South Carolina won their fourth straight SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament as they downed undefeated Mississippi State, 62-51, in the championship game Sunday in Nashville.
The Lady Bulldogs will definitely be one of the top four seeds in the NCAA tournament along with undefeated UConn. Louisville and Notre Dame could join the Lady Huskies and the Lady Bulldogs. The NCAA bracket will be announced on Monday, March 12, at 6 p.m. on ESPN.
Ole Miss, on the other hand, parted ways with women’s coach Matt Insell after a five-year tenure. The Lady Rebels ended the season at 1-15 in the SEC and 12-19 overall. Ole Miss last made the NCAA tournament in 2007.
MEN'S TOURNEY
BRACKETS SET
The SEC, Big 12 and Big East set their men’s basketball tournament brackets over the weekend.
In the SEC, Auburn and Tennessee tied for the regular season title. The Tigers own the top seed in the tournament, which begins Wednesday in St. Louis. Auburn has not won the SEC regular season since 1999, and this was only their third title in school history. Tennessee may be playing their best basketball as they won 11 of their last 13 games in tying Auburn for the regular season crown.
Kansas has the top seed in the Big 12, Xavier is the top seed in the Big East, and Cincinnati is the top seed in the American Athletic Conference. Michigan got a big start on the NCAA Tournament as they wrapped up the Big 10 crown with a win over No. 8 Purdue.
'DOGS HURT
NCAA CHANGES
The Mississippi State Bulldogs lost to Tennessee and LSU last week to doom their chances of a ticket to the “Big Dance.” The Bulldogs will go to the SEC tournament as the No. 7 seed and will face their final regular season opponent No. 10 seed LSU. The winner meets Tennessee. Ole Miss with their weekend loss to Vanderbilt finished last in the SEC and will battle No. 11 seed South Carolina. The winner moves on to face No. 6 seed Arkansas.
The SEC tournament is up for grabs this year more than ever before. Auburn, Tennessee, Florida, Kentucky, Arkansas, Texas A&M and hometown favorite Missouri all have chances to cut down the nets and earn their ticket to “March Madness.”
C-USA EVENTS
THIS WEEK
The C-USA tournament for the guys and ladies are this week in Frisco, Texas, at the Star. The No. 9 seed USM Golden Eagles will face FIU on Wednesday, and the winner will meet No. 1 seed Middle Tennessee. The Lady Eagles are a No. 8 seed and will face UTEP, with the winner meeting regular season champion UAB.]
Dale McKee, a resident of Waynesboro, has covered Mississippi sports for more than 40 years. He writes a weekly sports column. You can contact Dale at
ddmckee18@yahoo.com
