April 13, 2010
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – With one match remaining in the regular season, the seeding for Vanderbilt’s men’s tennis team at the SEC Tournament remains up in the air. With a 13-8 overall record and 5-5 mark in the SEC, the Commodores would be seeded No. 6 at the SEC Tournament (April 22-25) if the season ended today.
Because of tiebreaker scenarios, Vanderbilt can finish no better than sixth in the final standings, but no worse than seventh depending on the result of Saturday’s match at Kentucky (12:00 p.m. CT).
The SEC Tournament is seeded 1-12, regardless of division. There are currently three teams that can finish with the same record as the Commodores, but at most Vanderbilt will be tied with just one other. Confusing? Probably.
The only three teams that Vanderbilt could tie with are Ole Miss (6-4), Alabama (4-6) and Auburn (4-6).
Here are the scenarios heading into the final weekend.
If Vanderbilt wins:
• Vanderbilt maintains the No. 6 seed.
• The Commodores will finish 6-5 in the SEC, its best record since 2004, but will not move up in the standings because Ole Miss can finish no worse than 6-5, and has the head-to-head tiebreaker over Vanderbilt.
If Vanderbilt loses:
• Vanderbilt maintains the No. 6 seed or drops to No. 7.
• Vanderbilt’s seeding would be contingent on the result of the Auburn match at Alabama (5 p.m. Saturday).
• If Alabama defeats Auburn, Vanderbilt would get the No. 6 seed because the Commodores own the head-to-head tiebreaker with Alabama.
• If Auburn defeats Alabama, Vanderbilt would drop to the No. 7 seed because Auburn owns the head-to-head tiebreaker with Vanderbilt.
The No. 6 seed would face the No. 11 seed, while the No. 7 seed would face the No. 12 seed. Both matches would be played on Thursday, April 22.
