2008 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament
Encyclopedia
The 2008 SEC
Men's Basketball Tournament
took place on March 13–16, 2008 in Atlanta, Georgia
. The first, quarterfinal, and semifinal rounds were televised by Raycom/LF Sports
, and the SEC Championship Game was produced by CBS
and televised by ESPN2
. The University of Georgia
, the improbable winner of the tournament, earned the Southeastern Conference
's automatic bid to the 2008 NCAA Tournament
.
The tournament was originally scheduled to be played at the Georgia Dome
, but a tornado
struck downtown Atlanta on the night of March 14, while the third of four quarterfinal games was in overtime. While that game was completed, SEC officials decided not to risk playing the fourth game, between the University of Kentucky and University of Georgia. That quarterfinal was subsequently postponed until Saturday morning. That game and all subsequent games were played at Alexander Memorial Coliseum
on the campus of the Georgia Tech
. Due to the smaller capacity, only the players' families, credentialed media, school officials and 400 fans from each school were allowed to attend the rest of the tournament.
Georgia, which had a sub-.500 record going into the tournament and had to win the title outright to secure an NCAA Tournament bid, was forced to play and win three games in the space of 30 hours, including two games on Saturday — the original quarterfinal game against Kentucky that was postponed by the tornado and venue change, and the subsequent semifinal game. Ironically, Georgia won the SEC championship on the home court of its bitter rival
, Georgia Tech
. This was Georgia's first SEC men's basketball championship since 1983.
* Denotes game ended in overtime.
† Game originally scheduled for 9:45 p.m. the day before. Postponed due to tornado.
‡ - Game was originally to have been telecast on CBS
.
, Georgia (Most Valuable Player)
Terrance Woodbury, Georgia
Charles Thomas, Arkansas
Darian Townes, Arkansas
Mykal Riley, Alabama
During overtime of the Friday night quarterfinal between Mississippi State and Alabama, a windstorm hit the Georgia Dome at 9:40 p.m. The National Weather Service had issued a tornado warning at 9:26 p.m., because radar indicated a thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado. The storm tore open a panel on the north side of the dome; sheared bolts and insulation fell into the arena. After the storm passed, the teams returned to the court at 10:30 and completed the game.
The Kentucky–Georgia basketball game, originally scheduled for Friday night, was postponed. It was rescheduled for Saturday at noon, and due to damage suffered by the Georgia Dome, it was moved to Alexander Memorial Coliseum
on the Georgia Tech campus. The semifinals began at 6:00pm Saturday night in Alexander Memorial Coliseum. Because the games were moved to a significantly smaller arena, only players' families, bands, cheerleaders, and persons with working credentials were admitted. The SEC looked at several possible scenarios; one specifically mentioned by media involved playing only the Kentucky-Georgia game on Saturday, playing both semifinals on Sunday, and declaring the semifinal winners co-champions. However, tournament officials were told by the NCAA tournament selection committee (which included SEC commissioner Michael Slive
) that it had to finish the tournament in order to preserve the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
The championship game was originally slated to be televised by CBS
but was bumped to ESPN2 after the SEC opted to move the tip time to 3:30 p.m. (EDT). The move to ESPN2 was because CBS televised the Big Ten
tournament final at 3:30 p.m. However, CBS still produced the game, with announcers Verne Lundquist
and Bill Raftery
, and CBS affiliates in the finalists' home markets carried the game.
Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...
Men's Basketball Tournament
SEC Men's Basketball Tournament
The SEC Men's Basketball Tournament is the conference tournament in basketball for the Southeastern Conference . It is a single-elimination tournament that involves all league schools . Its seeding is based on regular season records...
took place on March 13–16, 2008 in Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
. The first, quarterfinal, and semifinal rounds were televised by Raycom/LF Sports
Raycom Sports
Raycom Sports is an American syndicator of sports television programs. It is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, and owned and operated by Raycom Media.-Founding:...
, and the SEC Championship Game was produced by CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
and televised by ESPN2
ESPN2
ESPN2 is an American sports cable television network owned by ESPN. The channel debuted on October 1, 1993.Originally nicknamed "the deuce," ESPN2 was initially branded as a network for a younger generation of sports fans featuring edgier graphics as well as extreme sports like motocross,...
. The University of Georgia
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...
, the improbable winner of the tournament, earned the Southeastern Conference
Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...
's automatic bid to the 2008 NCAA Tournament
2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 65 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2007–08 basketball season...
.
The tournament was originally scheduled to be played at the Georgia Dome
Georgia Dome
The Georgia Dome is a domed stadium located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, between downtown to the east and Vine City to the west. It is primarily the home stadium for the NFL Atlanta Falcons and the NCAA Division I FCS Georgia State Panthers football team. It is owned and operated by the...
