2008 SEC men's basketball tournament

Last updated

2008 SEC men's basketball tournament
2008SECBasketballTournament.png
Classification Division I
Season 200708
Teams12
Site Georgia Dome and
Alexander Memorial Coliseum (due to March 14 tornado)
Atlanta, Georgia
Champions Georgia (2nd title)
Winning coach Dennis Felton (1st title)
MVP Sundiata Gaines [1] (Georgia)
Top scorerSundiata Gaines [1] (Georgia)
(69 points)
Television Raycom/LF Sports, CBS, ESPN2
  2007
2009  
2007–08 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L PCTW L PCT
East
No. 5 Tennessee 142 .875315  .861
Kentucky 124 .7501813  .581
No. 19 Vanderbilt 106 .625268  .765
Florida 88 .5002412  .667
South Carolina 511 .3131418  .438
Georgia412 .2501717  .500
West
Mississippi State 124 .7502311  .676
Arkansas 97 .5632312  .657
Ole Miss 79 .4382411  .686
LSU 610 .3751318  .419
Alabama 511 .3131716  .515
Auburn 412 .2501416  .467
2008 SEC tournament winner
As of April 7, 2008
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2008 SEC men's basketball tournament took place on March 13–16, 2008, in Atlanta, Georgia. The University of Georgia, the improbable winner of the tournament, earned the Southeastern Conference's automatic bid to the 2008 NCAA tournament.

Contents

Synopsis

The tournament was originally scheduled to be played at the Georgia Dome, but a tornado struck downtown Atlanta on the night of March 14, while the third of four quarterfinal games was in overtime. While that game was completed, SEC officials decided not to risk playing the fourth game, between the University of Kentucky and University of Georgia. [2] That quarterfinal was subsequently postponed until Saturday morning. That game and all subsequent games were played at Alexander Memorial Coliseum on the campus of Georgia Tech, a school in the Atlantic Coast Conference (and coincidentally a former SEC member). Due to the smaller capacity, only the players' families, credentialed media, school officials and 400 fans from each school were allowed to attend the rest of the tournament. [3]

Georgia, which had a sub-.500 record (13–16, 4–12 in the SEC) going into the tournament and had to win the title to secure an NCAA Tournament bid, was forced to play and win three games in the space of 30 hours, including two games on Saturday — the original quarterfinal game against Kentucky that was postponed by the tornado and venue change, and the subsequent semifinal game. Coincidentally, Georgia won the SEC tournament championship on the home court of its bitter rival, Georgia Tech. This was Georgia's first SEC men's basketball tournament championship since 1983.

Television coverage

The first, quarterfinal, and semifinal rounds were televised by Raycom Sports, the successor to Lincoln Financial Sports (formerly Jefferson Pilot Sports), which folded into Raycom at the beginning of the year. The regular season preceding the tournament marks the 22nd season of the regionally syndicated package.

The SEC Championship Game was produced by CBS, but it was televised by ESPN2.

Final SEC Regular Season Standings and Awards

Standings

SEC East
SchoolCoachWLSeed
Tennessee Bruce Pearl 142E1
Kentucky Billy Gillispie 124E2
Vanderbilt Kevin Stallings 106E3
Florida Billy Donovan 88E4
South Carolina Dave Odom 511E5
Georgia Dennis Felton 412E6
SEC West
SchoolCoachWLSeed
Mississippi State Rick Stansbury 124W1
Arkansas John Pelphrey 97W2
Mississippi Andy Kennedy 79W3
LSU John Brady (fired Feb. 7)
Butch Pierre (interim)
610W4
Alabama Mark Gottfried 511W5
Auburn Jeff Lebo 412W6

Bracket

First round
March 13
Second round
March 14, 15 †
Semifinals
March 15
SEC Championship Game
March 16 ‡
            
W4 LSU 73
E5 South Carolina 77
E1 No. 4 Tennessee 89
E5 South Carolina 87
E1 No. 4 Tennessee 91
W2Arkansas92
W2 Arkansas 81
E3 No. 18 Vanderbilt 75
E3 No. 18 Vanderbilt 93
W6 Auburn 82
W2 Arkansas 57
E6Georgia66
E4 Florida 69
W5 Alabama 80
W1 Mississippi State 69*
W5 Alabama 67
W1 Mississippi State 60
E6Georgia64
E2 Kentucky 56
E6Georgia60*
W3 Ole Miss 95
E6 Georgia 97*

* Denotes game ended in overtime.
† Game originally scheduled for 9:45 p.m. the day before. Postponed due to tornado.
‡ - Game was originally to have been telecast on CBS.

