Bubble, UK talk highlight SEC tourney

Somebody asked me on the last post what the weather was like down here in Tampa. Gorgeous. OK? I just didn’t want to rub it in. But my day is about to be spent inside at the St. Pete Times Forum.

Georgia (12-19, 3-13 SEC) is scheduled to tip off against Mississippi State (19-12, 9-7) at 3:15 p.m. Kentucky (19-12, 8-8) opens play at 1 p.m. against Ole Miss (16-14, 7-9). Alabama-Vanderbilt and Florida-Arkansas round out the night session.

Here are your main storylines:

• Kentucky’s situation has gotten real interesting. Let’s just say a loss to Ole Miss today could be disastrous both for the Wildcats’ postseason hopes and for coach Billy Gillispie’s job security. Talk of the Big Blue’s dissatisfaction with Gillispie is rampant down here. Same goes for AD Mitch Barnhart.

• How many SEC teams will get into the NCAA tournament? Regular-season champion LSU (25-6, 13-3) is really the only one assured. Tennessee (19-11, 10-6) and South Carolina (21-8, 10-6), co-East champs, look well-positioned. After that it’s a crapshoot. Florida (22-9, 9-7), Auburn (21-10, 10-6) and Kentucky all would appear to have work to do.

• It’s being called one of the most wide-open tournament fields ever in the SEC. Of course, it seems like that’s what they say every year. But consider that champion LSU has lost two in a row coming in and some of the best basketball has been played by bottom-half teams like Alabama and Vanderbilt, anything can happen.

• As I wrote yesterday, everybody’s wondering who could be this year’s Georgia. Of course, after what we witnessed last season, we know it’s not beyond the realm of possibility it could be Georgia again. I’m saying Bama or Vandy has the best chance.

• What kind of attendance will the tournament draw? In this down economy it was a really tough year to bring the event this far south. But who could have known that five years ago when the decision was made to come here?

The Bulldogs’ game will be on TV (FSN South I’m fairly certain). So be sure to tune in then and I’ll provide some updates and cutting-edge insight (or at least tell you what I think is going on) during the game.

In the meantime, here’s some links:

The Athens Banner-Herald reports that Georgia is going to employ something called the “Functional Movement Screen” to help identify players that might be injury prone. It’s obviously a year too late since the Bulldogs have had something like 35 injuries last season. But the story provides a good comprehensive breakdown of the injuries Georgia has endured and is still enduring heading into spring practice. . . .

Georgia is holding its Pro Day on March 19 in Athens. Here ESPN’s Mel Kiper talks about several of the Dogs up for this year’s draft. . . .

There is a very revealing story about former Bulldog Charles Grant in the Albany Herald. Once you get past the lead-in on Grant’s foundation event for children, he opens up about the ongoing legal maneuverings from the shooting death he witnessed at a bar in Blakely. He also talks about the accidental shooting death of his little brother when Grant was a little boy. . . .

The statue of Syracuse great Ernie Davis has been returned to its spot on campus. It had to be taken down to have the Nike swooshes and facemask removed. After all, Nike wasn’t around 1959-61. . . .

Meanwhile, the undefeated Diamond Dogs roll on.