, but a tornado
2008 Atlanta tornado outbreak
The 2008 Atlanta tornado outbreak was a tornado outbreak that affected the Southeastern United States on March 14–15, 2008.A tornado caused widespread damage across downtown Atlanta, including to the CNN Center and to the Georgia Dome, where the 2008 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament was postponed...
struck downtown Atlanta on the night of March 14, while the third of four quarterfinal games was in overtime. While that game was completed, SEC officials decided not to risk playing the fourth game, between the University of Kentucky and University of Georgia. That quarterfinal was subsequently postponed until Saturday morning. That game and all subsequent games were played at Alexander Memorial Coliseum
Alexander Memorial Coliseum
The Alexander Memorial Coliseum is an indoor arena located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It is the home of the basketball teams of Georgia Tech and hosted the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA from 1968–1972 and again from 1997–1999...
on the campus of the Georgia Tech
Georgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Institute of Technology is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States...
. Due to the smaller capacity, only the players' families, credentialed media, school officials and 400 fans from each school were allowed to attend the rest of the tournament.
Georgia, which had a sub-.500 record going into the tournament and had to win the title outright to secure an NCAA Tournament bid, was forced to play and win three games in the space of 30 hours, including two games on Saturday — the original quarterfinal game against Kentucky that was postponed by the tornado and venue change, and the subsequent semifinal game. Ironically, Georgia won the SEC championship on the home court of its bitter rival
Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate
Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate is the nickname given to an American college football rivalry game played annually by the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team of the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Georgia Bulldogs football team of the University of Georgia. The two Georgia universities are...
, Georgia Tech
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
The Yellow Jackets is the name used for all of the intercollegiate athletic teams that play for the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia. The teams have also been nicknamed the Ramblin' Wreck, Engineers, Blacksmiths, and Golden Tornado. There are 8 men's and 7 women's teams that...
. This was Georgia's first SEC men's basketball championship since 1983.
Standings
| SEC East | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| School | Coach | W | L | Seed | |
| Tennessee Tennessee Volunteers basketball The Tennessee Volunteers basketball team represents the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee in NCAA men's basketball competition. The Volunteers currently compete in the Southeastern Conference... |
Bruce Pearl Bruce Pearl Bruce Dean-Fredrick Pearl is an American college basketball coach who most recently served as head coach of the University of Tennessee Volunteers men's team. He is a graduate of Boston College, where he obtained his first position as an assistant basketball coach. He was the first coach to lead... |
14 | 2 | E1 | |
| Kentucky Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball The Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team, representing the University of Kentucky, is the winningest in the history of college basketball, both in all-time wins and all-time winning percentage. Kentucky's all-time record currently stands at 2058–647... |
Billy Gillispie Billy Gillispie Billy Clyde Gillispie , also known by his initials BCG, is an American college basketball coach. Since 2011, he has been the current head coach of the men's basketball team at Texas Tech University... |
12 | 4 | E2 | |
| Vanderbilt 2007-08 Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball team The 2007–08 Vanderbilt Commodores men's basketball team represented Vanderbilt University in the 2007–08 college basketball season. The team was led by head coach Kevin Stallings and played home games at Memorial Gymnasium.... |
Kevin Stallings Kevin Stallings Kevin Stallings is currently in his 11th season as the head men’s basketball coach at Vanderbilt University. Previously, he served as head coach at Illinois State University and was an assistant coach at Purdue University and the University of Kansas.-High school & college:Stallings was born in... |
10 | 6 | E3 | |
| Florida Florida Gators men's basketball The Florida Gators men's basketball team represents the University of Florida in the sport of basketball. The Gators compete in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I and the Southeastern Conference... |
Billy Donovan Billy Donovan William John "Billy" Donovan, Jr. is an American college basketball coach and a former college and professional basketball player. Donovan is the current head coach of the Florida Gators men's basketball team of the University of Florida... |
8 | 8 | E4 | |
| South Carolina South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball The South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball team represents the University of South Carolina and competes in the Southeastern Conference. The program attained national prominence under hall of fame coach Frank McGuire, posting a 205-65 record and three NCAA Sweet 16 appearances from 1967-1976... |
Dave Odom Dave Odom Dave Odom is a retired American men's college basketball coach, who most recently coached at the University of South Carolina... |
5 | 11 | E5 | |
| Georgia | Dennis Felton Dennis Felton Dennis Felton is an American basketball coach for the National Basketball Association New Jersey Nets. He is the former head men's basketball coach at the University of Georgia.... |
