Ranking the SEC’s men’s basketball teams through 6 weeks
The SEC is no longer just the best in football, the conference is now gaining notoriety as containing many of the best college basketball teams, as well!
Through six weeks of action, we’ve seen some very good basketball out of the conference and the SEC currently boasts five teams ranked in the AP Poll with Alabama being the highest at tenth.
Week 6 was unpredictable. Alabama lost on the road to Memphis by a lot and followed it up with a lackluster performance at home against Jacksonville State.
With still a lot of basketball left to play, here are the SEC power rankings going into Week 7.
14.Georgia Bulldogs
The Georgia Bulldogs may have a very good football team this year, but the basketball squad is on the opposite end of the spectrum.
The Dawgs have dropped games to the likes of Wofford and George Mason, and that’s just two of their six losses this year. Georgia is 5-6 on the year and their prospects aren’t growing as we approach conference play.
13. Missouri Tigers
The Tigers have lost to Kansas City and Liberty on the year as part of their 6-5 start.
Missouri’s Kobe Brown is turning into a scoring threat, but the Tigers have a lot to figure out before they can be a real threat to the SEC field.
12. Vanderbilt Commodores
Vanderbilt is 6-4 on the year after starting the season 5-1. Since then, they have dropped games to SMU, Temple and Loyola-Chicago.
They were able to break a three-game losing streak with a win over Austin Peay at home.
11. Mississippi State Bulldogs
Mississippi State has started the year with a solid record of 8-3. However, that record includes just one Quadrant 1 game (Colorado State) that ended in a three-point loss.
The Bulldogs are likely a bubble team at this point in the season. Tolu Smith coming back would be huge for this team.
10. Ole Miss Rebels
The Rebels haven’t beaten anybody of note, but they also haven’t lost any bad games.
The Rebels will have a long break between a date against Samford and the conference opener against Florida.
9. South Carolina Gamecocks
The Gamecocks were looking solid until a big loss to in-state rival Clemson on Saturday.
I could see SC getting an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament in March, but it’s more likely going to be an NIT postseason for the Gamecocks.
8. Texas A&M Aggies
Texas A&M might receive an at-large bid for The Dance at the end of the season, but if there’s anything that would hinder that achievement it would be a brutal non-conference strength of schedule.
The Aggies’ best win is a neutral-site matchup against Notre Dame, but the Irish are likely no more than an NIT team.
7. Arkansas Razorbacks
I’m not sure if a loss could be any worse than the one the Hogs took at the hands of Hofstra in Little Rock.
Arkansas may be in trouble as SEC play draws near, especially if they continue to play subpar defense.
6. Florida Gators
The Gators need to find their offense sooner rather than later if they want to run with the gauntlet that will be the SEC this season. They’re shooting at a 30% clip from behind the three-point line.
5. Kentucky Wildcats (8-2)
The Wildcats haven’t done anything to warrant a drop in rankings, however, Auburn has done well enough to simply take the fourth position away from Kentucky.
John Calipari is finally figuring out how to build a team that can do some damage on the perimeter. This transfer-heavy team should be in contention, as usual, throughout the season.
4. Auburn Tigers (10-1)
The Tigers haven’t earned a signature win, which will keep them away from the top for the time being. There will be plenty of chances to earn that signature win as SEC play gets going close to January.
3. Tennessee Vols (8-2)
Tennessee should be in just about every game it plays thanks to its elite defense. Questions still exist on offense — Josiah-Jordan James has not shot well from 3-point range, meaning the Vols usually start two non-shooters — but coach Rick Barnes clearly has one of the SEC’s best teams.
2. Alabama Crimson Tide (9-2)
Alabama relies on high-variance 3-point jumpers to score big, and that’s a nice way of saying that the Crimson Tide live and die by the three. Last week’s loss at Memphis wasn’t quite as bad as it looked, the Tigers have solid talent that just hasn’t gelled well together.
Lots of 3-pointers will go up on Tuesday in Birmingham when Alabama faces Davidson — that could be a fun game, and certainly should be high scoring. Alabama can beat any team in the country on the right day with its dangerous trio in the backcourt of Jaden Shackelford, Jahvon Quinerly and JD Davison, but the Tide can also lose to teams it should not.
1. LSU Tigers (11-0)
No team has established itself as the SEC’s clear favorite entering conference play. However, LSU is undefeated and until they lose a bad game, they will have my No. 1 spot. LSU has not scored a true signature win yet, but it is hard to pick apart what the Tigers have done.
LSU has played just two close games and the rest were demolition. Tari Eason is taking a lot of the scoring pressure off of Darius Days.
We will learn much more about these teams after conference play gets started. SEC openers will take place on Dec. 29.
Stay tuned to Roll Tide Wire for all the latest on the Crimson Tide!
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