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SEC Basketball: The Catchup Part 1 (Season Kickoff)

By Ben Richardson

Dec 19, 2015; Nashville, TN, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores head coach Kevin Stallings reacts during the first half against the Wofford Terriers at Memorial Gym. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 19, 2015; Nashville, TN, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores head coach Kevin Stallings reacts during the first half against the Wofford Terriers at Memorial Gym. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jan 9, 2016; Columbia, MO, USA; Missouri Tigers guard Tramaine Isabell (4) shoots the ball over Auburn Tigers guard Bryce Brown (2) during the second half at Mizzou Arena. The Missouri Tigers defeat the Auburn Tigers 76-61. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 9, 2016; Columbia, MO, USA; Missouri Tigers guard Tramaine Isabell (4) shoots the ball over Auburn Tigers guard Bryce Brown (2) during the second half at Mizzou Arena. The Missouri Tigers defeat the Auburn Tigers 76-61. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports /

10.  Missouri 8-8 (1-2)

No disrespect, but there is no doubt in my mind that Missouri is the highest it will be in the SEC standings the entire year right now.  Arkansas just blew them out by 33.  6 of their 8 losses are by double digits, and 5 of those 6 were by 14 or more.  It is really hard to watch right now.  They rank 255th in the country in scoring with 69.7 ppg.  To the surprise no one, they are ranked 273rd in assists per game.  Nobody is moving the ball and nobody is scoring.  That is a bad combination.  Like Mizzou’s offense in football bad.

9.  Tennessee 8-7 (1-2)

Jan 9, 2016; Gainesville, FL, USA; Florida Gators head coach Mike White reacts against the LSU Tigers during the second half at Stephen C. O
Jan 9, 2016; Gainesville, FL, USA; Florida Gators head coach Mike White reacts against the LSU Tigers during the second half at Stephen C. O /

After the Donnie Tyndall debacle, Tennessee fans will happily take new coach Rick Barnes and their 8-7 record.  Tennessee has held tough with Butler, Gonzaga, and Texas A&M while eventually losing to them all.  However, losses to George Washington, Auburn and Nebraska make me hesitant to believe this is a team that will do a whole lot of winning.  There is a huge difference between winning and competing — just ask their football team.

8.  Georgia 8-5 (1-2)

Sophomore forward Yante Maten leads the way in scoring for Mark Fox’s Georgia Bulldogs, averaging an impressive 16.8 ppg.  Georgia has played the fewest games of any SEC team to this point in the season.  Georgia did lose to Chattanooga by 2 and Florida by 14, but they look better as a whole than they did last year.  They will have to improve on their 222nd ranked scoring offense if they are to take advantage of Maten’s superb numbers.

7.  Florida 10-6 (2-2)

After 16 seasons of winning records, Billy Donovan and Florida suffered their first losing record last

year.  Coach Donovan bolted to the NBA and while Florida fans were left salty, it was hard to argue him staying since he had the opportunity to coach Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.  Florida then hired Mike White away from Louisiana Tech where he had led his team to 3 straight 27+ win seasons and to at least a share of their regular season conference title.  Coach White has done an outstanding job coaching this team to a 10-6 start and the Gators currently rank 17th in rebounding.  They better be able to rebound, as they are currently shooting 28.6% from 3-point range.  That marks is good for 341st out of 351 teams in the country.

More sec: SEC Football: The Conference Reclaimed their Crown in a 'Down Year'

So Vanderbilt is 11th while Missouri is 10th, Malik Newman’s game didn’t immediately translate as well as many expected and some quality coaches are struggling to get their SEC basketball teams going.  We’ve got you caught up on the bottom half of the league now.  Come back and let us catch you up on the top half of the league in the morning.

-All stats and records taken from espn.com unless otherwise noted-

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