Bubbles & Bracketology - Saturday Afternoon

A quick rundown of what's at stake today across the college basketball landscape:

The SEC could still send 2-4 teams to the field.  We know Tennessee and LSU are in.  We know if neither of them win the SEC Tournament, at least one more team will get in.  If you read the bracket projections this morning, right now it looks like the only way the SEC gets 4 in is if Auburn beats Tennessee, and then Mississippi State beats Auburn to win the tournament. 

Joe Lunardi doesn't have a new bracket up for today (EDIT:  he does now - Vols are a 7, LSU at 6.  Complete bracketology can still be found at the same link to the right), but did update his Last Four In/Out.  Auburn is currently listed third in the Last Four Out group, and Florida is third in the Next Four Out group...but you have to think that the Next Four Out group are all pretty much done, because they're run out of chances to move up, having all been bounced from their conference tournaments.  South Carolina and Kentucky are both off Lunardi's board entirely.

Jerry Palm of collegerpi.com has been updating his projections at CBS Sports.  He has Auburn as the first team out (meaning both Lunardi and Palm have only two SEC teams in the field right now), and lists the Vols as a 7 seed.

Methinks we're gonna see some SEC rematches in the NIT.

Several teams can still cause big trouble for the bubble teams today.  Memphis is taking care of Tulsa in the second half of the C-USA finals, keeping one at-large spot safe.  Maryland has probably already played their way in at the ACC Tournament.  But two big opportunities for disaster on the bubble come tonight:  Baylor and Southern Cal are both in the finals of their respective tournaments, and both are currently on the outside looking in.  If one or both win, that's one more bubble that bursts.  If you're an Auburn fan (or a more hopeful South Carolina or Florida fan), you're pulling hard for Missouri and Arizona State tonight at 6:00 EDT (Big 12 final on ESPN, Pac-10 final on CBS).

Looking ahead...the Vols almost certainly would like to see LSU in Sunday's final, if they're able to beat Auburn later today.  The first semifinal is unfolding right now, and here's a reminder - if you're in the Raycom regional area, you'll still get the game there (and can bid farewell to their coverage as the Vols play in Raycom's final SEC telecast).  If you're outside Raycom's coverage, the game can be seen on ESPN2 (with Brad Nessler and Jimmy Dykes).  This is the happiest I've ever been to live outside of Tennessee.

Right now State leads LSU 13-11.  The Vols should tip sometime around 3:15.