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Saturday is officially the first day of March, so it’s no wonder the college basketball slate felt a bit wild throughout the day!
Big shots and buzzer-beaters occurred throughout the SEC slate, particularly during the Tennessee vs. Alabama matchup. That’s how the Crimson Tide — somehow — snatched a defeat from the jaws of victory after leading by 4 points with 36 seconds remaining.
The Vols ended the game with a 7-0 run, including a March Madness-esque buzzer-beater for the win in Knoxville. Here are the key takeaways from a signature win for the Vols as the postseason picture gets a nice shakeup:
Jahmai Mashack the hero
No one has to convince Vol fans about the importance of Jahmai Mashack to the program. But no matter anyone’s feelings on Mashack, his fingerprints were all over Tennessee’s furious rally for the win.
With Tennessee trailing 76-74 and Chaz Lanier at the line, it was Mashack who drew an over-the-back call and made the ensuing 2 free throws to tie things up. Then, it was Mashack delivering on the defensive end of the floor.
It was Mashack who reached in to secure a jump ball when Labaron Philon drove to the hoop with 3.8 seconds remaining. That tie-up forced Alabama to run an out-of-bounds play with the Vols forcing the 5-second call.
And, it all led up to Mashack’s magic with the 3-point heave at the buzzer:
Mashack finished the game with 11 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks, and it was Mashack who served as the hero Saturday night.
SEC title impact
With a win, Alabama would have maintained its admittedly slim shot at a share of the regular-season SEC title. Instead of keeping that chance to tie Auburn atop the standings, the Crimson Tide lost and guaranteed that Bruce Pearl’s Tigers would win the outright league title this season. It will be the 7th straight season that the SEC has produced an outright conference champion.
Now solidified as the outright league champs, Auburn will hold the No. 1 overall seed for the SEC Tournament in Nashville. The win by the Vols also improves Tennessee’s seeding for the time being.
For now, Tennessee is the No. 4 seed in the conference, a spot that would earn the Vols a double-bye. Mizzou can tie Tennessee in the standings with a win over Vanderbilt, but the Vols do have a head-to-head tie-breaker over Mizzou.
Alabama still holds onto the No. 2 seed for now with Florida in a crucial Saturday night matchup against Texas A&M. The Gators could tie Alabama for the No. 2 seed with a win with those 2 squads poised for a midweek matchup.
RELATED: No matter the competition, stay locked in with the latest odds for the Vols via the TN sports betting apps!
NCAA Tournament seeding?
Coming into Saturday’s colossal matchup, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi was adamant that only one of these two teams was likely to be a 1-seed in the Big Dance, meaning the two sides were essentially playing for a top seed Saturday night. The NET Rankings back that up, and Tennessee already held the edge.
Prior to Saturday, the Vols checked in at No. 4 in the latest NET while Alabama was No. 6. With the win, the Vols only further their case to earn a 1-seed on Selection Sunday.
It’s a tough pill to swallow for an Alabama program that entered the weekend 10-5 in Quad 1 games. Only Auburn (15-2 in Q1) had more wins, but the victory for the Vols means Tennessee can now claim 10 Q1 victories.
Alabama still has some opportunities to make big statements to end the year with games against Florida and Auburn, but the path for Tennessee is much smoother. The Vols get Ole Miss and South Carolina to finish the year, and it will be hard for the committee to overlook Tennessee’s head-to-head win over Alabama if UT wins the last 2 games.
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
