SEC Basketball: The Catchup Part 2 (Season Kickoff)

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Jan 12, 2016; Lexington, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari coaches his team during a timeout against the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the second half at Rupp Arena. Kentucky defeated Mississippi State 80-74. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports /

3. Kentucky 13-3 (3-1)

3 losses in January and Big Blue Nation is having flashbacks to NITs and losses to Robert Morris. This Kentucky team started strong with a big win over Duke, but lost to UCLA and Ohio State before getting beat by 18 at LSU. 247sports.com ranked Skal Labissiere as the number 2 recruit in the nation

Jan 9, 2016; Columbia, SC, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Frank Martin directs his team against the Vanderbilt Commodores in the second half at Colonial Life Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports /

behind Ben Simmons. His raw talent is there and people forget that he had not played organized basketball in over a year before taking the floor at Kentucky. Kentucky has enough talent to right the ship and beat anybody in the country. They’re also going to have to improve their play of face a disappointing season in an improved SEC basketball conference. After narrowly escaping Mississippi State 80-76, they have shown that they lack the experience to prevent them from getting beat by anybody in the country. I’m not betting against Calipari, though.

2. South Carolina 15-0 (2-0)

It has probably taken head coach Frank Martin longer than he thought it would to establish a winning program at South Carolina. But give him and the program both some credit for their patience. To this point in the season he has established a winning program to perfection. South Carolina is sitting at 15-0 and has wins against Memphis and Vanderbilt. Other than that though, South Carolina has not really played anyone of consequence. The SEC is deep enough this year, though, that the Gamecocks have plenty of chances for quality wins. With the jury still out on South Carolina, there is no doubt they are amongst the most interesting storylines as we get SEC play underway.

More sec: SEC Football: Final Power Rankings (6-1)

1. Texas A&M 14-2 (4-0)

Head Coach Billy Kennedy is building quite the resume. He has a history of turning around programs against all odds and this may be his finest work yet. In his first 4 years at Southeastern Louisiana, his team had a combined 36 wins. In his last 2 years at Southeastern Louisiana, his teams combined for 44 wins and NCAA tournament birth. He then went on to coach Murray State. In his first 3 seasons there his teams never finished worse than T-2nd in his conference. In his last 2 seasons at Murray State, his teams had a combined 54 wins that included a 31 win season. If history repeats itself, this is Texas A&M’s breakout year. Coach Kennedy’s Texas A&M teams had 14, 18, and 18 wins in each of his first 3 seasons. Last season A&M won 21 games and barely missed the NCAA tournament. After a 14-2 start this season, expectations may be starting to get higher than anticipated. If anyone can unseat Kentucky and Calipari, it is Texas A&M and Kennedy.

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

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