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Hoopla: SEC Tournament Tidbits

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 12, 2009

LOOKING FOR SOME HOME COOKING?

For only the second time, the SEC Men's Basketball Tournament will be held in Florida (Orlando hosted in 1990).

So with the Florida Gators fighting for an NCAA Tournament berth, can they count on a decided advantage during tonight's first-round game against Arkansas?

"I don't know if there is or there isn't," Gators coach Billy Donovan said. "Hopefully, there will be a large contingency of Gator fans. Tampa is a good city for that. But I think you also realize the way the economy is and the difficulties people are having, something like that can be expensive.

"People are always asking if you can win four games in a four-day period. We will worry about that when it gets here."

In the 30 previous SEC events, since the tournament was restored in 1979, only four champions emerged while playing in their home-state arena. In fact, only five other teams made the championship game in their home-state arena, including Alabama losing to Auburn in Birmingham in 1985.

HOME-STATE CHAMPIONS

Will a classic game emerge at this SEC Tournament? If so, it could take its place among our choices for the most memorable postseason college basketball games played in the Tampa Bay area.

1. Kentucky 86, Duke 84 (NCAA Tournament South Region final, Tropicana Field, March 22, 1998) - Six years after Christian Laettner's immortal shot, Kentucky met Duke in an NCAA Tournament game. It can't be described as revenge, but this time it was Kentucky that inflicted some pain. The Wildcats, down by 17 points in the second half, put on a wild rally, went ahead on Scott Padgett's 3-pointer and got to the Final Four (only after William Avery's desperation 30-footer fell short at the buzzer).

2. Connecticut 77, Duke 74 (NCAA Championship Game, Tropicana Field, March 29, 1999) - The supposedly unbeatable Blue Devils, the nation's unquestioned top-ranked team, were finally beaten. The Huskies, behind Richard Hamilton's 27 points, presented Coach Jim Calhoun with his first national title. Duke had a chance to tie in the closing seconds, but Blue Devils guard Trajan Langdon stumbled and was stripped of the ball before getting off a shot.

3. Wake Forest 114, Georgia Tech 112, 2OT (ACC Tournament first round, St. Pete Times Forum, March 8, 2007) - The fourth game of the ACC's opening day (all upsets) ended at 12:53 a.m. - only after Anthony Morrow's wide-open 15-footer refused to fall at the buzzer and triple overtime was averted. Wake's Harvey Hale didn't mind staying up late. He didn't make a field goal in regulation, yet finished as his team's leading scorer (22 points). The teams set tournament records for combined points (226), combined shooting percentage (59.2) and combined 3-point percentage (62.5).

4. Western Kentucky 101, Drake 99, OT (NCAA Tournament West Region first round, Forum, March 21, 2008) - This game started an opening day that can't be forgotten. Ty Rogers buried a desperation 3-pointer at the overtime buzzer, giving the No. 12-seeded Hilltoppers an upset victory against Drake. Three more double-digit-seeded underdogs won, making Tampa the epicenter of the NCAA Tournament universe. Meanwhile, Western Kentucky wound up in the Sweet 16.

5. Ohio University 51, Illinois State 49 (NCAA Tournament Mideast Region first round, USF Sun Dome, March 17, 1983) - It looked like overtime, but a full-court pass bounced off several arms and into the hands of Ohio's Robert Tatum. As he was bumped and fell to the floor, he tossed up a game-winning prayer from about 15 feet - and it swished at the buzzer. The No. 11-seeded Bobcats were winners. For years, CBS-TV used Tatum's shot as one of its highlights on "March Madness" promotions.

THE MAIN MEN

In the past 30 seasons, the SEC Player of the Year has 15 times made the league's all-tournament team. But only six of those players were voted as the SEC Tournament's MVP - and that's the challenge awaiting LSU's Marcus Thornton, named Tuesday as this season's Player of the Year. Here are the SEC's top players who also became tournament MVPs.

The SEC Tournament's top scoring performances since the event was restored in 1979:

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