SEC Basketball Power Rankings: Rise of Big Blue Nation?

A week after the SEC/Big 12 challenge, SEC basketball fans are feeling pretty good about their conference, with some teams clearly leading the way.

Well, the SEC/Big 12 challenge had to leave SEC fans feeling good about the current state of the conference in regards to it’s basketball.

LSU gave No. 1 Oklahoma all they could handle in a heartbreaking 77-75 loss at home.  No. 20 Kentucky went on the road and took No.4 Kansas into overtime.  The SEC sported more than just encouraging losses.

Florida dominated No. 9 West Virginia from the tip in convincing fashion, 88-71.  No. 14 Iowa State also went on the road to face their SEC opponent at No. 5 Texas A&M, and found similar results in a 82-72 defeat.

The weekend challenge helped the SEC gain national recognition for increasing their level of competition, but it was some of the games from earlier in the week that really affected this week’s SEC Basketball Power Rankings. [Related-category]

14. (14.)  Missouri 8-14 (1-8)-  Embarrassing losses to Kentucky and Mississippi State this past week have Missouri fans starting to turn the other way.  This is getting hard to watch.

13. (13.) Mississippi State 9-12 (2-7)-  Encouraging wins against Ole Miss and Missouri give the fans something to cheer about.  I’m not real sure if they’ve gone past the point of “hoping for a turn around,” but these wins and the progress of Malik Newman could keep the hope alive.

12. (10.)  Auburn 9-12 (3-6)-  After losing to Florida by 30-plus points, Auburn fans were looking for a bounce back performance to convince them their win over Big Blue Nation wasn’t just a dream.  Double digit losses at Ole Miss and at home vs Oklahoma State weren’t exactly what the Auburn faithful had in mind.

11. (11.) Alabama 12-9 (3-6)- If Alabama can hold you to under 60 points they have a great chance to beat you. If you can score 61 points or more, Alabama is in trouble. Alabama held Tennessee to 57 points in their ugly 6-point victory, but gave up 78 in their double digit loss to South Carolina.

10. (12.)  Ole Miss 14-8 (4-5)-  Ole Miss went on the road and battled hard against evenly matched Kansas State but came out on the losing end of the 69-64 scoreboard.  However, after suffering the loss to Mississippi State before last week’s SEC Basketball Power Rankings, they handed Auburn a 17-point loss.  A narrow escape at Missouri is reason for concern.

9. (9.)  Tennessee 11-11 (4-5)-  The win at home against then No. 24 South Carolina put

everyone on notice that Kevin Punter and the Volunteers had turned a corner and they were ready to rise to the challenge everyone had to offer.  Then they went on the road and lost an ugly game to Alabama and suffered a double digit loss to sub .500 TCU.  Beating Kentucky just isn’t as impressive as in years past, but it is good enough to hold you steady in the power rankings despite an ugly loss at TCU.

8. (7.)  Vanderbilt 13-9 (5-4)-  Their win over Florida was impressive, but watching the game, I never got the feeling that Vanderbilt was the better team.  Yes, it was a great home win and their 4th win in 5 games.  Then they went on the road and really got outplayed all day by an up and coming Texas team, losing 72-58.  Wait, there’s more from Vanderbilt.  They followed that game up with a 17-point victory at home against no. 8 Texas A&M.  I think Vanderbilt will finish higher in our SEC Basketball Power Rankings, but not in the top 5 like most thought coming into this season.

7. (6.)  Georgia 12-8 (5-4)-  I don’t even think it is fair I am dropping Georgia any spots in our SEC Basketball Power Rankings, but impressive wins put others ahead of them.  Georgia fought at LSU, losing a close one 89-85.  They then went on the road again and took on then No. 17 Baylor.  They played a good game, and if it weren’t for the opening minutes of the 2nd half, we may have had a closer ending score as the Bulldogs lost by 10.  Yes, they did have an impressive victory at home against no. 25 South Carolina, but is South Carolina REALLY the 25th best team in the country? We are still left not really knowing how good Georgia can be this year.

6. (8.)  Arkansas 11-11 (4-5)-  I’m not buying it!  I mean I am buying it, if this 2-week risk free trial is as advertised.  Only time will tell if Arkansas can be who we thought they could be this year.  They played Texas A&M in a great game at home, coming out the victor in a 74-71 battle.  Then, they avoided the post-big win let down, handling business at home against Texas Tech.  This week I didn’t know what to expect on the road at Florida and at home against Tennessee.  The game at Florida was a hard fought 4-point loss, but if they can beat Tennessee coming off the win against Kentucky, it’d be considered a successful week.

5. (4.)  LSU 14-8 (7-2)-  After beating Georgia by 4, many thought LSU could get blown out on a national stage at home against No. 1 Oklahoma.  Anybody that thought that was shocked to find LSU leading for the majority of the game.  Late game heroics and amazing play by Buddy Hield led the Sooners to the 2-point victory.  We all believe in Ben Simmons.  We are still waiting to see if he can get the help.

4. (5.)  25 South Carolina 19-3 (6-3)-  I still have a hard time believing that South Carolina is better than LSU, but I can’t argue with their consistency.  They beat who they are supposed to beat, with only 2 exceptions on their resume.  I’m excited to see how they fair against better opposition.  South Carolina had yet to play any team in our SEC Basketball Power Rankings top 7.  Then they played Georgia, making them 0-1 in our SEC Basketball Power Rankings top half.  It’ll be interesting to see how they perform against a schedule that is back loaded with tough games.

3. (3.)  Florida  15-7 (6-3)-  Nobody walked out of the gym thinking Vanderbilt was better than Florida after Vanderbilt won 60-59.  They walked out and wondered aloud what if Florida could consistently shoot the 3-point ball.  Florida then showed us what they could do as they shot 12 for 20 from 3-point range in an 88-71 beat down of then No. 9 West Virginia.  The Gators faced a hot Arkansas team at home before going on the road to play Kentucky.  A win against Arkansas was huge as they needed the momentum going into a match with a Kentucky team that just blew a 21-point lead in their last game.

2. (2.)  20 Kentucky 16-6 (6-3)-  Kentucky did not play down to their opponent in their 34-point victory over Missouri.  They looked sharp, and that carried over into their overtime loss at then No. 4 Kansas.  The nation was waiting to see what Kentucky team would show up, and the team we’ve been expecting showed up.  It’s crazy to think the team is better with Skal Labissiere on the bench, but the number 2 prospect coming into this season only played 14 minutes in the overtime loss.  I feel like Texas A&M “deserves” the number 1 spot in our SEC Basketball Power Rankings, but when I ask myself who wins on a neutral site, UK vs A&M….I have to be honest and say that I’m leaning towards Kentucky.  I wouldn’t bet on it though, because I would’ve bet on Kentucky winning a game against Tennessee when spotted 21 points. And I would have lost.  An upset Kentucky team takes on visiting Florida this week, which is a very intriguing SEC match up.

More sec: Grading The SEC East Recruiting Classes

1. (1.)  8 Texas A&M 18-4 (7-2)-  After a disappointing 3-point loss to Arkansas, Texas A&M faced a very good Iowa State team.  Texas A&M beat then ranked No. 14 Iowa State and emerged a double digit victor.  Then, as it seems to now be a trend, they go out and get crushed by a disappointing Vanderbilt team.  The number 8 team in the country just gets blown out by unranked Vanderbilt and it is just the norm in today’s college basketball world.  A bad loss to Vandy is still better than giving up a 21-point lead to Tennessee, which holds A&M at number 1.