As we draw closer to the end of the season, you would think more things would become more clear and teams would emerge as leaders. But then you remember this is SEC Basketball that we are talking about.
With just 2 weeks left in the regular season let’s take a look at how things stand coming down the home stretch.
The Three Headed Monster
I tried and tried to figure these three teams out, but I really can’t have anything but a tie here…
#14-12 Missouri Tigers 10-17 (Conf 3-11)
Last week Missouri went on a remarkable two game win streak (hey, its been a rough time in Columbia) beating Tennessee and then pulling off the midweek upset at home against South Carolina (#SECbasketballfever). Sadly for the Tigers the streak ended Saturday against Arkansas. Freshman Kevin Puryear and Terrance Phillips have given Tiger fans a small glimmer of hope for the future (and by small I mean SMALL).
#14-12 Auburn Tigers 10-16 (Conf 4-10)
After losing seven straight and having their best player say “see ya” last week, Auburn pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the SEC season, beating Arkansas at Bud Walton where they were 15 point underdogs by Vegas. They followed that up with a 10 point lose at home against Ole Miss on Saturday. Also known as back to normal for this club.
#14-12 Arkansas Razorbacks 13-14 (Conf 6-8)
Arkansas had one of the worst loses of the SEC season last week against Auburn, topping off a horrid three game losing streak. Missouri was just what the doctor ordered at home on Saturday as they were able to stop the bleeding against the Tigers. They have LSU on Tuesday night, and are oddly favored by 4 in this one.
Whew…not that we have got that over with….
#11 Tennessee Volunteers 13-14 (Conf 6-8)
A solid week for the Vols, as they hung with Kentucky tough and blasted LSU at home this past Saturday. The bigger surprise was that they did it without Kevin Punter playing. The Vols are on a different level when playing at home.
#10 Georgia Bulldogs 14-11 (Conf 7-7)
UGA’s NCAA tourney hopes likely were flushed down the commode after dropping two this past week against Florida and Vandy. I expected more from this veteran backcourt and Yante Maten down low.
#9 Mississippi St. Bulldogs 12-14 (Conf 5-9)
Here’s a team that just continues to get better. Outside of Jamal Murrary, I don’t think there is a freshman playing better than Quinndary Weatherspoon, who was a highlight reel this past week. MSU could be that lower seeded team that could make a run come SEC tournament play.
#8 Vanderbilt Commadores 16-11 (Conf 8-6)
Vandy missed a HUGE opportunity last week when they let MSU come back from a 17 point deficit. Luckily for Vanderbilt they were able to come home and take care of business against Georgia Saturday. They have a big week this week, going to Florida and playing Kentucky at home. It’s time for the Dores to get it down.
More razorbacks: Anderson's Past Recruiting Mistakes Causing Problems
#7 Ole Miss Rebels 17-10 (Conf 7-7)
The Rebs had a tough draw going against a hungry A&M team due for a win, but bounced back strong at Auburn over the weekend. They’ll need to win both games this week (Missouri, @UGA) to stay in the conversation for the NCAA Tournament.
#6 LSU Tigers 16-11 (Conf 9-5)
What a rough week for the Tigers. Alabama took them down at home and then they went to Knoxville and got blasted by a Kevin Punter-less Vols club. News got even worse now that it looks like Keith Hornsby will miss the rest of the season with a sports hernia. It’s due or die time for the Tigers as they are currently on the outside looking in for the NCAA tournament after this bad week.
#5 Alabama Crimson Tide 16-10 (Conf 7-7)
Alabama was red hot until they ran into a MSU team playing great ball on Saturday which put a bit of a damper on their NCAA hopes. I think if they can win 3 of their last four (@UK, Auburn, Arkansas, @UGA) they have a very good shot at getting in and what an accomplishment that would be for this team.
#4 Florida Gators 17-10 (Conf 8-6)
Florida just keeps rolling along, and almost had a great week instead of a good one. They took down the Bulldogs in Athens during the week and had their chances against the Gamecocks Saturday before falling in overtime. Dorian Finney-Smith has fell back down to earth a bit and will need the backcourt to continue helping him out as we go down the stretch.
#3 South Carolina Gamecocks 22-5 (Conf 9-5)
It seems weird to put a team that lost to Missouri this high, but that is the kind of tangled, inconsistant mess we are dealing with yall. They did have a nice, much needed win over the Gators on Saturday where Michael Carrera had a huge game with 20 points and 15 boards. They are gonna have to get their road woes taken care of though.
More razorbacks: Arkansas Razorbacks vs. Missouri Tigers Recap
#2 Texas A&M Aggies 20-7 (Conf 9-5)
The Aggies finally got back on track this week, with big wins over Ole Miss and Kentucky at home. This came at the right time after losing their last 5 conference games. Big Tyler Davis may have broken out of his slump going 15 and 12, giving them some much needed post production. They can probably go ahead and plan on sending Kentucky’s Issac Humphries for this…
#1 Kentucky Wildcats 20-7 (Conf 10-4)
Still the best in the league, even with a tough loss to Texas A&M on Saturday. UK is a team rolling into March getting great back court play and finally getting some solid front court production. They’ll have a challenging week against two teams desperate for a win: Alabama and @ Vanderbilt.
Time to see what another crazy week in SEC Basketball has in store for us this week.