Auburn set to face Florida in 1st round, but Lebo’s job security the bigger story in Nashville

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It’s a big day for Auburn basketball and, perhaps, an even bigger one for Jeff Lebo.

As you read this, I’m currently en route to Nashville for today’s first-round game against Florida. I’ll be blogging and tweeting a bunch from Bridgestone Arena, so make sure to start following the blog on Twitter if you haven’t done so yet.

I have a big story for you in today’s Opelika-Auburn News, which thoroughly examines a number of factors surrounding Lebo’s cloudy job status. I won’t ruin it for you, but it’ll probably be less of a surprise if Lebo is fired—based on recent, comparable situations around the SEC—than if he’s retained heading into the first season at Auburn Arena.

Here are the finer details of tonight’s matchup.

Auburn (15-16, 6-10) vs. Florida (20-11, 9-7)
What: SEC Tournament; first round
Where: Bridgestone Arena; Nashville, Tenn.
When: 6:30 p.m.
TV/Radio: SEC Network/WKKR 97.7 FM
Scouting report: Auburn had major issues with foul trouble when it faced the Gators last month, allowing them to attempt 40 free throws in the 78-70 loss in Gainesville, Fla. Both teams have had their ups and downs ever since, but the Gators have much more to lose today. Florida, like it was last year when the teams met in the SEC quarterfinals, is on the bubble. The Gators definitely can’t afford to lose to Auburn and would probably need to score a victory Friday against Mississippi State to feel safe. The Gators provide a tough matchup for Auburn because their two forwards, Chandler Parsons and Alex Tyus, can do work inside and outside the paint. Auburn and Florida have split their six meetings at the SEC Tournament.
Projected starters Auburn: F Lucas Hargrove (12.9 ppg, 6.9 rpg), F Johnnie Lett (1.9 ppg, 3.2 rpg), G DeWayne Reed (16.1 ppg, 4.3 apg), G Frankie Sullivan (12.2 ppg, 3.7 rpg), G Tay Waller (15.9 ppg, 3.8 rpg)
Projected starters Florida: C Vernon Macklin (10.7 ppg, 5.6 rpg), F Chandler Parsons (12.0 ppg, 6.8 rpg), F Alex Tyus (11.8 ppg, 7.0 rpg), G Kenny Boynton (13.5 ppg, 2.7 rpg), G Erving Walker (12.7 ppg, 5.0 apg)

(Photo credit: Todd Van Emst)

Jeff Lebo talks, again, about his job status, but from Nashville

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It’s become apparently clear that Jeff Lebo has a clear understanding of his role at this week’s SEC Tournament.

He’s the token coach on the hot seat, who will field questions about his job security until the Tigers are eliminated.

Reporters in Nashville today wasted little time broaching the subject after Auburn’s practice at Bridgestone Arena.

Try the first question.

Here was Lebo’s response, which might sound a bit familiar.

“I’m focused on this team, and I’m focused on the Tournament, focused on Florida.  That’s my total—that’s where all my energy is going right now, to these kids. As in most cases, I think, when the season’s over, I’ll sit down with my AD when the season’s complete, and we’ll have a conversation at that point, but that’s it, that’s kind of where it is right now.“

I’ll be headed to Nashville early tomorrow morning. I’ll have a Lebo-heavy advance, which will take a look at a lot of factors, ready for tomorrow’s newspaper.

(Photo credit: AP)

Vegas sets the odds for SEC Tournament; Auburn a better bet than Bama…sort of

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We’re about 33 hours until Florida and Auburn tip off in the third of four SEC Tournament first-round games tomorrow in Nashville.

Can you feel the excitement? No? Well, spring football is two weeks away, so that’s something to look forward to.

Las Vegas weighed in early this week on how it thinks the SEC Tournament will shake out. Not surprisingly, the regular season champs, Kentucky, are your top favorites at 2/5 odds, followed Tennessee (3/1) and Vanderbilt (4/1).

As for Auburn? The Tigers are 20/1. Not bad, right?

Well, there’s a catch.

The Tigers aren’t exactly listed on the big board. Instead, they’ve been lumped into “the field” with LSU and Georgia. That’s why the odds are better than, say, Alabama, which has a 30/1 chance of winning the whole thing.

Slap in the face? Maybe, but the Tigers did finish fifth of six in the Western Division, which went 0-for-24 against the top four teams in the East. I say it’s pretty fair.

Side note: I bet “the field” last summer for the MLB Home Run Derby. It wasn’t a bad bet, though I came away with nothing after Nelson Cruz petered out in the finals against Prince Fielder.

Here are the odds, courtesy of TheSpread.com, in descending order.

- Kentucky: 2/5
- Tennessee: 3/1
- Vanderbilt: 4/1
- Mississippi State: 13/2
- Florida: 12/1
- Mississippi: 12/1
- South Carolina: 15/1
- Alabama: 30/1
- Arkansas: 30/1
- Field: 20/1

(Photo credit: Todd Van Emst)

What hit the cutting room floor from our Pro Day wrapup

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Despite the low number of participants, Auburn Pro Day kept me busy pretty much all of Tuesday.

The result was two stories.

