Ole Miss Rebels coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin knows every win or loss at this point in the season can affect SEC conference tournament seeding for the Rebels, but also NCAA Tournament seeding.
“I wish we didn’t have the conference tournament because all we do in the SEC is beat each other up,” McPhee-McCuin said Sunday following a 74-57 loss to Kentucky.
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“And if you look at the history of our league, we always have anywhere from four to five to six teams in the Sweet 16 because this is a really good league. But when we’re in here fighting night in and night out, it’s tough, and you can lose at any point.”
The Ole Miss coach pointed to Vanderbilt’s 76-74 loss to unranked Georgia on Feb. 15, days after beating Texas, as an example of just how tight the competition is within the SEC. Vanderbilt’s win should have secured a top seed in the NCAA Tournament seedings. However, the loss to the Bulldogs now puts the Commodores’ No. 1 seed at risk. McPhee-MCuin says Georgia was prepared to protect its home court.”If you win one on someone’s home court, you coming [out of] there with some bullets and scratches,” she said. “You just don’t get to walk into people’s gym and win. That’s not how it works.”
McPhee-McCuin also noted how “deep” the SEC is, with nine teams currently ranked in the top 25. She said Ole Miss has to focus on going 1-0 during each remaining game in the regular season. She says that mindset starts with playing Tennessee on Tuesday, LSU on Feb. 19 and South Carolina on Feb. 22.
“People from the outside, what do you want them to do? They have to reward the numbers, right? We don’t get to play certain ― everybody in our league is just really, really good,” McPhee-McCuin said. “So what we have to do is we gotta win games, steal a couple on the road … and then we gotta protect home court.
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“I do believe … that every team that goes to the NCAA Tournament will be a tough out.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ole Miss women’s coach says SEC tournament unfairly affects NCAA seeds
