March has arrived, and college basketball fans are salivating with the excitement of postseason play.It’s conference tournament time, and the Southeastern Conference matchups are set.The teams with first-round byes are No. 2 Kentucky (29-2, 14-2) and No. 20 Vanderbilt (23-7, 12-4), the top two seeds in the Eastern Division, and Mississippi State (21-10, 9-7) and Ole Miss (21-9, 9-7), the top two seeds in the Western Division.The other eight teams tip off the tournament Thursday in Nashville, Tenn., with matchups slated to begin at noon.GAMECOCKS, CRIMSON TIDE FACING OFF AGAINSEC East No. 5 South Carolina (15-15, 6-10) and SEC West No. 4 Alabama (16-14, 6-10) will be familiar foes when they open the SEC tournament Thursday at noon.The teams played each other in Columbia, S.C., on March 3, with Alabama winning, 79-70.South Carolina is coming off a 77-73 victory against Vanderbilt on Saturday. Senior guard Devan Downey scored 26 points en route to ending the Gamecocks’ six-game losing streak.Downey has scored in double figures in 29 of 30 games this season.”March is what everybody plays for,” South Carolina coach Darrin Horn said. “Hopefully getting a win on the road at Vanderbilt will give us some confidence and momentum heading into that first-round matchup.”Alabama is also coming off a win in its regular season finale Saturday, a 73-61 win against Auburn, and Crimson Tide coach Anthony Grant said his team will be prepared for the Gamecocks to be fired up Thursday.”We’ve got a lot of respect for their team,” Grant said. “Devan Downey, in my opinion, is one of the elite players in all of college basketball, not just the SEC. Certainly [South Carolina] is coming off a great win with great momentum for their team.”LSU COMING OFF SECOND CONFERENCE WINThe second matchup of the tournament will pit SEC West No. 6 LSU (11-19, 2-14) against SEC East No. 3 Tennessee (23-7, 11-5) at 2:15 p.m. Thursday.Both the Tigers and Volunteers finished their regular seasons with victories — LSU at home against Georgia, 50-48, and Tennessee on the road at Mississippi State, 75-59.Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl said preparing for Tasmin Mitchell and company will be tough, regardless of LSU’s lack of success this season.”I’m impressed that Trent [Johnson] has been able to keep those guys playing hard throughout the season and not worried about their record,” Pearl said. “As a coach who knows how tough it can be, I’m happy they finished the regular season feeling better about themselves.”FLORIDA GATORS FIGHTING FOR NCAA BERTHThe first evening game of the SEC tournament is between SEC West No. 5 Auburn (15-16, 6-10) and SEC East No. 4 Florida (20-11, 9-7) at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.Florida has been one of the teams on the bubble to get into the NCAA tournament in recent weeks. Kentucky coach John Calipari said the Gators should be “a shoo-in” for a bid if they can beat Auburn.Georgia coach Mark Fox also endorsed the Gators.”Florida deserves to go,” Fox said. “They’ve played in one of the toughest divisions in America, and they’ve got quality wins outside of league play. Every team has a bad loss somewhere along the way.”ARKANSAS PREPARES FOR GEORIGA  REMATCHThe final first-round matchup has SEC East No. 6 Georgia (13-16, 5-11) vs. SEC West No. 3 Arkansas (14-17, 7-9) at 8:45 p.m. Thursday.The teams faced off Feb. 3 in Athens, Ga., with Arkansas winning, 72-68. Georgia coach Mark Fox said the Bulldogs will be especially mindful of sophomore guards Courtney Fortson and Rotnei Clarke. “Courtney Fortson has had a huge year. He’s a real dynamic scorer who has made the guys around him better … and there’s maybe the best shooter in the country out there in Rotnei Clarke. We’re going to have to figure out a way to structure our defense.”
 
 
 
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