As previewed by the SCGD yesterday, Indiana State-Wichita State proved to be a good game, with the Sycamores picking up the huge road victory and positioning themselves back into the picture for at-large consideration come Selection Sunday.
Tonight, the SCGD turns to another small conference…or at least a conference that has played like one all season. While this league features a team that has a great shot at winning it all this season, and the team that cut down the nets last year, after the top 3 or 4 teams in this 14 team league, there quite frankly is noone worthy of serious discussion. And a conference with 10 teams that, in late January, have already guaranteed their best seasons will end in the NIT is, in my opinion, worthy of being honored as a Small Conference.
Of course, the league we are discussing is the SEC and the featured game of the night is none other than the true snoozer expected between Auburn and Georgia (7:00PM Eastern, espn3). Both teams enter the game at 8-11 overall and 2-4 in conference. Auburn is 169 in the KenPom and 213 in RPI. They have lost to Rhode Island, Winthrop and DePaul, and their best win is over Florida State. Georgia enters with a 144 KenPom, a 149 RPI, losses to Youngstown State, Mississippi State and South Florida, and their best win is their last game when they won at Texas A&M.
In terms of postseason implications, this game probably does not have any. Theoretically, if one of these teams can get over .500 on the year, they may be a candidate for an NIT or CBI bid, but that is about the only thing that can be said about either one. Of course, it would be one thing if these were the only two bad teams in the SEC, but when you add in disastrous seasons so far by Mississippi State, LSU, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, South Carolina, and more, there really is no doubt that this league is deserving of at least this one appearance in the SCGD.