As Selection Sunday approaches, the NCAA tournament picture for the SEC continues to get more and more bleak. The season began with Kentucky, Florida and Missouri hailed as formidable teams and Alabama, Arkansas, Ole Miss and Tennessee touted as programs to watch. By January, only the Gators, Tigers and Rebels had lived up to expectations. And now, with Ole Miss fading toward the bubble and Missouri unable to win on the road, SEC leading-Florida appears to be the only NCAA tournament lock in the entire 14-team league.
It's much more likely the SEC gets three or four teams into the NCAA tournament than just one, but the fact that one bid is even a remote possibility at this point is a sign of the weakness of the league this season. No power conference has produced just one NCAA tournament team since the field expanded to 64 in 1985, though the Pac-12 has flirted with that possibility in 2010 and 2012.
Walter Cornett, of Glendale, Kentucky, is the owner and operator of Walter's Wildcat World. He founded WildcatWorld.com in 1998 making it one of the oldest Kentucky basketball fan sites in operation today.