SEC Fever

This past weekend was the SEC-Big XII challenge. It ended in a 5-5 tie and like so many of these things, they don’t mean much. It did highlight how much deeper the SEC is this year. We may also have gotten a glimpse of what Kentucky can do.

The first thing that may surprise people is, if we use KenPom and we are, Auburn and Tennessee are top 10 teams. Auburn is 8th and Tennessee is 10th. Brian has Auburn up to a 2-seed and Tennessee as a 5-seed. The Vols have 5 losses but would be a tough matchup in a potential Sweet 16 matchup for any 1-seed. As I mentioned yesterday, Tennessee is favored in the rest of their games save a trip to Lexington.

At the beginning of the season, I was pretty high on Texas A&M and Florida but injuries and inconsistency have slowed both squads. The Aggies are 2-6 in league play and lost at Kansas on Saturday. They’re still 36th in KenPom but this feels like a lost opportunity season in College Station. The Gators hit a rough patch in non-conference play but have rebounded to 6-2 in league play. 21st in KenPom, they’ll still be a problem in March.

The rest of the league falls into the top 100 of KenPom. Arkansas and Alabama are in Brian’s last bracket with Missouri in the play-in. Missouri has some personnel issues that could lead to a slide. Mississippi State and Georgia are squarely on the bubble. None of them will be pushovers the rest of the way.

The one team talented enough to win it all would be Kentucky. They’re a flawed team but flashed what they’re capable of in winning at West Virginia. Calipari does a good job getting his youngsters to play defense but they’ve been a mess offensively. Imagine a super team of Duke/Kentucky freshmen.

The league may not make waves in March but it is as deep as it’s been in quite awhile.