For Nashville, the coming week was supposed to be a glorious start to March Madness with the Southeastern Conference returning to Bridgestone Arena to crown its men’s basketball tournament champion.

And this was supposed to be a feel-good story about sensational Alabama freshman Brandon Miller – the SEC Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year – and what a storybook finish it would be for the 6-foot-9 forward from Cane Ridge High School to cut down the net after the March 12 title game in his hometown en route to an NCAA championship and then become a top-five NBA Draft pick in June.

“It’s such a magical story, I mean, for him to be able to return to Nashville (for the tournament),” Fox Sports broadcaster John Fanta said in mid-February. “I think it’s an opportunity for him to shine, both as a player and as a person. And where better to do that than Bridgestone Arena?”

But that feel-good story got scrapped a week later by courtroom testimony in Tuscaloosa that linked the 20-year-old Miller to the January murder of a young woman. Miller has not been charged in the crime, is not a suspect and has been cleared by both police and school investigations. He is still a member of the second-ranked program.

All that has set off a firestorm of criticism directed at Miller, coach Nate Oats and other Alabama officials that will continue through the March 8-12 SEC Tournament and beyond.

This isn’t to suggest that the SEC championship celebration would be muted if the Crimson Tide – as many expect – rolls to the title and Miller cuts down the net in Miller’s hometown. Confetti will rain down, and Alabama fans will glory in the school’s second SEC crown in three years and eighth overall.

It would still be a good story, but not the one envisioned. Those dynamics have changed.

“The Crimson Tide will be a massive flashpoint come March Madness, when they might be favored to win the national championship,” Sports Illustrated columnist Pat Forde wrote Feb. 24. “They will be booed, taunted, debated – and defended by some. This is going to be a wild, dramatic, heated ride for as long as it lasts.”

Alabama’s run could last a while. Since news of his involvement was revealed, Miller has led the Crimson Tide to the outright regular-season title, its second in three years. The regular season concludes March 4, and the first round of the SEC Tournament begins March 8.

Miller is a candidate for national Player of the Year honors, averaging 19.7 points and 8.0 rebounds per game going into the final week and is expected to be one of the first names called in the NBA Draft.

Hours after the news broke, with South Carolina fans chanting “lock him up,” Miller poured in 41 points to lead Alabama to a 78-76 overtime victory against the Gamecocks. Then, Feb. 25, he scored 24 points in an 86-83 home win against Arkansas and had 17 in a 90-85 overtime victory over Auburn to improve Alabama to 26-4 overall and 16-1 in the conference with one game remaining.

While the home crowd cheered for Miller, he drew fresh criticism for the pregame introductions when Miller was subjected to a mock pat down by a teammate.

In postgame comments, Oats said that even though the insensitive routine had been going on all season, “Regardless, it’s not appropriate. It’s been addressed and I can assure you it definitely will not happen again for the remainder of this year.”

With controversy dogging Alabama, there still are still opportunities for “feel-good” stories at this year’s SEC Tournament – notably for Vanderbilt and defending SEC Tournament champion Tennessee – should the Crimson Tide falter.

Vanderbilt guard Tyrin Lawrence works against UT’s Tyreke Key.

-- Photo Provided By Vanderbilt Athletics

Next to Alabama, the Commodores (17-13, 10-7) have been maybe the league’s hottest team with a 6-1 February record. Vanderbilt won at Kentucky Wednesday night for the first time since 2007 and hosts Mississippi State March 4. A wins in the season finale plus a strong SEC Tournament run could earn the Commodores an at-large Selection Sunday invite but a championship would secure the automatic bid.

“I think our whole team has a mindset (that) we’re just going to try and win them all,” says Vanderbilt’s 7-foot center Liam Robbins, the SEC's Defensive Player of the Year and a first-team All-SEC selection. The fifth-year senior who led the Commodores to an 88-72 season sweep of Florida Feb. 24 but suffered a season-ending ankle injury early against Kentucky Wednesday night.

“I mean, we’re not, ‘well, we have to win five of these next seven and if we lose these, we’re OK.’ No, you go in with the mentality that you’re going to win them all and that’s the mentality we have.”

UT coach Rick Barnes says the tournament is “probably more wide-open than it’s been in the eight years that I’ve been in the SEC. There have been just great games within our league and I would expect the tournament to be maybe the best it’s been since I have been here.”

His 12th-ranked Vols (22-8, 11-6) finished in February with a 4-5 record after pounding South Carolina 85-45 and then rolling to a 75-57 victory in the Feb. 28 home finale against Arkansas. UT visits Auburn tomorrow (March 4) and then heads to Nashville for the tourney.

Other contenders for the SEC crown are Texas A&M, Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, Auburn, Mississippi State and Florida – all of which could finish with 20-win seasons.

Here’s a closer look at Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Miller heading into the SEC tourney:

VU finishes strong

The turning point for the Commodores was an embarrassing 101-44 Jan. 31 shellacking at Alabama that dropped Vandy to 10-12 overall and 3-6 in the conference. Two days later, coach Jerry Stackhouse discussed lineup changes and expressed optimism that the Commodores still had time to achieve success.