This featured story focuses on the days of Walt McFadden and Antonio Coleman.

This notebook discusses the happenings of Ben Tate, Gabe McKenzie and others.

There were plenty of leftovers that didn’t make the cut. Here they are, person by person.

Ben Tate

(So you think you’re underestimated?)
“I think I’ve been underestimated my whole career. It drives me, it keeps me working hard. I don’t mind being the underdog. One day the underdog will be on top.“

(What’s the plan now?)
“Stay in shape. Keep working. Maybe take a little time off, a week or so. But then get back to work. Draft day is coming and then after draft day you’ve got mini-camp. You can’t relax now. You’ve still got to keep working.“

(What you hearing about your stock?)
“I am hearing some things about that, but I like to keep things private. The only thing I can control is my hard work and how I can perform. The hard decision is going to be up to the teams.“

Gabe McKenzie

(How’d you do?)
“I think I did pretty well. You don’t do you best every time, but it’s all good. I had been planning every day for it, I was looking forward to it. My numbers weren’t as close as I thought they’d be, so I’ll train more.“

(What position are you going to play?)
“They were looking at me at both. I was getting back in the hang of tight end again. I think everything will look good for me.“

Walt McFadden

(Why’d you pick Drew Rosenhaus as your agent?)
“He recruited a lot of guys out of South Florida and he was already recruiting me, and then Bryant, he just signed with Rosenhaus as soon as I was getting recruited. He kind of kept it in the family to keep us doing everything. At first I wasn’t going to go with Rosenhaus because I believe he was just trying to take me because of Bryant, but he kind of talked to me and walked me through the steps, and as I thought about it, he was recruiting me before he even met Bryant. So I kind of beat Bryant to the punch.“

(Your plan now)
“Just working out. Just staying in shape and doing what I was doing before. Keep praying and reading my Bible and talking to my family. Just trying to get some new things started in my life.“

Antonio Coleman

(You excited?)
“I’m excited to see what team picks me up. But I can’t control that. All I can do is work out for these guys and show them that I’m one of the best D-ends out there.“

(Fun working with Gabe?)
“We were pushing each other. It was real fun. I was solo. Jake Ricks got hurt on me, so I was going to be out there by myself. I think it was a great job for him to give me a little breather because he HAS played end at Auburn.“

Chris Todd

(How’d it go?)
“It’s a different experience. We’ve got a lot of people watching you and stuff and a lot of people working out so everyone’s going out and trying to do their best. Everybody’s been prepping for this for a while. It was a good experience and it was a lot of fun to get in front of these NFL guys and show them what you’ve got a little bit.“

(What’d scouts say?)
“A lot of them just talk about what you’re doing. I was doing a lot of different drills with a lot of different people. The ball was coming out good. If they needed you to do something, they’d comment on that. It wasn’t anything crazy, but I guess conversation was good.“

(Photo credit: Todd Van Emst)

The Pro Day numbers are in; big showings from McKenzie, Billings and McFadden

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Here’s a full rundown of the heights, weight, times and repetitions from today’s Pro Day.

Heights/weights

Antonio Coleman - 6-1, 248
Walter McFadden - 5-11, 181
Gabe McKenzie - 6-2 ½, 256
Jake Ricks - 6-2 ½, 288
Ben Tate - N/A, 219
Chris Todd - 6-1 ½, 216
Gabe Barrett - 5-8 ½, 169
Robert Dunn - 5-10 ¼, 173
Robert Johnson - 6-5 ½, 278
Brad Lester - 5-9, 195
Maurice Smith - 6-1, 200
Montez Billings - 6-1 ¼, 181
Clayton Jones - 5-10 ¼, 183

40-yard dash

Coleman - 4.72, 4.78
McFadden - 4.40, 4.39
McKenzie - 4.80, 4.74
Ricks - 5.00, 4.95
Tate - N/A
Todd - 4.84, 4.95
Barrett - 4.60, 4.66
Dunn - 4.73, 4.70
Johnson - 5.01
Lester - 4.46, 4.47
Smith - 4.69
Billings - 4.42, 4.48
Jones - 4.72

Vertical leap

Coleman - 33.5
McFadden - 33, 35.5
McKenzie - 36, 37
Ricks - 24.5 (hammy)
Tate - N/A
Todd - 27.5
Barrett - 32.5
Dunn - 27, 28
Johnson - 27, 28
Lester - 38
Smith - 32.5, 33.5
Billings - 34
Jones - 29, 30

Broad Jump

Coleman - 9-8
McFadden - 10-3.5, 10-1
McKenzie - 10-2, 10-4
Ricks - N/A
Tate - N/A
Todd - 8-11.5, 9-1.5
Barrett - 9-5.5, 9-6
Dunn - 9-6
Johnson - N/A
Lester - 10-2.5
Smith - 10-3
Billings - 10-5, 10-6.5
Jones - 8-9.5, 9-4

Bench Press

Coleman - N/A
McFadden - 5
McKenzie - 22
Ricks - 15
Tate - N/A
Todd - 13
Barrett - 14
Dunn - N/A
Johnson - 12
Lester - 22
Smith - 12
Billings - N/A
Jones - 13
 
(Photo credit: Todd Van Emst)