4 | 12 | E6 | |
| SEC West | |||||
| School | Coach | W | L | Seed | |
| Mississippi State | Rick Stansbury Rick Stansbury Rick Stansbury is the current head men's basketball coach at Mississippi State University in Starkville, Mississippi.... |
12 | 4 | W1 | |
| Arkansas | John Pelphrey John Pelphrey John Leslie Pelphrey is an American college basketball coach and was the 14th head men's basketball coach at the University of Arkansas . After being named Kentucky's "Mr. Basketball" in 1987, he became a star college player at the University of Kentucky. Prior to coaching the Razorbacks, he... |
9 | 7 | W2 | |
| Mississippi | Andy Kennedy Andy Kennedy (basketball coach) Andy Kennedy is an American college basketball coach and the current head men's basketball coach at the University of Mississippi . Kennedy was a player in high school at both Winston Academy and Louisville High School... |
7 | 9 | W3 | |
| LSU LSU Tigers basketball The Louisiana State Tigers basketball team represents Louisiana State University in NCAA Division I men's college basketball. The team is currently coached by Trent Johnson and has enjoyed recent success, including a Final Four run in the 2005–2006 season. Past coaches include John Brady, Press... |
Butch Pierre Butch Pierre Butch Pierre is an assistant coach for the Oklahoma State Cowboys men's basketball team and the former interim head coach of the Louisiana State University men's basketball team. Pierre, a 9-year assistant at LSU, replaced former head coach John Brady, who was fired on February 8, 2008.Pierre was... |
6 | 10 | W4 | |
| Alabama Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball The Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball program has a history of being among the best of the Southeastern Conference . It trails only Kentucky in basketball wins, SEC tournament titles, and SEC regular season titles in the 12-member conference. The team is coached by head coach Anthony Grant,... |
Mark Gottfried Mark Gottfried Mark Frederick Gottfried is an American men's college basketball coach and former player. He was named head coach of NC State on April 5, 2011.... |
5 | 11 | W5 | |
| Auburn Auburn Tigers men's basketball The Auburn Tigers men's basketball program is the college basketball program that represents Auburn University, competing in the Southeastern Conference. The program began in 1905. Though they generally play under the shadow of the football program, the Tigers have had successes on the hardwood... |
Jeff Lebo Jeff Lebo -External links:*** @ basketballreference.com... |
4 | 12 | W6 | |
2008 SEC Tournament
† Game originally scheduled for 9:45 p.m. the day before. Postponed due to tornado.
‡ - Game was originally to have been telecast on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
.
All-Tournament Team
Sundiata GainesSundiata Gaines
Sundiata Kofi Gaines is an American professional basketball player.-Pro career:A 6'1" point guard, Gaines was signed by the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association on January 5, 2010. Before joining the Jazz, he had averaged 23.9 points and 6.9 assists in 14 games with the Idaho Stampede...
, Georgia (Most Valuable Player)
Terrance Woodbury, Georgia
Charles Thomas, Arkansas
Darian Townes, Arkansas
Mykal Riley, Alabama
Game delays and relocation
The Kentucky–Georgia basketball game, originally scheduled for Friday night, was postponed. It was rescheduled for Saturday at noon, and due to damage suffered by the Georgia Dome, it was moved to Alexander Memorial Coliseum
Alexander Memorial Coliseum
The Alexander Memorial Coliseum is an indoor arena located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It is the home of the basketball teams of Georgia Tech and hosted the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA from 1968–1972 and again from 1997–1999...
on the Georgia Tech campus. The semifinals began at 6:00pm Saturday night in Alexander Memorial Coliseum. Because the games were moved to a significantly smaller arena, only players' families, bands, cheerleaders, and persons with working credentials were admitted. The SEC looked at several possible scenarios; one specifically mentioned by media involved playing only the Kentucky-Georgia game on Saturday, playing both semifinals on Sunday, and declaring the semifinal winners co-champions. However, tournament officials were told by the NCAA tournament selection committee (which included SEC commissioner Michael Slive
Michael Slive
Michael Lawrence "Mike" Slive is an American attorney and college sports executive. Slive is the current commissioner of the Southeastern Conference , a college athletics association. As part of his role as the SEC Commissioner, he served as the coordinator of the Bowl Championship Series for the...
) that it had to finish the tournament in order to preserve the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
The championship game was originally slated to be televised by CBS
CBS Sports
CBS Sports is a division of CBS Broadcasting which airs sporting events on the American television network. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on West 52nd Street in midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on West 57th Street.CBS...
but was bumped to ESPN2 after the SEC opted to move the tip time to 3:30 p.m. (EDT). The move to ESPN2 was because CBS televised the Big Ten
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
tournament final at 3:30 p.m. However, CBS still produced the game, with announcers Verne Lundquist
Verne Lundquist
Merton Laverne "Verne" Lundquist, Jr. is an American sportscaster, currently employed by CBS Sports television.-Early life and career:Lundquist was born in Duluth, Minnesota...
and Bill Raftery
Bill Raftery
Bill Raftery is an American basketball analyst and play-by-play announcer and former college basketball coach.-High School:...
, and CBS affiliates in the finalists' home markets carried the game.