SEC Basketball: The Midweek Roundball Roundup 11/16/16

Hello again friends, and welcome to our brand new column here at Southbound and Down: The Midweek Roundball Roundup. In this column we will discuss each SEC basketball team’s results from the past week, as well as their upcoming games. Enjoy.

Alabama: 1-1 (0-0)

Alabama got the season off to a good start, beating Coastal Carolina on Friday by a score of 70-53. Senior graduate transfer Corban Collins looks to be the leader of the team. He accounted for 15 points, three rebounds, three assists, and two steals in the Tide’s win.

Then, yesterday, the Tide dropped a close one to the Dayton Flyers. The final score was 77-72, but the Tide had a chance to win it in the final minute. Unfortunately, Dazon Ingram threw an errant pass and turned the ball over, ultimately allowing Dayton to come away victorious.

Looking ahead, the Tide has a Friday night home game against Ball State, followed by a Monday night game against Valparaiso. Both teams are currently undefeated. Both teams should provide good tests for an Alabama team that is still struggling to find an offensive identity.

Arkansas: 2-0 (0-0)

The Hogs are off to a solid start this season. They picked up big wins over both IPFW and Southern Illinois. The Hogs face another cupcake in the form of UT Arlington, but then things get a bit trickier when the Hogs travel to Minnesota. The Golden Gophers should provide us with a bit more information about how good the Razorbacks really are this year.

Auburn: 2-0 (0-0)

Similar to Arkansas, the Auburn Tigers have feasted on cupcakes to start the basketball season. They thumped North Florida and Georgia State. They should do the same against Eastern Kentucky tomorrow. The Tigers face their first real test when they face Texas Tech on Tuesday.

Florida: 2-0 (0-0)

You can add the Florida Gators to the list of unrepentant cupcake eaters. Florida feasted on Florida Gulf Coast and Mercer. The Gators face a much sterner test tomorrow against St. Bonaventure. Then on Monday they face off against a scrappy Belmont team.

Georgia: 1-1 (0-0)

The Georgia Bulldogs have backbone. They opened the season against a very tough Clemson team and hung in until the bitter end, ultimately losing by six points on the road. The Dawgs then proceeded to whip a lousy UNC Asheville team. They should feast on Furman tomorrow, before facing a stout George Washington team on Monday.

Kentucky: 2-0 (0-0)

The Kentucky Wildcats had two warmup games to prepare for an always gritty Michigan State team. The Wildcats spanked Stephen F. Austin and Canisius. They play the Spartans on Tuesday night. Then they play Duquesne on Sunday. Expect Kentucky to be good as usual.

LSU: 1-0 (0-0)

As of right now the Tigers are only 1-0, but by the time you read this I fully expect them to be 2-0. They opened the season with a thorough beating of Wofford. They play Southern Miss Tuesday night, and the Golden Eagles are a bad team.

Do you know who else is bad? North Florida. So the Tigers should get off to a nice 3-0 start. I expect reality will start to set in after they play Wichita State next week.

Mississippi State: 1-0 (0-0)

Mississippi State is not a particularly good basketball team. They opened the season by almost losing to Norfolk State. Did you know that Norfolk State was a thing that existed? I did not. Now I do. SEC teams shouldn’t almost get beaten by teams I didn’t know existed in their own house. The Bulldogs play UCF tomorrow night, a game they’ll need to play better in if they want to come away with a win.

Missouri: 1-0 (0-0)

The Tigers started the season off by crushing an atrocious Alabama A&M squad into a fine powder. Unfortunately, Missouri is likely going to be staring down the wrong end of a similar spanking against Xavier tomorrow night.

Ole Miss: 2-0 (0-0)

Thus far this season, Ole Miss have found themselves on the right side of two squeakers. The first was against UT Martin, which the Rebels won by three. Then, the Rebels won by two against UMass. They face another cupcake in the form of Oral Roberts on Friday. We will see if the Rebels can actually hammer out a convincing win.

South Carolina: 2-0 (0-0)

The Gamecocks also feasted on two cupcakes to get off to a nice 2-0 start. They beat Louisiana Tech and then steamrolled over Holy Cross. Are they for real? We will find off after they play Monmouth Tuesday evening.

Tennessee: 0-1 (0-0)

Texas A&M: 2-0 (0-0)

You can add the Aggies to the list of SEC squads who kicked off the season with a couple of trips to the bakery. The Aggies racked up back-to-back blowouts against Northwestern State and American University. They finally play a real team when they face USC on Friday night.

Vanderbilt: 0-1 (0-0)

Vanderbilt was unafraid to open the season with a challenge. Unfortunately for them, the Commodores got whipped by Marquette. Tuesday night the Dores square off against a scrappy Belmont team. Will the Commodores be 0-2 by the time you read this? They might be. On Friday the Commodores face the aforementioned Norfolk State, and then on Monday they play Bucknell.

Thanks for Reading!

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