ESPN College GameDay shares which higher seed losing in SEC Tournament is most concerning

Friday was a tough day for the top teams in the SEC. No. 1 seed Tennessee, No. 2 seed Kentucky and No. 3 seed Alabama were all upset in the SEC Tournament.

ESPN College GameDay discussed the losses during Saturday’s show, breaking down which one is the most concerning moving forward.

According to Andraya Carter, it was without a doubt the loss by Tennessee.

“The Tennessee loss is the most concerning and it’s not even close, in my opinion,” Carter said. 

The Vols were blown out 73-56 by Mississippi State, trailing by 19 points at the half and never really getting close. In the other games Texas A&M beat Kentucky 97-87, while Florida beat Alabama 102-88.

“I mean Alabama loses, Alabama has struggled with defense all season. Kentucky loses, Kentucky has struggled with defense all season. That’s business as usual for those teams,” Carter said. “Tennessee loses, a team that’s hung their hat on defense all season, and Mississippi State picked them apart.

“It’s the way that Tennessee lost. They were lunging on the defensive end. … And you can use Rick Barnes’ words. He said we lacked defensive alertness, intensity and sticking to the game plan.”

Carter did admit that it’s possible Tennessee uses this loss to refocus, bounces back and makes a solid run in the NCAA Tournament. But it’s also possible the struggles carry over into the Big Dance.

“To me, Tennessee looked panicked,” Carter said. “They can turn this game into a positivity if it never happens again and they stay locked in on the defensive end, but for Tennessee, Dalton Knecht, he’s the most impactful offensively. He’s the least impactful defensively.”

ESPN’s Seth Greenberg blasts Tennessee, puts Vols on upset alert in NCAA Tournament

Andraya Carter wasn’t the only ESPN College GameDay analyst with tough words for Tennessee.

Seth Greenberg did not like what he saw from the Vols in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament on Friday as Mississippi State pounded Tennessee 73-56. He wouldn’t be surprised if the Vols also have an early exit in the NCAA Tournament next week.

“The team I’m looking at is Tennessee,” Seth Greenberg said on SportsCenter when asked which top-2 seed is on upset alert. “You look at Tennessee the other night, they didn’t guard. They didn’t knock down 3s. They didn’t have a collective responsibility.”

Tennessee also didn’t get much production from SEC Player of the Year Dalton Knecht. The senior scored 14 points on 4-for-17 shooting in the loss to the Bulldogs, making only 2 of his 9 3-point attempts.

Greenberg didn’t like what he saw from Knecht on either end of the court.

“People talk about Player of the Year in college basketball, and you know what – there’s two sides to the ball. You have to be able to make shots, but you also have to be able to defend. He didn’t defend,” Greenberg said. “Rick Barnes made a great move. He put him on the bench. Why did he do that? To send a message to the rest of his team. ‘If we don’t defend, you do not play. For us to get where we want to go, get to a Final Four, everyone must defend.’ I thought it was a great message by Rick Barnes.”