Mizzou will have a battle on their hands as they face Texas A & M in their first SEC Tournament game

Mizzou will have a battle on their hands as they face Texas A & M in their first SEC Tournament game

Ah, the dreaded 8-9 matchup in every tournament bracket. The Missouri Tigers finished the SEC regular season as the eight seed following their loss at Tennessee which dropped them to 9-9 in the conference. Because of their two losses to LSU and Ole Miss, they drop the tie-breaker, which could have had the Tigers as high as the sixth seed.

Now, Mizzou will have a rematch with Texas A & M…a team that is going to be gunning for this one. Last Wednesday, they led at Mizzou Arena for 39 minutes and 52 seconds, only to lose.

What makes this matchup difficult is the Tigers will have to face the number one seed and undefeated Florida Gators (18-0), should Mizzou get past the Aggies. Some will argue, just how motivated will the Gators be to play a long draining SEC Tournament now that they have their sights set on a bigger prize? Believe they’ll be motivated. A number seed in the NCAA’s is up for grabs.  Billy Donovan will have them ready to play in their first game.

The Gators are coming off their biggest home win in school history, where tickets on the street were going for a reported $500 on Saturday. Florida walloped Kentucky 84-65.

Maybe I’m looking too far past A & M. The Aggies have a score to settle and Mizzou is reeling. The Tigers feel they have to win all four games if they want a shot at the NCAA Tournament…they may not leave Atlanta with one.

SEC Tournament schedule

FIRST ROUND – March 12 (Wednesday)
Game 1                #12 Auburn vs. #13 South Carolina [SEC TV]  7:00 p.m. ET
Game 2                #11 Vanderbilt vs. #14 Mississippi State [SEC TV]               
 
SECOND ROUND – March 13 (Thursday)
Game 3                #8 Missouri vs. #9 Texas A&M [SEC TV] 1:00 pm ET
Game 4                Game 1 Winner vs. #5 Arkansas [SEC TV]   25 min after G3
Game 5                #7 LSU vs. #10 Alabama [SEC TV]   7:00 p.m. ET
Game 6                Game 2 Winner vs. #6 Ole Miss [SEC TV]   25 min after G5
 
QUARTERFINALS – March 14 (Friday)
Game 7                Game 3 Winner vs. #1 Florida [ESPNU]   1:00 pm ET
Game 8                Game 4 Winner vs. #4 Tennessee [ESPNU]  25 min after G7
Game 9                Game 5 Winner vs. #2 Kentucky [SEC TV]   7:00 p.m. ET
Game 10              Game 6 Winner vs. #3 Georgia [SEC TV]  25 min after G9
 
SEMIFINALS – March 15 (Saturday)
Game 11              Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner [ABC]  1:00 pm ET
Game 12              Game 9 Winner vs. Game 10 Winner [ABC]  25 min after G11
 
FINALS – March 16 (Sunday)
Game 13              Game 11 Winner vs. Game 12 Winner [ESPN]  3:15 pm ET
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