It’s getting closer and closer to the end of the conference season (can you believe that Selection Sunday is only four weeks away?!?!?!?!) and every game from here on out is going to be vital in the SEC race, in the division race, for SEC Tournament seeding, and for the NCAA Tournament. From now until the SEC heads to Tampa for the conference tourney, I’m going to be posting a wrap-up of SEC action each Monday morning and Friday morning. Without further ado:

UK 79 Arkansas 63: You know about this one.

LSU 73 Ole Miss 66: LSU comes back from 8 down with nine minutes left to maintain a 2 game first place cushion. Look for LSU to enter the rankings for the first time this year.

South Carolina 75 Alabama 73: Mike Holmes buzzer-beating tip in helped the Gamecocks survive an off night from three point range (5-21).

Tennessee 69 Vanderbilt 50: UT held Vandy to 39% shooting and forced 22 turnovers, including 15 steals in a matchup of UK’s next two opponents.

Georgia 88 Florida 86: Florida falls out first place tie in the East and Georgia gets first SEC win, shooting 69% in the first before surviving the Gators comeback.

Auburn 91 Mississippi St. 76: The Bulldogs suffered a hit to NCAA hopes largely due to 3 point shooting (13-27 for Auburn, 10-35 for State). I think they may have fallen in love with the 3 after what they did to UK in Rupp.

LSU is going to have to falter in order to be caught in the SEC race. They have a favorable schedule the rest of the way, with the toughest games @UK and at home versus Florida. I’m guessing their 2 game lead will stand even if UK is able to defend home court in a couple weeks. Here’s what the standings look like after this weekend:

I don’t remember a year where there was more uncertainty at the top of the SEC East. It’s going to be a battle to the finish for the 2 byes in the SEC Tournament. UK currently holds the tie breaker over UT and Florida, while South Carolina’s win in Rupp gives them the advantage over UK. However, UK has games remaining against all three, so tiebreakers are very unclear still. Only one of UK’s games the rest of the way seems to be safe (Georgia), so every win will be precious. UK’s home dates against Tennessee and LSU are going to be big opportunities to solidify UK’s resume, so Rupp has got to be rocking just like it was last Tuesday.

First things first though. UK heads to Nashville to play yet another late game on ESPN against Vandy. Patrick Patterson’s status is still day to day, but he is healing, there should be some more definite information about his availability later today. Either I or Wink will be giving you an update when available. Come back later for Wink’s breakdown of UK’s first rematch of the season. Also, here’s a quick check of UK’s NCAA Tournament profile. The ‘Cats have won back to back games to run their record to 18-7 (7-3 in conference and 7-3 over the last 10 games). UK is 3-4 against top 50 RPI teams, with big wins against West Virginia at a neutral site, @Tennessee, and at home vs. Florida. Kentucky is 5-6 against the RPI top 100 and has a loss to VMI, ranked 143 (but leading its conference). Kentucky is 4-3 on the road and 3-0 in neutral site games (including wins over WVU and Kansas State). Crunch those numbers and you have an RPI of 58 as of last night.

Make no mistake, UK’s profile is the profile of a bubble team. Nothing about the resume is particularly glaring, but nothing is particularly good. Therefore, UK has work to do and is listed as a 10 seed in the latest edition of Bracketography.

It goes without saying that this week is a big one for UK, because the rest of them are going to be big. Make sure you stick around for Wink’s preview of the showdown in Nashville tomorrow night (the showdown between UK and Vandy, not Gillispie and Edwards) as well as an update later on the status of Patrick Patterson.