Tennessee still alive for the regular season SEC title

What a year it’s been for the Tennessee Volunteers on the basketball court. Picked 13th in the league by the media, Rick Barnes’ crew has smashed expectations with a 21-7 record to this point. They currently sit 2nd in the SEC standings and have a (slim) shot to win a league title.

Of course, the team standing in their way is the Auburn Tigers, who have taken the league by storm this season. Bruce Pearl has Auburn sitting at 24-5 and 12-4 in SEC play. The Tigers hold a one game lead over Tennessee in the SEC standings, but do own the head to head tiebreaker.

Two wins this week against Arkansas and South Carolina would clinch the outright regular season title for Auburn. They could also clinch with just one more Tennessee loss.

If Auburn drops one of those, things get interesting. Tennessee could get a share of the title if they beat Mississippi State on the road and take care of Georgia at home. But again — Tennessee has to have Auburn lose.

Auburn isn’t quite the team they once were since the loss of big man Anfernee McLemore. The Tigers fell at Florida on Saturday night, keeping the door cracked open for the Vols.

Auburn would have to lose their final two games and Tennessee would have to win their final two games for Tennessee to win the title outright. By rule, Tennessee and Auburn would be listed as co-champions if the two teams finish with identical league records. Auburn would get the one seed in the tournament because of their head to head win over Tennessee.

So here we are entering the final week of the regular season — and everything is still on the table for the Volunteers. That’s just about all you can ask for at this point.