Paul Finebaum reveals if opening weekend of NCAA Tournament changed his view of the SEC
When the SEC got eight teams into the NCAA Tournament, it was a huge success for the league. Many were highly seeded and had a chance of making a deep run. However, just three teams made it past the first round and now, just Alabama and Tennessee are in the Sweet Sixteen.
The two major upsets of the weekend — both saw SEC teams falling. Auburn and Kentucky lost to Yale and Oakland respectfully, crashing out as heavy favorites. This led to the national perception changing regarding the SEC’s basketball season, something Paul Finebaum pushed back on.
“No. I thought it was a great year. I know it’s easy for the pundits, almost as a group, to take shots because of what happened to Kentucky and, obviously, Auburn. But it’s still to be determined. If Tennessee, Alabama, or both end up going to the Final Four? It’s a completely different narrative,” Finebaum said.
Sure, March has not been kind to the SEC but Finebaum argues the other four months on the college basketball calendar have been. Metrics like KenPom have loved the conference’s top teams all season long, even during the nonconference play.
March is March for a reason though, even if Finebaum disagrees.
“College basketball is very much back-ended where people remember what you did in late March and early April,” Finebaum said. “What you did in November, December, and even the first week or two of March is not that important. I just thought it was a complete overdrive the other day.”
Texas A&M was not too far off from making the Sweet Sixteen itself. Buzz Williams’ squad took one-seed Houston to overtime after a game-tying shot at the buzzer in regulation. The Cougars eventually prevailed but five minutes going differently could have changed the narrative in Finebaum’s eyes.
Alabama and Tennessee still remain in the field but have tough matchups upcoming. Two more wins by either and they will be the SEC’s first Final Four representative since Auburn in 2019.
“Texas A&M was a shot away from having three teams in the Sweet Sixteen,” Finebaum said. “I don’t think much has changed, especially since I think one of these two has a really good chance of getting to the Final Four.”
Eight different conferences have members in the Sweet Sixteen. The ACC leads the way with four, including Alabama’s Thursday night opponent, North Carolina. Tennessee will face Creighton from the Big East.