It has been said that there are no good teams in the SEC this year.
But the NIT doesn’t care about good teams.
It cares about the right teams.
And the SEC’s got a whole lot of those.
LSU – 0.9% NIT-Likely Entering Today
Doesn’t look like we’ll get the football/basketball national championship-combo, friends.
Florida – 7.1% NIT-Likely
The good news for Florida: They aren’t all that good.
The other good news for Florida: Losing to Mississippi or Georgia might be enough.
The bad news for Florida: It is difficult to lose to Mississippi or Georgia, even if one is not that good.
Arkansas – 70.0% NIT-Likely, Projected One-Seed
One thing that makes Arkansas’s chances a little narrower is how many of its losses came without Isaiah Joe. Our model doesn’t capture that. So. They might really need to lose tomorrow to South Carolina.
Mississippi State – 75.2% NIT-Likely, Projected Two-Seed
Mississippi State has a little bit of risk this week—beating Florida might not be a good idea, and making the championship game probably isn’t a good idea—but they’re a team to watch. Nick Weatherspoon’s trying to finish what Quinndary started.
South Carolina – 83.7% NIT-Likely, Projected Four-Seed
Speaking of South Carolina (before we spoke about Mississippi State—sorry, missed them on the first draft, and I was not about to rewrite a transition at this hour), they’re in the thick of it. Can probably get away with a win over Arkansas, but should really read the room before taking down LSU.
Tennessee – 89.1% NIT-Likely, Projected Four-Seed
Good old Rocky Top. Tennessee’s almost definitely in. One of the hardest teams to see finding their way out at this point. Great work by the Vol’s, especially after things looked kind of grim at times.
Alabama – 75.4% NIT-Likely, Projected Five-Seed
The Tide are not rolling. But that’s ok. They’ve probably done enough. Would it help to beat Tennessee? Yes. Do they need to? Not necessarily.
Georgia – 8.8% NIT-Likely
Missouri – 8.2% NIT-Likely
Texas A&M – 4.3% NIT-Likely
Mississippi – 3.9% NIT-Likely
There’s a chance for all these. Georgia has the best angle. Texas A&M has played the best recently (but whoa, were they ever bad in November). Mizzou and Mississippi also exist.
