SEC Basketball Power Rankings - Week 3

SEC Power Rankings – Week 3

Feast Week was very eventful as always. It’s one of the my favorite weeks of the year and it didn’t disappoint. We got a Gonzaga/Duke matchup, an exciting buzzer beater in the Florida/Ohio State game, and much more.

Now the season takes a bit of a lull until after Christmas, but there are still games to be played. There was a lot of movement in the rankings this week.

#1 – Florida (Last Week: #3)

Record: 6-0
KenPom Rating: #10

Last week’s games:
Defeated KP #121 California at a neutral site (80-60)
Defeated KP #24 Ohio St. at a neutral site (71-68)
Defeated KP #239 Troy at home (84-45)

Florida continues to impress. The win against Ohio St. had one of the best finishes of the early season. The Buckeyes led for most of the game, but Florida was able to come back and win the game on a buzzer-beating 3.

Mike White’s team has 5 players averaging double figures with Colin Castleton leading the way.

The Gators have another test this week with a road game in Norman.

This week’s game:
Wednesday, Dec. 1 - KP # Oklahoma on the road

#2 – Kentucky (Last Week: #1)

Record: 5-1
KenPom Rating: #14

Last week’s games:
Defeated KP #305 Albany at home (86-61)
Defeated KP #261 North Florida at home (86-52)

Kentucky didn’t do anything to lose their #1 spot. They took care of business this week.

Florida just continued to build upon their already impressive resumé.

Freshman TyTy Washington is leading the Cats in scoring and they are outrebounding opponent by an average of 20 each game. That’s a crazy number!

This week’s games:
Monday, Nov. 29 - KP #315 Central Michigan at home

#3 – Tennessee (Last Week: #2)

Record: 5-1
KenPom Rating: #18

Last week’s games:
Defeated KP #277 Tennessee Tech at home (80-69)

Tennessee takes a slight dip this week with a lite schedule and a bit of a close game against Tennessee Tech. TTU is one of the worst teams in CBB. Vols fans shouldn’t be worried about their team. Tennessee has looked great so far and Kennedy Chandler is the early leader for SEC Freshman of the Year.

This week’s game:
Tuesday, Nov. 30 - KP #258 Presbyterian at home
Saturday, Dec. 4 - KP #54 Colorado on the road

#4 – LSU (Last Week: #5)

Record: 7-0
KenPom Rating: #17

Last week’s games:
Defeated KP #65 Belmont at home (83-53)
Defeated KP #75 Penn St. at a neutral site (68-63 OT)
Defeated KP #92 Wake Forest at a neutral site (75-61)

LSU continues to take care of business and in a way fans are not used to seeing. These Tigers have played elite defense this season. Under Will Wade, LSU has typically played the “first one to score 85 wins” game. Not this year.

Cincinnati transfer Tari Eason has been awesome off the bench averaging 10.4 points and 8.3 rebounds per game.

This week’s games:
Wednesday, Dec. 1 - KP #101 Ohio at home

#5 – Arkansas (Last Week: #6)|

Record: 6-0
KenPom Rating: #25

Last week’s games:
Defeated KP #79 Kansas St. at a neutral site (72-64)
Defeated KP #76 Cincinnati at a neutral site (73-67)
Defeated KP #208 Penn at home (76-60)

Arkansas won the Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City last week. It wasn’t the prettiest basketball, but they did enough to win. Maybe that is the identity of this team? Arkansas’ defense has finally come on as they held all 3 of last week’s opponents to less than 70 points.

South Dakota transfer Stanley Umude had his best game yet against Penn with 19 points and 7 rebounds. If Arkansas can get that kind of production consistently from Umude then this team takes a step up.

This week’s game:
Wednesday, Dec. 1 - KP #341 Central Arkansas at home
Saturday, Dec. 4 - KP #301 Little Rock at home

#6 – Alabama (Last Week: #4)

Record: 6-1
KenPom Rating: #15

Last week’s games:
Lost to KP #122 Iona at a neutral site (72-68)
Defeated KP #58 Drake at a neutral site (80-71)
Defeated KP #106 Miami(FL) at a neutral site (96-64)

Alabama is a bit all over the place. They are still finding themselves after losing such key pieces from a year ago. Rick Pitino and Iona out-schemed the Tide and beat them in Orlando. Alabama had a nice bounce back though with wins over Drake and Miami(FL).

The Tide can get a little turnover happy and need a few of their players to start shooting better. This team will have a lot to say about the SEC title race.

This week’s games:
Saturday, Dec. 4 - KP #1 Gonzaga at a neutral site

#7 – Auburn (Last Week: #7)

Record: 5-1
KenPom Rating: #19

Last week’s games:
Lost to KP #20 UCONN at a neutral site (115-109 2OT)
Defeated KP #30 Loyola-Chicago at a neutral site (62-53)
Defeated KP #61 Syracuse at a neutral site (89-68)

Auburn has so much potential. They are having a hard time playing well for a full 40 minutes. A lot of teams struggle with that this time of year. The heartbreaker to UCONN was a perfect example of that. UCONN led for a lot of the game, but Auburn came storming back. UCONN led for most of the of first overtime period then Auburn came storming back again.

They get Allen Flanigan back in December. They’ll be scary good with him.

