The tourney is here and the 18,5oo seat New Orleans Arena is hosting. Some terrific games coming up. I will be predicting each days’ games. I’ll start today with the first round games which start tomorrow at noon. Kentucky is the clear favorite. It’ll take a team to get hot from the perimeter to beat them. A team like Vandy or Florida could do it with their three-point shooting. Tennessee is a hot team. They’ve got some pretty good horses. ‘Bama has the players to compete with any team on a given night, it just depends on the Alabama team that shows up. Auburn fighting hard. Losing Varez Ward and Chris Denson didn’t help. Not sure of their availability for tourney.
Anthony Grant and Tony Barbee have done the best jobs they possibly can with the distractions they’ve had this season, particularly Grant. He’s got the Tide on the brink of an NCAA tourney bid. Should get it. It would help to at least win one, and you never know, the Tide could get hot. AU just needs to keep fighting and see what they can do this week. Here’s a look at the first round games with predictions.

N0.8 seed LSU (7-9, 17-13) vs. No.9 Arkansas (6-10, 18-13)

Noon, CT, SEC Network, WTTO-21 in Birmingham.

LSU’s top players:  Justin Hamilton: 13 ppg., 7 rbg.: Andre Stringer: 10.1 ppg.;  Anthony Hickey: 9.2 ppg. 3.6 apg.

Arkansas: B.J. Young: 15.3 ppg; Mardracus Wade: 10.8 ppg; Rickey Scott: 9.4 ppg.

Analysis: Interesting game here against two teams that are capable of playing well; at least at home. Young is an excellent scorer who is lightning quick and can make some steals and scores in transition for the Hogs. Wade a good scorer. LSU looked pretty good at times, as did Arkansas, just couldn’t achieve consistency. Hamilton is a good player who can score and control the boards. Arkansas just has too much quickness for the Bengal Tigers. Mike Anderson takes his team to the quarters to face Kentucky. Sounds like fun.

 Arkansas 62, LSU 58

No.5 Alabama (9-7, 20-10) vs. No.12 South Carolina (2-14, 10-20)

2:30 PM, CT, SEC Network.

Alabama top players: JaMychal Green: 13.8 ppg., 7.3 rbg; Trevor Releford: 13.1 ppg., 3 apg; Andrew Steele: 7.3 ppg, 3.1 rbg.; Trevor Lacey: 6.7 ppg.

South Carolina: Malik Cooke: 12.5 ppg, 4.8 rbg; Bruce Ellington: 11 ppg., 4 apg, Demontre Harris 6.8 ppg., 5.6 rbg., 70 blocks.

Analysis: The last time these two teams met was in Columbia in January and Ellington sank a contested layup at the buzzer to win the game for the Gamecocks. Alabama is a good team. Maybe they put it together. Releford makes them go; he makes his teammates better. Steele is a good leader and Green is capable of having a big night. The freshmen, Lacey, Levi Randolph and Rodney Cooper are starting to find their way, particularly Lacey. Ellington is a heckuva’ player for SC and Harris can dominate with his shot blocking ability in the lane. This should be a competitive game, but like the Tide to pull it out and face an interesting game against Florida in the second round Friday.

‘Bama 65, South Carolina 59

No.7 Ole Miss (8-8, 18-12) vs. No.10 Auburn (5-11, 15-15)

6:30 PM, CT, SEC Network

Ole Miss top players: Terrance Henry: 12.3 ppg, 4.4 rbg; Murphy Holloway: 11.1 ppg., 8.9 rbg.; Nick Williams: 10.2 ppg, 3.4 rbg.

AU: Frankie Sullivan: 12.6 ppg., 3.9 rbg., 69 assists; Kenny Gabriel: 12.2 ppg., 7.6 rbg.; Rob Chubb: 8.1 ppg., 5.1 rbg; Varez Ward: 9 ppg., 103 assists.

Analysis: Not sure about  Ward’s or Chris Denson’s availability. They would help, but not sure what Tony Barbee is going to do about them. Auburn will scrap. Barbee had brought that mentality to this team. I think he’s going to do a good job at Auburn eventually. Next year should be better. They’ve got a lot of players coming in. Gabriel and Sullivan will have to play well tomorrow, both scoring and rebounding, particularly in Gabriel’s case. Would be nice if Sullivan could get it going from three. Chubb needs to be active. Ole Miss had a nice win over Arkansas at Fayetteville and a pretty impressive win over ‘Bama last Saturday at home. They are capable of being good on any given day. These teams aren’t going to make the big tourney unless they can somehow pull off a tournament championship. The winner faces UT on Friday. Believe it’s going to be the Rebels, but in a good game. Rebels go on to face UT in the quarters Friday.

Ole Miss 72, AU 70

No.6 Miss. State (8-8, 21-10) vs. No.11 Georgia (5-11, 14-16)

9 PM, CT, SEC Network.

Miss State top players: Arnett Moultrie: 16.1 ppg., 10.1 rbg.; Dee Bost: 15.8 ppg., 5.2 apg.; Rodney Hood: 10.5 ppg., 4.8 rbg., 57 assists. Renardo Sidney: 10.1 ppg., 5.3 rbg.

Dawgs: Gerald Robinson: 14 ppg., 4 rbg., 4 apg; Ken Caldwell-Pope: 13.8 ppg., 5.1 rbg; Donte Williams: 8 ppg., 5.4 rbg.

Analysis: State has been one of the toughest teams to figure out not only in the SEC, but in the country. They are loaded with talent. They knocked off Vandy at Vandy and had some nice wins in the pre-conference schedule. If they show up, they’ll win. Moultrie and Bost are excellent players who can both score, Moultrie inside and Bost from three, and Hood is a scorer from outside, too. Sidney is always a question mark. He looks like he’d rather be eating a pizza or taking a winter’s nap than playing a lot of the time, but he is a highly skilled player. Jalen Steele is a scorer from three when he’s on. He’s hit 61 threes this year. Bost had 70. But they can go cold at times. Georgia can be good at times. It’s hard to win at the football schools many years. They just don’t care enough about basketball. Mark Fox seems like a good coach, but hasn’t been able to get over the hump thus far. Rick Stansbury has had good teams at State and won the tourney in 2009. State certainly capable of getting hot and making a run. Like State to get it done tomorrow night and play Vandy on Friday.

State 70, Dawgs 64

(Trevor Releford, left, and Frankie Sullivan, will be counted on to lead their teams to victory.)