The Southeastern Conference tournament starts today as a chance for some teams to pad their NCAA tournament résumés and a second chance for others to enter the Big Dance.Each team in this tournament has something to play for, which should make for exciting matchups through all its rounds. Here’s how it will unroll:ROUND 1The first-round matchups are exciting. The first game pits the SEC’s No. 2 defense, Alabama, against the conference’s leading scorer South Carolina senior guard Devan Downey. As Downey goes, so go the Gamecocks. The Crimson Tide’s defense should slow Downey down just enough to take a comfortable lead and cruise to victory as they head to face a waiting Kentucky. Florida’s size advantage will prove too much for Auburn, which relies on the shooting of its senior guards Tay Waller and Dewayne Reed. Florida will have no problem controlling the pace of the game and should be able to execute whatever it wants on offense. The Gators have the best assist/turnover ratio in the conference. Quickness will be the key for Arkansas as it will beat Georgia in a close game. The Bulldogs this season have tended to play to their competition as they have lost to Auburn and LSU but beaten teams like Tennessee, Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt.LSU will pull off one of the biggest upsets of the season as they will beat Tennessee. It seems extremely far fetched, but the Tigers played the Volunteers well when they came to the PMAC. The memory of that game combined with the emotions of this potentially being LSU senior forward Tasmin Mitchell’s last game in an LSU uniform might just be enough to carry the Tigers to the second round.
ROUND 2The tournament’s No. 1 seed Kentucky should run all over Alabama. The Tide will have no answer for the SEC Player of the Year, John Wall, and the SEC Freshman of the Year, DeMarcus Cousins.Luck would seem to be on LSU’s side as it plays an Ole Miss team it has played well against twice this season. The problem for LSU this season is it hasn’t been able to put together a complete game against a tough opponent. The Tigers will ride the high of the Tennessee upset to pull off another shocker and make the quarterfinals of the SEC tourney.Mississippi State will face a solid Florida team that matches up well against the Gators, but the Bulldogs will get the best of this one. The defending SEC tournament champs’ strong interior defense spearheaded by the NCAA’s all-time leading shot blocker Jarvis Varnado will make it hard for the Gators to execute the offense they want to, and the veteran guards of Mississippi State will out play Florida’s guards. Vanderbilt will beat Arkansas. The Commodores are a complete team with a veteran presence that will carry them past the talented but young Razorback team.
ROUND 3The miracle run ends here for LSU. Kentucky will jump out early on LSU and not allow the Tigers back in the game. Cousins will have a big game because Kentucky will make it hard for LSU’s leading scorers to get comfortable. Mississippi State versus Vanderbilt will be the exact opposite. The teams match up well against one another — they are almost mirror images of each other. Both teams have a veteran big man in the middle. Both have a group of talented guards, and both have talented players they can bring off the bench. The Bulldogs will come out on top in the end.
ROUND 4The SEC title game between the Wildcats and Bulldogs will be physical. The earlier matchup between these two teams was intense. Fans threw objects on the court, the game went into overtime and both teams left everything on the court. But the postseason meeting will have a different outcome. The Bulldogs will finish on top this time. As talented as the Wildcats are, their inexperience will be the downfall in the postseason. Forget the fact they are not a good shooting 3-point team — seventh in the SEC — they haven’t responded well to pressure. The Wildcats were continuously attacked by their opponents and folded in their two losses this season.Mississippi State’s experience will be the factor that earns it their second-straight SEC tournament crown.
Amos Morale is a 22-year-old history senior from Houston. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_amosmorale3.
 
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