All-Tournament Team

Sundiata Gaines, Georgia (Most Valuable Player)
Terrance Woodbury, Georgia
Charles Thomas, Arkansas
Darian Townes, Arkansas
Mykal Riley, Alabama

Game delays and relocation

A hiatus in the Alabama vs. Mississippi State quarterfinal on March 14, 2008. The team returned to the court at 10:30 p.m. the same night, and Mississippi State defeated Alabama 69-67 in overtime. 2008SECtournament.jpg
A hiatus in the Alabama vs. Mississippi State quarterfinal on March 14, 2008. The team returned to the court at 10:30 p.m. the same night, and Mississippi State defeated Alabama 69–67 in overtime.

During overtime of the Friday night quarterfinal between Mississippi State and Alabama, a tornado hit the Georgia Dome at 9:40 p.m. [4] The National Weather Service had issued a tornado warning at 9:26 p.m., because radar indicated a thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado. [5] The storm tore open a panel on the north side of the dome; sheared bolts and insulation fell into the arena. After the storm passed, the teams returned to the court at 10:30 and completed the game. [4]

The Kentucky–Georgia basketball game, originally scheduled for Friday night, was postponed. [6] It was rescheduled for Saturday at noon. Due to the severe damage suffered at the Georgia Dome, the remainder of the tournament was moved to Georgia Tech's Alexander Memorial Coliseum. The semifinals began at 6:00pm Saturday in Alexander Memorial Coliseum. Because the games were moved to a significantly smaller arena, only players' families & friends, bands, cheerleaders, and persons with working credentials were admitted. [7] [8] The SEC looked at several possible scenarios; one specifically mentioned by media involved playing only the Kentucky-Georgia game on Saturday, playing both semifinals on Sunday, and declaring the semifinal winners co-champions. However, tournament officials were told by the NCAA tournament selection committee (which included SEC commissioner Michael Slive) that it had to finish the tournament in order to preserve the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. [8]

The championship game was originally slated to be televised by CBS but was bumped to ESPN2 after the SEC opted to move the tip time to 3:30 p.m. (EDT). The move to ESPN2 was because CBS televised the Big Ten tournament final at 3:30 p.m. However, CBS still produced the game, with announcers Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery calling the game. In Arkansas and Georgia, the state's CBS affiliates simulcast the SEC final live rather than the Big Ten final (which aired later on tape delay). [9]

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References

  1. 1 2 "Georgia Wins SEC Men's Basketball Tournament". March 16, 2008. Archived from the original on March 20, 2008. Retrieved March 16, 2008.
  2. newsobserver.com | Georgia Tech hosting SEC Tournament
  3. ESPN - Georgia wins thriller over UK, but rare doubleheader peeves Felton - Men's College Basketball
  4. 1 2 Towers, Chip; Mike Knobler & Jeff Schultz (March 14, 2008). "Storm damages Ga. Dome, delays SEC game". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on May 10, 2008. Retrieved March 15, 2008.
  5. Schlabach, Mark (March 14, 2008). "SEC tournament delayed as Georgia Dome sustains damage". ESPN.com . Archived from the original on March 19, 2008. Retrieved March 15, 2008.
  6. "UGA game postponed until Saturday". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. March 14, 2008. Archived from the original on December 1, 2008. Retrieved March 15, 2008.
  7. Towers, Chip (March 14, 2008). "Dogs play at noon Saturday at Georgia Tech". Archived from the original on December 1, 2008. Retrieved March 15, 2008.
  8. 1 2 Katz, Andy (March 15, 2008). "Storm forces SEC tournament move, unusual twinbill". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on March 19, 2008. Retrieved March 15, 2008.
  9. "ESPN2 steps in to televise SEC title game Sunday". ESPN.com. March 15, 2008. Retrieved February 11, 2021.