SEC basketball week seven winners and losers

FULLERTON, CA - NOVEMBER 23: Georgia basketball star Yante Maten
FULLERTON, CA - NOVEMBER 23: Georgia basketball star Yante Maten /
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The SEC basketball Tennessee Volunteers basketball defend the North Carolina Tar Heels.
KNOXVILLE, TN – DECEMBER 17: The SEC basketball Tennessee Volunteers basketball defend the North Carolina Tar Heels. /

The Winners

Tennessee continues to surprise college basketball observers. Picked to finish thirteenth in the fourteen team SEC, the Vols lost only twice in November and December – single digit losses to number seven North Carolina and number five Villanova. Tennessee wins include defeats of NC State, Wake Forrest and number 18 Purdue.

Missouri continued its resurgence throughout the pre-conference schedule despite losing the likely top player in next year’s NBA draft, Michael Porter. The Tigers rebound from a next-to-last place 2017 SEC finish now includes ten wins against the number 15 ranked difficult schedule in the country.

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Dawgs win three out of two

Georgia finished pre-conference play with three big wins in two games. The Dawgs trounced arch-rival Georgia Tech, beat a Temple team that now carries a number 13 RPI, and received a commitment from the number two ranked point guard in the country, Ashton Hagans. In Athens, the only thing better in December is a Rose Bowl win.

Arkansas plays Cal Sate-Bakersfield this coming week to complete its pre-conference schedule. The Razorbacks have quietly built a compelling resume, using a 9-2 record that includes a win over number 14 Minnesota to claim an RPI ranked number 10.

Texas A&M is still the brightest star in the SEC galaxy. The Aggies claimed their tenth and eleventh wins this past week and are 11-1, having beaten tenth ranked Southern California and eleventh ranked West Virginia. Texas A&M is ranked number five in RPI nationally and owns a 17.2 point per game average advantage over its opponents.