This week’s game:
Wednesday, Dec. 1 - KP #53 UCF at home
Saturday, Dec. 1 - KP #139 Yale at home

#8 – Mississippi State (Last Week: #8)

Record: 5-1
KenPom Rating: #42

Last week’s games:
Lost to KP #39 Louisville at a neutral site (72-58)
Defeated KP #73 Richmond at a neutral site (82-71 OT)

Mississippi State had an underwhelming week of Thanksgiving. The loss to Louisville was bad. Really bad. It wasn’t a game that MSU was supposed to win necessarily, but they played absolutely horrible. This was their first real test of the season. They lost by 14, but the game wasn’t even that close. A late surge got them to those 58 points. They were lucky to score 45.

They got back on track with the overtime win over Richmond, but the Louisville game was concerning. They get another test later this week at home against Minnesota.

This week’s games:
Thursday, Dec. 2 - KP #289 Lamar at home
Saturday, Dec. 5 - KP #100 Minnesota at home

#9 – Texas A&M (Last Week: #10)

Record: 6-1
KenPom Rating: #63

Last week’s games:
Lost to KP #32 Wisconsin at a neutral site (69-58)
Defeated KP #87 Butler at a neutral site (57-50)
Defeated KP #40 Notre Dame at a neutral site (73-67)

A&M had a great week. They very easily could have gone 3-0, but squandered their big lead against Wisconsin. 2 top 100 KenPom wins is really good for A&M though. Buzz Williams needs to really start building this season.

Quenton Jackson has been great and Henry Coleman is a force in the paint. The team has also been shooting lights out from 3 which isn’t something we have seen from A&M in the past. Maybe they can push for a bubble spot!

This week’s game:
Tuesday, Nov. 30 - KP #304 New Orleans at home

#10 – Ole Miss (Last Week: #9)

Record: 4-2
KenPom Rating: #72

Last week’s games:
Defeated KP #358 Mississippi Valley St. at home (73-58)

Like Tennessee, Ole Miss had a lite week only facing the worst team in college basketball. Not only did Ole Miss only play MVSU this week, they were losing by 5 at halftime.

This is the same team that Arkansas beat by 80 last year. Not a good look. The Rebels would get their act together and take care of business, but they deserved to drop a spot.

Ole Miss and Memphis fans don’t like each other. The close proximity of the schools makes Saturday’s game a fun one. This will be a great litmus test for both teams.

This week’s game:
Tuesday, Nov. 30 - KP #256 Rider at home
Saturday, Dec. 4 - KP #28 Memphis at home

#11 – Vanderbilt (Last Week: #13)

Record: 4-1
KenPom Rating: #64

Last week’s games:
Defeated KP #199 Pittsburgh on the road (68-52)

Vanderbilt got a needed big win. The road struggles have been ever-present for a few years for Vandy. Did they face arguably the worst P5 team? Absolutely they did, but it was on the road and they won by 16. Vanderbilt has real potential if they can get Liam Robbins healthy and able to play. And when I say potential, I mean 5-7 SEC wins with a trip to the NIT. With where this program has been, that would be a great step.

This week’s game:
Monday, Nov. 29 - KP #358 Mississippi Valley St. at home
Saturday, Dec. 4 - KP #89 SMU on the road

#12 – South Carolina (Last Week: #11)

Record: 5-1
KenPom Rating: #86

Last week’s games:
Defeated KP #112 Wofford at home (85-74)
Defeated KP #256 Rider at home (65-58)

South Carolina had a bit of a boring week, but they are a boring team with a lame duck coach. I just don’t understand the direction of the program. It hasn’t made sense in a few years. Fans don’t support it. Recruiting is non-existent. The Gamecocks won their games this week....good for them, but they bore me.

They play Georgetown on the road on Sunday. We’ll see what they are made of then I guess.

This week’s game:
Wednesday, Dec. 1 - KP #246 Coastal Carolina at home
Sunday, Dec. 5 - KP #105 Georgetown on the road

#13 – Missouri (Last Week: #12)

Record: 3-3
KenPom Rating: #125

Last week’s games:
Lost to KP #29 Florida St. at a neutral site (81-58)
Lost to KP #56 Wichita St. at home (61-55)

The downfall of Cuonzo Martin continues. The Tigers had the final game of their MTE in which Florida State blew them out as expected.

Wichita State came to town and Mizzou mustered up only 55 points in their own arena. Not a good look.

With so many new pieces, Martin is definitely still tinkering with rotations and roles, but he’ll need to get those figured out quickly.

This week’s games:
Monday, Nov. 26 – Paul Quinn(D2) at home
Thursday, Dec. 2 – KP #131 Liberty on the road

#14 – Georgia (Last Week: #14)

Record: 2-4
KenPom Rating: #172

Last week’s games:
Lost to KP #47 Virginia at a neutral site (65-55)
Lost to KP #41 Northwestern at a neutral site (78-62)
Lost to KP #112 Wofford at home (68-65)

Georgia...ahhh Georgia. It’s reached a new level of sad in Athens. The Bulldogs were the UNDERDOG at home to Wofford. That’s embarrassing.

They had a shot at the buzzer to tie when Kario Oquendo dribbled the fall up the floor and was wide open for the pull-up three. Oquendo instead looked to pass to his teammates. He hesitated. He didn’t want the last shot. No one was open so he threw up a double-clutch threw that missed badly.

Here’s an idea Tom Crean: Don’t let a player that is scared of the moment bring the ball up the floor with the game on the line.

Memphis should dominate Georgia on Wednesday.

This week’s games:
Wednesday, Dec. 1 - KP #28 Memphis at home