[su_spacer size=”40″] You probably watched the game, so I won’t rehash much of it. Nemi Djurisic and Marcus Thornton came out for Senior Night and played like two Damn Good Dawgs that will be missed. They both had outstanding games and I think deserved a better fate. Kenny Gaines and Charles Mann left six points at the FT down the stretch and you just can’t do that against a team that’s 29-0. I’m not saying they lost the game for us because Kentucky made plays late. However, there’s no doubt missed FTs severely hurt our chances for an upset that would’ve been heard around the world.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Now, we go to Auburn. They’re a team with a bad record, a couple of good players, and a good coach with memory issues. Heck, I heard Auburn may hire Brian Williams as their next AD with all of their recent money problems. But I digress. Win, and you’re in. Lose, and there’s still work to do. Enough said about Saturday. Let’s look at some big picture stuff.
[su_spacer size=”40″] First, if we win, there’s no doubt in my mind we’re in. At the beginning of SEC play, 10-8 was the record I guess we’d finish with and said that would get us in for sure. However, we’ve accumulated enough bad losses to change that. While we probably should be in at 10-8, that would mean we account for 40% of AU and USCe’s conference wins which is problematic. The selection committee hates bad losses and will take a team with a lower RPI over a team with a number of bad losses with all other things being equal. Bad losses killed the Dawgs last year. While they were all out of conference, they were still bad. So let me just say what I’d like to happen. If we beat AU and two of the three teams ahead of us lose, then we slide to the four seed for the double bye. However, I’d rather get to the three seed if possible. So we’d need Ole Miss, LSU, and A&M all to lose. That way if we have to face UK, it’s in the finals. However, let’s say we get a five or six seed. There’s a benefit there. We get an extra game. Then if we win at least two games, we may improve our Big Dance seeding. However, let’s say we lose to AU, we’re then for sure the six seed. We need at least one more win in the SEC, and we’d almost certainly be playing either Auburn or USCe in our first game. Are you kidding me?
[su_spacer size=”40″] So here we are. Win, and we’re in. It’s 4 p.m. on Saturday versus a team we should beat. I’m working that morning and then cleaning out the basement around lunch. About 3 p.m., that first cold beer is getting popped and the game face is getting turned on. The Dawgs gotta win this. Just stay in the boat, guys. Play our game and we should win. Go Dawgs!