SEC basketball did all it could to steal the show in November and December, but football stayed in the spotlight. When January arrives, SEC basketball will shine.
In the final week before SEC play, SEC basketball divided into winners and losers, but mostly winners.
The Losers
Ole Miss beat Bradley along with Texas A&M Corpus Christi this week. Otherwise, the Rebels lost to every competitive team they played in November and December, plus South Dakota State.
The Bradley win is a good one, though, and Ole Miss steams into conference play on a two game roll, but with a 167 RPI ranking.
During pre-conference play, South Carolina distinguished itself only with a win over a U Mass team with a 165 RPI ranking. U Mass did beat Georgia, however, and they aren’t a bad team. Also, while its top 100 RPI may not hold up through Southern Conference play, the win over Wofford looks good.
However, South Carolina was non-competitive against arch-rival Clemson. There is no kind of good that keeps that loss from being terrible if you are a Gamecock.
The Gamecocks can claim a 39 RPI ranking, so despite the bad news, they are positioned for a run back to the NCAA Tournament. South Carolina plays Limestone College before opening against Ole Miss in Oxford where both the Rebels and the Gamecocks will have a chance to start serving us some shut up.
Vanderbilt beat Houston Baptist and Alcorn State to finish pre-conference play on the upswing. Vanderbilt is not so much a loser – it just endured a difficult schedule, losing to three ranked teams as well as Kansas State and Virginia.