2014 SEC Tournament Day 3 Schedule

2014 SEC Tournament Day 3 TV Schedule

Now it's getting fun, folks. It's been a wild tournament so far, with a coach getting fired at the team hotel, a double overtime game, and the 13-seed still being alive. Now we get the nation's No. 1 team, two more contenders going up against determined underdogs, and yet another underdog that somehow got a double bye. Plus, as GwinnettGamecock pointed out, the hilarious five-bid scenario might actually be more likely now (Tennessee's looking safe, few if any bid thieves, and a few key bubble losses, though MU taking on UF after a 2OT game isn't promising).

What's not to like?

8 Missouri vs. 1 Florida, 1:00 pm ET, ESPNU

Regular season: 2/4: Florida 68, Missouri 58

Missouri played itself out of the bubble conversation over the past few weeks, but it can play itself right back into it with a win today. It's a big ask for the Tigers to come out and face the fresh Gators a day after a double overtime game, but March isn't set up to do 8-seeds any favors. Florida doesn't need this win for any purposes other than chasing the No. 1 overall seed, but a lack of an absolute need to win in months has not prevented them from rolling through to a perfect SEC record.

The predictable script would be Mizzou hanging tough for about 30 minutes before the Gators push out a lead over the final 10 as the Tigers run out of gas. We'll see if this follows it.

13 South Carolina vs. 4 Tennessee, 3:30 pm ET, ESPNU

Regular season: 2/8: Tennessee 72, South Carolina 53

The handbook says this is about where the Gamecocks should end their run. Aside from their still-inexplicable win over Kentucky, the team hasn't really hung with the big boys like Florida and Tennessee. And, while the Vols are indeed looking safer for the Big Dance now, a loss here would throw everything back up in the air. South Carolina should hit the wall sometime in the second half and fall apart while the superior Tennessee team pulls away. Nice and tidy, right?

Of course, if everything went according to the handbook, South Carolina wouldn't even be playing today.

7 LSU vs. 2 Kentucky, 7:00 pm ET, ESPN3

Regular season: 1/28: LSU 87, Kentucky 82; 2/22: Kentucky 77, LSU 76 OT

If you're looking for the craziness of this year's SEC Tournament to continue, this is not a bad place to search. The Tigers are certainly not going to be afraid of Big Blue, because as Les Miles would point out, they're undefeated in regulation against the Wildcats. Combine that factor with UK's late-season slide and, well, LSU doesn't become the favorite, but it isn't a huge underdog either.

This game will be a good testing ground to see what this edition of Kentucky has left going for it. Will it be resilient or just continue falling apart? If UK doesn't win this one, expect to see it be a trendy pick to lose in the first round in the NCAA Tournament.

6 Ole Miss vs. 3 Georgia, 9:30 pm ET, ESPN3

Regular season: 2/15: Georgia 61, Ole Miss 60

As we saw in the late game last night, Marshall Henderson might have reactivated his magical SEC Tournament abilities that he showed off last year as the Rebels won the whole thing. He burned Georgia for 24 in the regular season matchup of these two, so he's definitely a threat to go off. UGA didn't come here to go one-and-done though. While the Bulldogs didn't come anywhere close to beating the three best teams in the conference, taking care of business against the middle teams like Ole Miss is why it managed to become the surprise 3-seed.

Not a lot of people will manage to stay up for the end of this one, which is too bad. If the regular season edition is any indication, it's going to be a good one.