VU’s Liam Robbins, who has been a huge factor in the Commodores’ late-season run, suffered an ankle injury during Vanderbilt's win at Kentucky Wednesday night and is likely lost for the remainder of the season, coach Jerry Stackhouse says..

“We’ve always been better toward the end of February and into March,” the former North Carolina and NBA star said. “Going into the SEC Tournament – whether we’re playing on the first night or the second night – we know that we can go in and win. And that is how we approach every day and how we will continue to approach the rest of the season.”

The Commodores then reeled off five consecutive wins, including a buzzer-beating 66-65 victory over then-No. 2 Tennessee. That win streak ended with a road loss at LSU before the Commodores routed Florida.

Stackhouse hopes the Commodores can top last year’s tourney run when they beat Georgia and Alabama before losing to Kentucky.

“Yeah, it’s great to get (the tournament) back here. I thought Tampa was fun last year. We got down there and had a nice little run. But again, it’s always gonna be teams playing well. There’s a lot of parity in our league this year, as we can see,” says Stackhouse, who shared SEC Coach of the Year honors with Texas A&M's Buzz Williams.

UT’s Zakai Zeigler suffered a season-ending knee injury earlier this week. He leads the SEC in assists per game with 5.5. He also is scoring 11 points per game.

-- Tennessee Athletics/Utsports.Com

“It’s one of those tournaments that should be a lot of excitement for us,” Stackhouse says. “Hopefully, we continue to build some momentum to where it could be a home court advantage for us, playing here in Nashville.”

Like his coach, Robbins thinks Vandy can make the most of its tourney opportunities.

“It really comes down to competing and making sure we give ourselves the best chance to have the best chance,” he says.

UT’s confidence isn’t shaken

The Volunteers can beat any team in the country when they’re shooting well. That was evident Feb. 15 when host UT hammered then-No. 1 Alabama 68-59 before a raucous crowd. It was the sixth time in program history the Vols have taken down a top-ranked program, and that scenario could play out again at the SEC Tournament, depending on how the bracket is set.

“I think we’re like any team – on nights when we’re shooting the basketball, I think any team, when they’re making shots, you’re hard to beat. Any team, at this level. If not, you’ve got to find a way to impact a game, affect a game, try to come away with a win,” he says.

But the Vols lost five of seven games in February before smoking South Carolina.

“This group of guys, they’ve been very resilient,” Barnes says. “I mean, we’re always disappointed when we don’t win. And we’re disappointed sometimes when we win and we don’t play well. But every team goes through the ups and downs. These guys have embraced each other in a great way and at no point in time during this (month) have they not gone to practice hard, not been locked into what we’ve tried to do.”

The Vols’ February struggles – including back-to-back, buzzer-beating losses to Vandy and Missouri – haven’t shaken the confidence of UT sophomore guard Jahmai Mashack.

“You always have confidence going into games and we were definitely prepared for that (Alabama) game,” Mashack says, “and we have to be prepared for the rest of the games we have this season. So I think that confidence isn’t going to waver as much when you’re going through stuff like that.”

Mashack likes UT’s chances to repeat as SEC champion on a neutral court in Nashville.

“Yeah, this is definitely wide-open. Obviously, I feel like we are going to win it, win it all. And we’re going to come in with confidence,” Mashack says. “That’s one of the biggest keys. You’ve got to play basketball with confidence. If you can’t, then you can’t win any game.

“So we know that this Tennessee basketball team works harder than anybody else and that we come in with a lot of intensity and, obviously, a lot of confidence. So I’m very confident that we’re going to come in and do what we have to do – especially when it comes to the SEC Tournament.”

Bama’s missteps compound tragedy

So many mistakes were made in a tragedy that never should have happened. Now a young woman is dead, and her 5-year-old son will grow up without a mother.

Until that explosive revelation about Miller’s involvement during a Feb. 21 court hearing, here’s what we knew: That Darius Miles, a former Alabama player, and Michael Davis were charged with capital murder in the Jan. 15 shooting death of Jamea Jonea Harris, and that Miles admitted he gave his gun to Davis.

Five weeks later, Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit investigator Branden Culpepper testified Miles’ gun had been in the back of Miller’s car and that Miller received a text message asking him to bring it to the scene, which he did.

In a statement, Miller attorney Jim Standridge said in part that, “Brandon never touched the gun, was not involved in its exchange to Mr. Davis in any way and never knew that illegal activity involving the gun would occur.”

The victim’s family expressed outrage that Miller is still on the team, saying she might still be alive if he hadn’t taken the gun to the scene.

Social media and sports columnists in both print and electronic media have blasted Miller and school officials, especially in the wake of some of Oats’ comments. “Wrong spot at the wrong time,” is how Oats first responded to Miller’s presence at the scene, a comment he later clarified.

The Ledger spoke with Cane Ridge boys basketball coach Marlin Simms before news of Miller’s involvement, and he spoke glowingly.

“Brandon is doing an amazing job – you know, a young man growing up and understands his path and what he can become,” Simms said. “Brandon is a better human being than he is a basketball player. And I think that speaks volumes for his family and the person they helped him become.”

Afterward, The Ledger emailed Simms for his reaction. “No comment. I support Brandon Miller 1000%,” he replied.