The Southeastern Conference is sending three teams to the NCAA tournament — the lowest number of bids of any of the six power conferences. The Pac 10 and Big 12 each have the next lowest total with five. Three is also the SEC’s lowest number of bids since 1996. “We’ve all had opportunities to make it into the tournament,” said Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie. “This league has been really good for a long time. It is a year where we only got three teams into the tournament … but I don’t think there’s anything this league has to prove.”But all of the conference’s participants in the NCAA tournament — LSU, Mississippi State and Tennessee — could have a hard time hanging around for more than a few hours.    LSUIt’s well documented around Baton Rouge that the Tigers are going to Greensboro, N.C., as a No. 8 seed to face Butler.”Am I surprised? Yeah, I was,” said LSU coach Trent Johnson. “But we were in a situation where we lost three out of four games.”Johnson’s players mentioned Sunday they felt disrespected by the committee, and the Tigers will have the perfect opportunity to earn some clout. If the Tigers can get past the Bulldogs, they’ll likely face No. 1 seed North Carolina in a second-round matchup in UNC’s home away from home, the Greensboro Coliseum.    MISSISSIPPI STATE    The Bulldogs’ reward for their newly won SEC tournament championship is hardly a reward at all. Mississippi State must fly to Portland, Ore., as a No. 13 seed to face Pac 10 regular-season champion Washington. That’s a cross-country voyage of 2,436 miles compared to Washington’s 172-mile trip.”It’s going to be a big turnaround, having to play on opening day in the NCAA tournament after playing [Sunday]” said Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury. “But that option versus the other option is a good option.”    TENNESSEE    Volunteers coach Bruce Pearl is understandably aggravated about his team’s placement as a No. 9 seed. “We had the No. 1 strength of schedule out of conference,” Pearl said. “Could we have won a few more games? Sure. And that could have improved our seeding … But I think that both Tennessee and LSU probably deserved to move down a line or two.”Tennessee pulled off a 20-win season, won a share of the SEC East and advanced to the SEC tournament championship game, all despite a brutal non-conference schedule.The Volunteers have played nine games against tournament teams this season — No. 11 seed Temple, No. 6 seed Marquette, No. 3 seed Kansas, No. 2 seed Memphis, No. 8 seed LSU and a pair of games against No. 13 seed Mississippi State and No. 4 seed Gonzaga.It’s true the Volunteers went 2-7 against that competition, but they weren’t afraid to schedule it, which is more than any of the SEC’s other NCAA qualifiers.    SEC TOPS NIT    The SEC’s representatives in the National Invitation Tournament outnumber its members going to the NCAA tournament. Auburn and Florida each earned No. 1 seeds in the NIT after falling short for NCAA bids.SEC East co-champion South Carolina qualified for the NIT as a No. 3 seed. The Gamecocks have the pleasure of matching up with Stephen Curry, the shooting phenom who took Davidson to the Elite Eight last season before losing to Kansas.Kentucky, the conference’s most prestigious program, received a No. 4 seed to the NIT to face UNLV. The game will be held in Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Ky., because the Wildcats home venue, Rupp Arena, is booked for the state’s high school basketball championships.——Contact David Helman at [email protected]