Will winning the SEC Tournament be a liability in the NCAAT

#1
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G the Bruce

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#1
With the SEC becoming the premier basketball conference, is playing the SEC tournament going to become like the football championship in the new playoff world - games with little upside and a lot of downside for the top seeds. Whoever wins the tournament or comes in second is going to have to endure 3 to 4 days of brutal SEC basketball. If their first game in the NCAAT starts on the following Thursday, they will have no time to rest, and will immediately have to begin preparing for their first round opponent. One which will likely play a different style of basketball than SEC opponents. Last year, Auburn and Florida played in the SEC final and they both lost in the first round less than a week later - with Auburn getting embarrassed by ahem- Yale. There’s the risk of injury -Florida lost one of their best players in the final. Then there’s seeding. Will Auburn maintain the number 1 seed in the NCAAT if they lose in the first round of this years tournament? How does Auburn benefit from this tournament if they win the regular season championship- a much more significant accomplishment? They certainly won’t if Broome gets hurt. Tennessee and Alabama both lost in the SEC quarterfinals last year, but both made it to the elite eight in the NCAAT. Winning this years tournament will be a major accomplishment, but will it be worth it if it costs your team a deep run in the NCAAT? Should the SEC look at shortening the regular season and playing this tournament a week earlier?
 
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#2
#2
G the Bruce said:
With the SEC becoming the premier basketball conference, is playing the SEC tournament going to become like the football championship in the new playoff world - games with little upside and a lot of downside for the top seeds. Whoever wins the tournament or comes in second is going to have to endure 3 to 4 days of brutal SEC basketball. If their first game in the NCAAT starts on the following Thursday, they will have no time to rest, and will immediately have to begin preparing for their first round opponent. One which will likely play a different style of basketball than SEC opponents. Last year, Auburn and Florida played in the SEC final and they both lost in the first round less than a week later - with Auburn getting embarrassed by ahem- Yale. There’s the risk of injury -Florida lost one of their best players in the final. Then there’s seeding. Will Auburn maintain the number 1 seed in the NCAAT if they lose in the first round of this years tournament? How does Auburn benefit from this tournament if they win the regular season championship- a much more significant accomplishment? They certainly won’t if Broome gets hurt. Tennessee and Alabama both lost in the SEC quarterfinals last year, but both made it to the elite eight in the NCAAT. Winning this years tournament will be a major accomplishment, but will it be worth it if it costs your team a deep run in the NCAAT? Should the SEC look at shortening the regular season and playing this tournament a week earlier?
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You make a valid point about going through the grind of the SECT then having to prepare for the NCAAT. Although at the end of the day players and coaches want to play anyone, anytime, anywhere in March - more games means you’re winning and advancing.

No, the SEC won’t shorten the regular season or move up the tournament, unless they want to break their 10-year contract with Bridgestone Arena while being ridiculed by the rest of college basketball and losing money in the process. Without looking it up, I’m willing to bet more national champions win their conference tournament than don’t. And besides, just because the league is dominant this year doesn’t mean teams are playing more games - the 1-4 seeds still only have to win three games to win the tourney and the 5-8 seeds still have to win four.

And no, Auburn will not give up their #1 seed if they lose their first SECT game. They are as close to a lock as you can get to be the overall #1 seed, IMO.
 
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#3
#3
G the Bruce said:
With the SEC becoming the premier basketball conference, is playing the SEC tournament going to become like the football championship in the new playoff world - games with little upside and a lot of downside for the top seeds. Whoever wins the tournament or comes in second is going to have to endure 3 to 4 days of brutal SEC basketball. If their first game in the NCAAT starts on the following Thursday, they will have no time to rest, and will immediately have to begin preparing for their first round opponent. One which will likely play a different style of basketball than SEC opponents. Last year, Auburn and Florida played in the SEC final and they both lost in the first round less than a week later - with Auburn getting embarrassed by ahem- Yale. There’s the risk of injury -Florida lost one of their best players in the final. Then there’s seeding. Will Auburn maintain the number 1 seed in the NCAAT if they lose in the first round of this years tournament? How does Auburn benefit from this tournament if they win the regular season championship- a much more significant accomplishment? They certainly won’t if Broome gets hurt. Tennessee and Alabama both lost in the SEC quarterfinals last year, but both made it to the elite eight in the NCAAT. Winning this years tournament will be a major accomplishment, but will it be worth it if it costs your team a deep run in the NCAAT? Should the SEC look at shortening the regular season and playing this tournament a week earlier?
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It's not as big a deal as football. TX ended up having to play an extra game this year, because they lost the SECC and an extra game in football is a much bigger deal. If they expand the playoffs beyond 12 games it's hard to see how they make that happen without shortening the season.
 
