1979 SEC men's basketball tournament
The 1979 SEC men's basketball tournament took place in Birmingham, Alabama, at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex. This tournament marks the first SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament held since the event’s hiatus that started after the 1952 tournament.
| 1979 SEC men's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 1978–79 |
| Teams | 10 |
| Site | Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Birmingham, Alabama |
| Champions | Tennessee Volunteers[1] (4th title) |
| Winning coach | Don DeVoe (1st title) |
| MVP | Kyle Macy (Kentucky) |
| Television | The C.D. Chesley Company [2] |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 7 LSU | 14 | – | 4 | .778 | 23 | – | 6 | .793 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tennessee † | 12 | – | 6 | .667 | 21 | – | 12 | .636 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vanderbilt | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | 18 | – | 9 | .667 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alabama | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | 22 | – | 11 | .667 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mississippi State | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | 19 | – | 9 | .679 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kentucky | 10 | – | 8 | .556 | 19 | – | 12 | .613 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Georgia | 7 | – | 11 | .389 | 14 | – | 14 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ole Miss | 6 | – | 12 | .333 | 11 | – | 16 | .407 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Auburn | 5 | – | 13 | .278 | 13 | – | 16 | .448 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Florida | 3 | – | 15 | .167 | 8 | – | 19 | .296 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 1979 SEC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll[3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Tennessee Volunteers won the tournament championship game, and received the SEC's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament by beating the Kentucky Wildcats in a 75–69 overtime win on March 3, 1979. The tournament took place from February 28 to March 3, 1979.[4][5] After the SEC tournament ended, Tennessee was ranked number 20 in the Associated Press polls.[6]
Television coverage
The 1979 tournament marks the first time that the SEC tournament was covered through television. Television coverage of the tournament was produced by The C.D. Chesley Company, who syndicated the coverage of the games regionally over 30 television stations.[7] C.D. Chesley was known as the pioneer in syndicated college basketball broadcasts as he started production of the first package of Atlantic Coast Conference basketball telecasts in the late 1950s.
Bracket
| First Round Wednesday, February 28 | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 1 | Semifinals Friday, March 2 | Final Saturday, March 3 | |||||||||||||||
| 3 | Alabama | 81 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | #8 LSU | 67 | ||||||||||||||||
| 10 | Florida | 64 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Alabama | 100 | 6 | Kentucky | 80 | |||||||||||||
| 6 | Kentucky | 101 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Kentucky | 82 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Kentucky | 69 | ||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Ole Miss | 77 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Tennessee OT | 75 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Mississippi State | 72 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Tennessee | 75 | ||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Georgia | 75 | ||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Georgia | 91 | 9 | Auburn | 64 | |||||||||||||
| 9 | Auburn 4OT | 95 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Vanderbilt | 53 | ||||||||||||||||
| 9 | Auburn | 59 | ||||||||||||||||
All-tournament team
- G - Kyle Macy, UK (MVP)
- G - Truman Claytor, UK
- F - Terry Crosby, TENN
- F - Reginald King, ALA
- F - John Stroud, MISS
References
- "Tennessee Volunteers Index | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com"
- 1979 Tennessee vs. Kentucky on YouTube. (1979 SEC Tournament Championship Game)
- sports-reference.com 1978-79 Southeastern Conference Season Summary
- 2014-2015 Southeaastern Conference Men's Basketball Media Guide, page 134
- "1978-79 Tennessee Volunteers Roster and Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com"
- 2014-15 Tennessee Basketball Record Book, page 111.
- "SEC tournament Starts Wednesday". The Harlan Daily Enterprise. February 27, 1979. p. 2 – via Google Books.
- “1978-79 Southeastern Conference Schedule and Results”. Sports-reference.com. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
- 2014-15 Tennessee Basketball Record Book, page 103.
- 2014-15 Tennessee Basketball Record Book, pages 103 and 109.