THE GREAT WHITE POPE

The Great White Pope and Co.

Welcome to the Southeastern Conference for the 2024-2025 season. It was just a few years ago that our conference was just known for the Wildcats of Lexington and here we are with 14 teams heading to the BIG DANCE. FOURTEEN!!! There are some speculations floating out there about if this is a bunch of hype from the media train but I can assure you all that is a load of crap (excuse my language). 

Before I get into my predictions for this upcoming tournament I would first like to give a huge shout out to the queen of the whole dance, Miss Mary Kate. Without you, the SEC would not be what it is today. We thrive in the NIL landscape because of heroes like yourself. Thank you for your service. With that being said, here is the tournament:

• #1 University of Auburn Tigers (28-5)

  • This team has it all, and led by their all star coach in Bruce Pearl, they can go all the way. The only thing holding them back is they are an Under Armour school. They never win the big one.

  • Floor: Sweet 16

  • Ceiling: Champion

• #1 University of Florida Gators (30-4)

  • Last year I started off talking about how much of a great hire Todd Golden was for the Gators, just one year later we are talking about if he can withstand the sexual harassment allegations. With that being said, this team is the hottest in the country right now.

  • Floor: Sweet 16

  • Ceiling: Champion

• #2 University of Alabama Crimson Tide (25-8)

  • Just found out a few days ago that Nate Oats used to be a math teacher at a high school he coached at, thought that was pretty neat. They used to be 12 deep but looking like this could be 10 closer to the first round. 

  • Floor: Round of 32

  • Ceiling Final Four

• #2 University of Tennessee Volunteers (27-7)

  • As much as I am not excited about Tennessee playing as the home team at Rupp Arena in a few days, I just need to make note that they were 0-2 vs. the cats this year and I think Rick Barnes is on Mounjaro.

  • Floor: Sweet 16

  • Ceiling: Final Four

• #4 Texas A&M University Aggies (22-10)

  • I will continue to say it, I am a huge fan of Buzz Williams and his vests he wears. With that being said, he might be running into a BUZZsaw (see what I did there) in Yale.

  • Floor: First Round exit

  • Ceiling: Sweet 16

• #3 University of Kentucky Wildcats (22-11)

  • What a year for the first year under Coach Pope, he is a man of the people and Mitch Barnhart hit it out of the park with this hire. With that being said, injuries have plagued this team all year and being down 2.5 of their starters from day 1 does not help their case this time around.

  • Floor: Upset by Troy

  • Ceiling: Elite 8

• #6 University of Mississippi Rebels (22-11)

  • Chris Beard might be a genius and Texas should’ve pushed his issues off to the side because what a turn around in Oxford. Some are saying he could be up for a bigger job in the next year again.

  • Floor: Lose to SDSU/UNC

  • Ceiling: Sweet 16

• #6 University of Missouri Tigers (22-11)

  • This first round game everyone has their pencils sharpened for the Drake Bulldogs. Where the heck is Drake anyway? Honestly I never understood the hype around the Tigers this year, which probably means they will go farther than I want.

  • Floor: Bennett Stirtz

  • Ceiling: Bennett Stirtz

• #10 University of Arkansas Razorbacks (20-13)

  • The hogs first year under Coach Cal has gone exactly as I have expected. He is delusional and these poor kids have no idea what they got themselves into again. Luckily for them, the Waltons and Tysons will continue to dump their fortunes into this wasteland. 

  • Floor: First Round Exit

  • Ceiling: Round of 32

• #8 Mississippi State University Bulldogs (21-12)

  • I will be completely honest I don’t know I think about this bulldog team this year but their whole cowbell tradition at football games really pisses me off. 

  • Floor: Round of 32 (Baylor sucks)

  • Ceiling: Sweet 16

• #9 University of Georgia Bulldogs (20-12)

  • They will be running into a trapezoid of excellence team in the first round as an 8 seed and that is just not a good sign for this group.

  • Floor: First Round exit

  • Ceiling: First Round exit

• #10 Vanderbilt University Commodores

  • Being named the Commodores is pretty lame and being in Nashville and no one having any idea you are there is even worse. With that being said, they have done a lot better than expected this year. 

  • Floor: First Round Exit

  • Ceiling: Sweet 16

• #9 University of Oklahoma Sooners (20-13)

  • Their point guard wears a Jordan headband upside down and is one of the worst looks in college basketball. They might be running into a sneaky UCONN team in the first round who has been told all season they aren’t the same.

  • Floor: First Round exit

  • Ceiling: Round of 32

• #11 University of Texas Longhorns (19-15)

  • I genuinely do not know how this team made the tournament. Their coach looks pretty funny with the glasses he wears and their new arena in Austin is too small. 

  • Floor: First Four loss

  • Ceiling: First Round Exit

Well there it is, 14 teams later and honestly I don’t even know if I needed to put that much information out there about all 14 teams. Might’ve been a better idea to just talk about the top 6.. If you are looking for any value this year in a future champion out of this group here it is: 

AUBURN +400

Cousin Mike 3/18/24