re: Final 4 appearances by SEC team

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AA and POY Pete Maravich made the NIT FinalFour.
AA and POY Shaquille O'Neal won an SEC Title and went to a Sweet 16.
AA and POY Chris Jackson won an SEC Title and made it to a Sweet 16.
SEC FOY Ben Simmons should make NIT.

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Maravich made the NIT final 4 when it meant something fwiw. The NIT champion was typically considered a top 10-15 team back in the day when only 2 dozen teams made the dance.
Hate to say it but neither Shaq or CJ made it past the second round- no Sweet 16's for teams which knocked off the number 1 team's in the land in consecutive regular seasons. (AZ and UNLV)
The Simmons failure to make the dance(if it happens and it's likely to happen at this point) while frustrating, is no where near as big a flop for long-time Tiger fans as those Tiger teams from 90-92 not getting past the second rounds. The '89-'90 team alone had 4 future first round picks including a number one overall. They were good enough to knock off #1 Vegas which eventually won the crown as well as the LMU team which might have won the title had Hank Gathers not died tragically near season's end. Comparing the disappointment of not making the dance to not winning the whole damn thing is apples to oranges. The '91 and '92 teams with Shag were nearly as disappointing as '90. Dale's post-season magic of the '80's never carried over to the '90's.