Southeastern conference tournament

This is part 16 of a 32-part series covering each conference and conference tournament.  These previews are meant to provide every bracketologist with the information they need to make informed projections about the teams of the conference.

The standings:
Florida 18-0
Kentucky 12-6
Georgia 12-6
Tennessee 11-7
Arkansas 10-8
Ole Miss 9-9
LSU 9-9
Missouri 9-9
Texas A&M 8-10
Alabama 7-11
Vanderbilt 7-11
Auburn 6-12
South Carolina 5-13
Mississippi St 3-15

Yup.  Georgia was tied for 2nd in this conference.  GEORGIA.  SECOND.

Tournament format:
With 14 teams, you have to use the double bye system.  Top 4 seeds get a double bye to the quarterfinals, seeds 5 through 10 get a single bye.  This is played at a neutral site (Atlanta) from March 12 to 16.  (yes, it's awhile before it starts, but I want to space out the larger previews for all the top conferences)

The matchups:
12) Auburn (14-15) vs. 13) South Carolina (12-19)
11) Vanderbilt (15-15) vs. 14) Mississippi St (13-18)

8) Missouri (21-10) vs. 9) Texas A&M (17-14)
5) Arkansas (21-10) vs. 12/13 winner
7) LSU (18-12) vs. 10) Alabama (13-18)
6) Ole Miss (18-13) vs. 11/14 winner

1) Florida (29-2) vs. 8/9 winner
4) Tennessee (20-11) vs. 5/12/13 winner
2) Kentucky (22-9) vs. 7/10 winner
3) Georgia (18-12) vs. 6/11/14 winner

The stakes:
Florida will be a 1 seed.  Kentucky is somewhere in the field.  They're too boring to talk about.  Let's get to the bubble implications.  I'll break it down per quarter of the bracket.

1/8/9 corner of the bracket:  needless to say, Missouri is now in desperate situations.  They have a sweep of Arkansas in their hip pocket, plus the UCLA win, but nothing else that will help them on the bubble.  They've got A&M and then Florida.  Pretty simple - win both and you're right on the edge, maybe needing one more.

4/5/12/13 corner of the bracket:  assuming Arkansas can handle their business against a 12/13 winner, we get Arkansas/Tennessee.  That's a play-in game - winner goes to the NCAA tournament, IMO.  Loser could still be in too, by the way.  Arkansas dropped a stinker at Bama but built up a lot of equity before then, with road wins and Kentucky wins.  Tennessee is a bit dicier with Virginia acting as its crutch.

2/7/10 corner of the bracket:  LSU is barely breathing, and beating Kentucky probably isn't enough.  Say hi to the NIT.

3/6/11/14 corner of the bracket:  Georgia and Ole Miss end up here and out of the bubble teams' way.  Very convenient.  I thought a legit bubble team might get stuck with the 6 seed, and playing Georgia would've been a stroke of really bad luck.  That 6 seed would've needed a quality win in this game, and Georgia can't supply that.  But with Ole Miss here, no worries.

NIT considerations?  Obviously whoever doesn't get in of Arkansas, Tennessee, and Missouri goes there.  LSU goes there.  Doesn't Georgia have to go?  Tied for 2nd in the SEC dwarfs the actual crappy resume.  And with 3 or 4 SEC teams already in, is Ole Miss actually in danger?  Probably not.  The SEC is absolutely going to invade the NIT, with everyone mentioned above likely for selection.  Sigh.

SEC teams historically turn down CBI bids, which could be a shame for Texas A&M and Vanderbilt, teams who don't merit a NIT bid (partly because of the congestion detailed above).  I'll project them in the CBI field until further notice.