The SEC basketball season continues to be unpredictable. Last week, Kentucky lost to LSU on Tuesday before hosting Tennessee on the ensuing Saturday. This week, LSU lost to Florida on Wednesday and, you guessed it, hosts the Vols on Saturday night.

Will the Vols go down again? Right now, they are back in sole possession of first place in the SEC standings, and with a second chance to win an outright title, I wouldn’t bet against Rick Barnes’ team.

There are only 2 and a half weeks left in the regular season (five games for each team), so we’ll see what happens down the stretch. The Vols control their fate, though, so keep an eye on them, especially Saturday in Baton Rouge.

Here are this week’s questions:

Robert:

It is your birthday, St. Patrick’s Day weekend and the beginning of March Madness. Which conference tournament are you attending to maximize all three holiday experiences?

I’ve always wanted to go to Las Vegas to see a conference tournament for my birthday (March 15, if you were wondering)/St. Patrick’s Day. This year, that would give me the options of the Pac-12, Mountain West, WAC and West Coast tournaments.

Yes, it has been a down year for the Pac-12, but I think that would be my answer. The entire conference is wide open, so even though it might not be the best basketball, it would at least be entertaining with lots of upsets.

Plus, being in Vegas allows you numerous options to watch other games (and bet on them) at various sports books. The Pacific time zone ensures that games will be on from about 8 a.m. to late at night.

An honorable mention goes to the Big Ten Tournament, which will be held in Chicago this year. The final is actually on St. Patrick’s Day, so being in the Windy City for that holiday would be a lot of fun, too.

@Dobbe8:

It seems like Kentucky and Tennessee are the top teams in the SEC. But the conference will obviously get more than those two teams in, so which of the other teams are most likely to go on a Cinderella run?

LSU fell out of the ranks of the elite with a home loss to Florida in overtime on Wednesday night, but the Tigers should still be a tough out come March. You need good guard play to go deep, and LSU PG Tremont Waters is one of the best in the nation.

Add in freshman Ja’Vonte Smart, who has been coming on strong lately, and junior Skylar Mays and you have a solid backcourt. Then, you have freshmen Naz Reid and Emmitt Williams and senior Kavell Bigby-Williams in the post. That’s a team no one wants to see in the tourney.

Speaking of great guard play, Ole Miss also deserves a mention. Breein Tyree and Terence Davis can score with anyone, and if they end up as a No. 7 seed, that’s a team no No. 2 seed wants to see in the second round.

Honorable mention to Florida (just ask LSU), especially if the Gators continue to stay hot. It’s all about peaking at the right time, and Florida could do just that.

Rachel:

Last week, you picked an SEC football coach who would make the best basketball coach (Nick Saban). What if you had to reverse it? Which basketball coach would you pick to coach a football team?

To me, there are two guys I’d trust in charge of an SEC football team, and they share a last name. Based on their toughness, I’d go with either South Carolina’s Frank Martin and Mizzou’s Cuonzo Martin.

Frank used to be a bouncer and brings a hard-nosed toughness to all of his South Carolina squads. Cuonzo played in the NBA and has also beaten non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Both have inspiring stories and the work ethics.

This all hinges on being able to hire the right coordinators, of course, as I wouldn’t trust either to come up with the Xs and Os needed to compete in the SEC. However, I trust them to recruit tough players and manage the day-to-day aspects of running a football team.

Could they beat Nick Saban’s Alabama team? Probably not, but there aren’t many coaches who can do that, anyway.

@HReside:

I’m dying to know — if you could have one liquid come out of your index finger on demand, what would it be and why?

What a question. The obvious answer here is water, since you’d never be at risk of dying of thirst. Think of all the desert excursions I could go on if I had an endless supply of water!

However, that’s pretty boring, so I’ll go with something else. As a big bourbon fan, I’ll go with an expensive Pappy Van Winkle 15-year bourbon. The 20- and 23-year versions are a bit dark for my tastes, so I’ll settle for the 15-year bourbon.

Not only could I then have some classy bourbon on hand (pun intended) at all times, but I could also use it to spice up some other drinks. Now I really want some Pappy Van Winkle …

Have a question for next week’s Mailbag? Tweet at us using #SDSMailbag or email me at ASpencer@SaturdayDownSouth.com.