in game one will be enough. If it's not we'll have nobody to blame but ourselves. If we'd shown up to the gym against two of the worst teams in the league then we wouldn't be having this conversation.

Method Man said:

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Will Marble be back for that game?

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Joke's on us. He's been playing in Europe this entire year while taking online classes to remain a student.

Fanatic15...Drs2B! said:

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Win Thursday and I think we are in Dayton.

Win 2 (meaning beating Kentucky on Friday) and we are a solid 10 or even 9 seed.

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I believe we have to beat UK to get to Dayton.

Today, we are essentially in the same situation as Arizona State in 2023. They came in to P12 tournament as likely 1st 4 Out. The won their 6/11 game, then knocked off 3 seed USC before losing to 2 seed Zona.

Sun Devils made it to Dayton.

Know Your Enemy said:

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Method Man said:

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Will Marble be back for that game?

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Mikeyshooter assured us it won't take long to play out so just be patient.

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Damn, catching strays when I least expected it.

What was Arizona State's overall SOS, Quad 1 record, Quad 1+2 record, Quad 3 record and OOC SOS prior to the Pac-12 Tournament that year? In other words, was their resume comparable to ours?

We are not a "lock" to get in with beating Ol Miss and then losing to Kentucky (going 1-1 in the SECT) - but I like our chances of getting in as one of the last 4 in - meaning a likely Dayton play-in game.

If we beat Kentucky in game 2 - we will be seeded well above play-in game level. Perhaps even single digit seed.

That ASU team had a decent nonconference schedule including beating Creighton. Also lost to Texas Southern.

#JBRBracketology - Seed List Monday 3/11.

-UNC reclaims #4 overall/ last 1 seed
-Still struggling with the order of #8 overall through #13 overall... Reasonable arguments to be made here for a number of teams, in both directions, as well as head to head considerations
-Pushing… pic.twitter.com/W1a1DwnmVf

— JBR Bracketology (@JBRBracketology) March 11, 2024

The only way A&M ends up a single digit seed is by taking the autobid

Arizona State was closer to how we were in 2022 than how we are this year. Their NET was like in the 60s or even 70s but they were still on the radar solely because of their conference record, IMO.

Miss St does not deserve a bid over us, they have a losing record in the SEC.

We have no one to blame but ourselves for our situation. We should've handled our business earlier.

Now we must win to get in and that MIss St can get in over us is a job with a losign conf record and 4 game losign streak. They cant use that against us as they closed on a 4 game losign streak.

If we were to beat Kentucky again and then also Alabama, we likely would make it to at least a 9. The records in Q2 and Q1 games in the committee comparisons would be a ridiculous 14-10, likely on par with teams the committee will have on the 4's and 5's

Only because their schedule was tougher.

I think we're essentially tied with Mississippi State right now.

I do think once you get into the Saturday games you're getting into the territory where these guys aren't going to change the brackets up that much.

I think if we beat Kentucky again we probably avoid Dayton, but that's about as high as we can expect to climb.

bobinator said:

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I do think once you get into the Saturday games you're getting into the territory where these guys aren't going to change the brackets up that much.

I think if we beat Kentucky again we probably avoid Dayton, but that's about as high as we can expect to climb.

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What about Sunday? Because if we actually beat Alabama in the semi's we ain't losing to Auburn or Tennessee, IMO.

I know you're kidding, but we actually benefited from these guys being pretty lazy on Sunday a while back. We had a pretty comparable resume to Kentucky in 2016 and they beat us in the SEC Championship Game but we ended up seeded ahead of them anyway.

So sounds like consensus (at least from the optomists) is:

Beat Ol Miss Thursday and lose to Kentucky Friday and we are likely in Dayton for a "first four" play-in game - though still some risk depending on other bubble team results.

Beat Ol Miss Thursday and Beat Kentucky Friday and definitely in as a solid 10 seed (I would argue we could get the lowest 9 seed in that scenario) - either way avoiding Dayton.

Make the SEC Tournament Finals and you contend they won't make us at least a 9 seed? (i.e. not wanting to mess with their brackets?)

WIN the SEC Tournament and what seed do you think they give us?

I also remember thinking we might've fallen to an 8 seed after Sexton hit the buzzer beater against us 2 years later. This is why I'm leaning more to the dark side with those that think the bracket is already set. I obviously don't think it's set now, but I do think it is on Friday.