Starting Five: Bubble teams fight for March
02/28/2025
By Chris Marler
There are only two Saturdays left in the SEC basketball regular season, and boy oh boy is this weekend a good one in the league. There are three top twenty matchups, several potential trap games on the road, and one game in Lexington looking to end nearly a 40 year streak. Here are the five things we’re looking forward to most this weekend in SEC basketball.
- Snapping Streaks in Rupp
“It’s not revenge he’s after. It’s a reckoning.”
That line from Doc Holliday in Tombstone may be the perfect way to sum up the attitude of this Auburn program, fanbase, and team as they head to Lexington, Kentucky this weekend. Auburn is the best team in the country. They are also one of the best teams of all-time heading into March. Their 15 Quad Wins are two shy of the all-time record and they still have three games left in the regular season and a trip to Nashville for the SEC tournament. They could legitimately end up with 20 before the NCAA Tournament.
First, they have to make a trip to Rupp Arena. To say the Tigers have struggled in Lexington is the understatement of the century. The Tigers have struggled in Rupp Arena like Nick Saban kickers have struggled in Jordan-Hare Stadium. Auburn hasn’t won at Kentucky since 1988. That will end Saturday.
- Bama begins their gauntlet
Alabama heads to Knoxville to play a top five Tennessee team Saturday. Wildly enough, that’s their easiest game of their final three to close out the regular season. After their trip to Rocky Top they get No. 3 Florida at home, before closing the regular season at No. 1 Auburn in Neville Arena. Alabama is still on the one seed line, while Tennessee and Florida both dropped to No. 2 seeds. The Tide desperately need a win in one of those last three games. It won’t be easy to get it Saturday, as Alabama has lost three straight to the Vols and are just 1-4 in their last five games in Knoxville.
- Into the thick of it
Only two teams in the conference have a current winning streak over two games, Auburn (5) and Tennessee (3). The throes of the 2025 SEC schedule have been difficult for everyone. To show how competitive the league has been, just look at the other side of the spectrum for the losing streaks. While only two teams have won three or more games in a row, only two teams have lost three or more in a row, as well. Texas A&M and Ole Miss hold that distinction. It’s further proof of just how competitive the league has been, especially in February.
- Bubble teams in bad spots
There are four bubble teams right on the cusp of making the tournament according to Joe Lunardi’s bracketology. Those teams are Georgia, Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas. Two of those teams play on the road and the other two play each other. All four teams need wins.
As of Friday, the last team in the field according to Lunardi is Texas. The first team out is Georgia. Those two face off in Austin at 7 PM CT. Talk about kicking off March with a bang.
- Who’s on upset alert
Missouri. Missouri has been a great team all season long. However, they are walking into a house of horrors in Memorial Gymnasium. Vanderbilt has knocked off Texas, three top 35 teams, and two top ten teams at home in Memorial this season. Missouri has been awesome this season. However, they’ve been especially awesome at home as the Tigers have gone 18-1 in Columbia this year. Five of their six losses this season have come away from home. Will we see some Memorial Magic one more time?
