SEC Basketball: Not The Recovery Everyone Expected

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In late fall, the SEC’s basketball coaches all started trumpeting the potential of their conference.  Coaches gushed over the talent and experience that the league’s teams would be returning from last season.

“Six teams in the NCAA tourney!” 

“Seven!” 

“Did you say, seven?  Why there could be eight!”

Unfortunately, it looks like the number is more likely to be five.  If that.

In cast you missed it, we broke down each team’s as-of-then current resume on the site yesterday.  Today things are a bit clearer.  Which is why I can say that with just about month before Selection Sunday, the SEC is better… just not as much better as most coaches expected.



Let’s start at the top and work our way down.

1.  Kentucky — Anytime the Wildcats are on top of the conference and near the top of the national rankings it’s a good thing for the SEC.  Non-UK fans might not like it, but Kentucky is the flagship program in the SEC and one of the premier teams in the nation.  When they’re winning, they draw attention from everywhere.  And that spotlight spills onto other league teams.

2.  Vanderbilt — There’s no question Vandy has been the surprise of the SEC so far.  Kevin Stallings’ team is big, athletic, physical and they’ve learned to hit from outside again.  At 7-2 in the league and boasting a 5-1 mark against Top 50 RPI teams, the Commodores are looking at a three- or four-seed if they can hold serve the rest of the way.

3.  Tennessee — That’s about it for the positives.  The Volunteers were expected to be a Top 10 team this season, but all that came crashing down with the arrest of four players on New Year’s Day.  The team’s leading scorer and best all-around athlete, Tyler Smith, was dismissed from the team.  And while the Vols briefly rallied ’round one another with emotion and effort, it’s becoming increasingly evident that UT simply doesn’t have the scorers necessary to win on the road… or the NCAA tournament.

4.  Ole Miss — The Rebels are about where most folks expected them to be.  They still have a shot at the SEC West title… partly because that division has been disappointing overall.  While Vandy gets credit for its good record against top foes, UM must be jeered.  Andy Kennedy’s squad is just 1-4 against Top 50 teams.  In other words, they look good for the SEC West, but they don’t look like a team that will go deep into the NCAA tournament.

5.  Florida — The Gators have played well of late winning six out of seven.  But they too have a less-than-stellar record against the best of the best (2-5 vs RPI Top 50).  Their own RPI lags behind at just 48th.  At the moment, the Gators would appear to be March Madness-bound.  But that could change with a loss or two.

6.  Mississippi State & South Carolina — Two of the more disappointing squads in the conference.  Prior to the season, folks drooled over the potential triple towers of Jarvis Varnado, Renardo Sidney and John Riek.  As it’s turned out, Varnado is having to go wire-to-wire in the post on most nights and the Bulldogs are the least “clutch” team in the conference.  Meanwhile, Carolina suffered dual hits to their tourney chances when Dominique Archie was injured and when Mike Holmes was dismissed.  Devan Downey has become a one-man scoring force, but there’s very little firepower around him.

7.  Georgia & Alabama — These two rebuilding programs are both in their first year under new coaches.  Not much was expected.  Not much — aside from hope for the future — has been delivered.

8.  Arkansas — The Razorbacks began the season under a cloud of suspensions.  The return of Courtney Fortson has made a big difference, but it’s a case of too little, too late, it would appear. 

9.  LSU — I expected the Tigers to be bad this year.  I wrote on this site after last season that Trent Johnson could face a John Pelphrey-like second year in Baton Rouge due to the number of players he lost from last year’s squad.  But I didn’t foresee the Tigers starting their season 0-9 in conference play.  That’s embarrassing.

10.  Auburn — Again, it looked as though Auburn would struggle, but I didn’t anticipate a 2-6 conference record.  Their 0-5 mark against Top 50 RPI teams is matched only by their horrible losses to no-name teams like Central Florida, Sam Houston State and Troy.



On the whole, the SEC has indeed made small gains.  But the improvement at schools like Tennessee, Ole Miss and Florida hasn’t been as drastic as was hoped.  And the improvements didn’t come at all at places like MSU and South Carolina.

The season isn’t over yet and perhaps some school will make a late move up the standings.  But for now, SEC fans will have to content themselves by simply saying, “well, at least it beats 2009.”

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