Jackson Free Press

The regular season is over for the SEC women’s basketball teams. This week the http://www.secsports.com/bracket/womens-basketball">conference will hold its tournament in Greenville, SC., from March 1 to March 5.

Winning the tournament means getting the SEC’s automatic bid into the NCAA Women’s Division I Basketball Tournament. That automatic bid will be important for a team that is currently outside the projections to make the tournament.

In the latest http://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/bracketology">ESPN Bracketology for the women’s tournament, eight SEC teams could end up in the field. Those eight need to make sure a surprise team doesn’t steal the automatic bid and possibly knock them out of the tournament.

Those teams are Mississippi State University, Texas A&M University, Auburn University, the University of Kentucky, the University of South Carolina, the University of Tennessee and the University of Missouri, which also happen to be the top eight teams in the conference standings.

None of the teams http://www.secsports.com/bracket/womens-basketball">playing on the opening day of the tournament are from our state, so let’s skip to day two when http://www.secsports.com/bracket/womens-basketball">10th-seed University of Mississippi faces seventh-seed Louisiana State University.

The Rebels might make the tournament if they can reach the championship game, but at http://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/team/schedule/_/id/145">17-12 overall and 6-10 in conference, they more than likely need to win the whole thing. UM is 10th in the conference and behind the http://www.secsports.com/bracket/womens-basketball">University of Georgia, the eighth seed, and ninth-seed Auburn.

The latest http://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/bracketology">Bracketology says Auburn is in the tournament, but the team faces Georgia, which is also 7-9 in SEC play. The Tigers are 17-13 overall and the Bulldogs of Georgia are 15-14. An opening-game lose for Auburn could knock the team out of the tournament and open the door for another one.

The Rebels enter the tournament after a http://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/team/schedule/_/id/145">62-49 win over Texas A&M at the end of the regular season. UM is 4-6 in its last 10 games, which won’t look good to the committee. The team struggled in conference play after going http://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/team/schedule/_/id/145">12-2 in the nonconference slate.

If the http://www.secsports.com/bracket/womens-basketball">Rebels happen to get past LSU, they will have Mississippi State waiting for them in the quarterfinals on March 3. In two games against the Bulldogs, UM has lost by 11 points in the first meeting and 22 points in the second meeting.

But there is hope for the team.

MSU enters the tournament as the second seed but has http://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/team/schedule/_/id/344">lost two straight games heading into the postseason. That is not how you want to end the regular season and go into the conference tournament.

Teams want to be peaking at this time of year. Instead the MSU Bulldogs went from playing for the conference title to http://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/team/schedule/_/id/344">losing two straight games, ending up as the second seed.

MSU was considered one of the top four seeds overall in the NCAA tournament, but the two straight losses has dropped them to a two-seed in the latest Bracketology. The two losses might make everyone think the team is ripe to be upset in the conference tournament.

That might mean the Rebels will have plenty of confidence if they get past LSU on March 2. A possible matchup with http://www.secsports.com/bracket/womens-basketball">third-seed Missouri could await the MSU or LSU-UM winner.

The conference championship game could feature http://www.secsports.com/bracket/womens-basketball">top seed South Carolina or fourth seed Kentucky, barring any upsets along the way from a lower seed.

MSU is firmly in the tournament, but the Rebels will have to shock the conference and win it all to get into the NCAA Tournament.