#6
#6
99gator said:
I've always thought this, but in my school's history, they only made the final four once when they did not advance to the SEC tournament final (2000)
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You guys can have Billy Donovan back. As a Bulls fan...I'm not impressed. All he's done is lose. Yes, I am aware what a great college coach he was.
 
#8
#8
G the Bruce said:
With the SEC becoming the premier basketball conference, is playing the SEC tournament going to become like the football championship in the new playoff world - games with little upside and a lot of downside for the top seeds. Whoever wins the tournament or comes in second is going to have to endure 3 to 4 days of brutal SEC basketball. If their first game in the NCAAT starts on the following Thursday, they will have no time to rest, and will immediately have to begin preparing for their first round opponent. One which will likely play a different style of basketball than SEC opponents. Last year, Auburn and Florida played in the SEC final and they both lost in the first round less than a week later - with Auburn getting embarrassed by ahem- Yale. There’s the risk of injury -Florida lost one of their best players in the final. Then there’s seeding. Will Auburn maintain the number 1 seed in the NCAAT if they lose in the first round of this years tournament? How does Auburn benefit from this tournament if they win the regular season championship- a much more significant accomplishment? They certainly won’t if Broome gets hurt. Tennessee and Alabama both lost in the SEC quarterfinals last year, but both made it to the elite eight in the NCAAT. Winning this years tournament will be a major accomplishment, but will it be worth it if it costs your team a deep run in the NCAAT? Should the SEC look at shortening the regular season and playing this tournament a week earlier?
Click to expand...
Winning the conference tournament is nice and all but to me it's not worth risking the injury to a player. Ultimately, all anyone ever remembers is the big dance so in my eyes what ever is best for you with that goal in mind is what matters.
Take KY for example, losing first game and giving their fragile azz guys some rest and a chance to avoid more injury would probably benefit them the most.
Only time I would want to necessarily win is if it would help get a #1 seed. That's just my two cents on it.
 
#10
#10
G the Bruce said:
With the SEC becoming the premier basketball conference, is playing the SEC tournament going to become like the football championship in the new playoff world - games with little upside and a lot of downside for the top seeds. Whoever wins the tournament or comes in second is going to have to endure 3 to 4 days of brutal SEC basketball. If their first game in the NCAAT starts on the following Thursday, they will have no time to rest, and will immediately have to begin preparing for their first round opponent. One which will likely play a different style of basketball than SEC opponents. Last year, Auburn and Florida played in the SEC final and they both lost in the first round less than a week later - with Auburn getting embarrassed by ahem- Yale. There’s the risk of injury -Florida lost one of their best players in the final. Then there’s seeding. Will Auburn maintain the number 1 seed in the NCAAT if they lose in the first round of this years tournament? How does Auburn benefit from this tournament if they win the regular season championship- a much more significant accomplishment? They certainly won’t if Broome gets hurt. Tennessee and Alabama both lost in the SEC quarterfinals last year, but both made it to the elite eight in the NCAAT. Winning this years tournament will be a major accomplishment, but will it be worth it if it costs your team a deep run in the NCAAT? Should the SEC look at shortening the regular season and playing this tournament a week earlier?
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Paragraphs please.
 
#12
#12
Kicker82 said:
Any team that shoots the 3 well will be a problem for our team in the sec or NCAA tourney
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Any team that shoots the 3 well against us will be a problem, however we have the 3rd best 3 point defense % in the NCAA, while facing more 3 point attempts than 95% of the NCAA. It's tough to be better than we are against the 3, but it doesn't feel like that right now because our last 2 games were two of our worst 3 point defense performances.
 
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