Friday Updated SEC Tournament Bracket, Schedule and Open Thread

Here’s your recap of Thursday:

• Arkansas blew their free throws at the end of the game, gave up a 6-0 run in the waning seconds and lost a game that they had dead to rights. Absolutely brutal way to get sent home by Ole Miss.
• As expected, the game of the day was Oklahoma-Kentucky. Two weeks after playing a one-pointer in Norman, the teams reprised that effort with another one-point Kentucky win, decided on a last-second buzzer-beater from All-SEC G Otega Oweh…the one-time Sooner. Oklahoma has now lost six games by a combined 14 points. They are closer to the top third of the conference than the bottom third. Huge potential to wreck teams if they get in the NCAA tournament.
• Your coaching malpractice of the day came in one of the upsets, as Texas knocked off Texas A&M. Texas also improbably keeps their season alive, moving to 19 wins on the year. And, yeah, we could very well see 14 SEC teams in the Tournament this year — likely 13, perhaps 12 on the outside. But the ‘Horns and Sooners have both looked the part of solid at-large teams in the SECT.
• Mizzou leaned into their size and absolutely smoked Mississippi State in the post. It didn’t help that Hubbard was the only offensive option that decided to show up in Nashville for Moo U.

Here are today’s matchups:

• Like we said earlier this week, if Alabama and Kentucky don’t play in the SEC Tournament, did it even happen? We’ll have the preview for that later in the afternoon. This is your game of the day, for sure if you like basketball instead of….
• A super-obnoxious wrestling match between Auburn and Ole Miss — you could not pay me to watch that trash. Okay, I will watch, just to see Bruce Pearl whine about physical play as his group of soft headcases lobs cheap shots at everyone on the floor.
• Ball hog Tre Johnson meets Zakai Zeigler and the Turnover Crew from Knoxville. Given the Vols lack of offensive options, and the Horns improved play late, that could be a bit of a trap.
• Florida and Missouri meet again, with the MU frontcourt able to create problems for the Gators. Their defense is woeful, and UF should be able to weather the storm, but this is an interesting matchup (even if I suspect Florida is an infinitely better team). These aren’t the same teams they were 5-6 weeks ago.

Here’s our team-by-team preview and round-by-round predictions:

Here’s your updated bracket:

Here’s your schedule (all times Eastern):

• Game 9: No. 1 Auburn vs. No. 8 Ole Miss| 1 p.m. on ESPN
• Game 10: No. 4 Tennessee vs. No. 13 Texas | 25 minutes after Game 9 on ESPN
• Game 11: No. 2 Florida vs. Missouri| 7 p.m. on SEC Network
• Game 12: No. 3 Alabama vs. Game 8 winner | 25 minutes after Game 11 on SEC Network

And here’s your open thread for the day.

Have a great one, and Row Tahd