George Bagwell gives his SEC basketball power rankings heading into week 6 of the 2023 season.
Matchup of the week: Kentucky vs. North Carolina (Atlanta)
Sneaky good matchup of the week: Florida vs. East Carolina
All games listed are EST.
Over the past three weeks in the SEC Power Rankings, the teams at the top of the rankings during each week have gone a combined 2-5 in their tenures at #1. South Carolina was the latest victim of the curse, losing to upstate rival Clemson on the road to take their first loss of the season. I promise this has more to do with the fact that the SEC has an insane amount of parity this year and nothing to do with me not knowing how to properly rank teams.
This week’s possible victim is Ole Miss, who could be the latest SEC program to suffer from success. They play Cal at home, so if they end up losing, I’m really going to start believing in the curse. To the point in the previous paragraph, the SEC really doesn’t have established tiers yet. As many as 12 teams could earn a bid this year, but there’s also an unlikely (but certainly plausible) scenario where this league sends just 5-7 teams to the dance.
1) Ole Miss Rebels
Last week’s ranking: 2 (+1)
Record: 9-0
Last week: W vs. Mt. Saint Mary’s (77-68), W at UCF (70-68)
Next week: vs. Cal (Dec. 16 – 7:30 p.m.)
Quality wins: Memphis, NC State, at UCF
Bad losses: N/A
Ole Miss continues to skim by on the thinnest of margins, like ice skating on a mud puddle. It might work for a few minutes, and it may even be a little bit of fun, until it comes to a grinding halt. I don’t know, I’ve never ice skated on a non-ice surface. I’ve barely ever ice skated on an ice surface. But the point remains, that being Ole Miss is pulling magic and rabbits out of a hat that should’ve run out of magic and rabbits a few weeks ago. Go check your Petsmart, Oxford. The bunnies are missing. But as long as the magic continues, and the Rebels are the only SEC team left without a loss, they deserve this #1 ranking in the SEC Power Rankings. Sure, the metrics aren’t sold on them long-term, and neither am I, but they’re 9-0. How many teams can say that? Only a handful of other teams besides Mississippi.
Last week, Mississippi added a couple single-digit wins (77-68 against Mt. Saint Mary’s and 70-68 against UCF) to their collection, one that is only growing. Of their 9 wins, 7 have been by 10 points or less. Maybe that’s a sign of regression to come, or perhaps a sign of grit. In all likelihood, it’s both. I love grit, it’s great, really. A team just happens to need more than grit to win in the SEC.
The Rebels have just one game this week, a neutral-site matchup against a 3-6 Cal team in San Antonio. Like I said earlier, if they don’t win this game, this spot is cursed, and there’s no other rationale. This is one of Mississippi’s easier non-conference games, and Allen Flanigan should have a great day against the suspect Golden Bear defense. The Rebels’ next games? Troy, Southern Miss, and Bryant. There’s a good chance that Ole Miss doesn’t lose a non-conference game this season. That’s good news for the Rebels. The bad news? Their first SEC game is against the next team on this list, and it’s on the road. Circle January 6 on your calendars. (Strictly for basketball reasons, of course.)
2) Tennessee Volunteers
Last week’s ranking: 5 (+3)
Record: 6-3
Last week: W vs. George Mason (87-66), W vs. #20 Illinois (86-79)
Next week: vs. Georgia Southern (Dec. 12 – 7 p.m.), vs. NC State (Dec. 16 – 10 p.m., in San Antonio)
Quality wins: at Wisconsin, Illinois, Syracuse
Bad losses: N/A
Don’t look now, but Tennessee could be back? After struggling for much of the early part of the season, likely due to last year’s ACL tear, Zakai Zeigler posted a 10:1 assist:turnover ratio last week against two teams that rank in the top 100 in the latest KenPom rankings. Dalton Knecht looked like himself again against Illinois after tweaking his ankle against North Carolina, and he scored 21 against the Illini. Rick Barnes employed a thinner rotation against Illinois, and it seemed to work out, especially on offense. Just 8 Vols touched the court, but that was all that was needed in an 86-79 win. Both games last week saw the Volunteers record 43 rebounds, and they collected 21 assists in their victory over the Illini. When this team is fully healthy, they certainly have the potential to be the best in the SEC, and they showed it last week.
Tennessee has two matchups this week, and they should be able to handle their opponents with relative ease since they’ve looked much better over the past two games. Georgia Southern literally hasn’t won a game this year. The Eagles of Statesboro have come close, but are still in search of that elusive first victory. The next game against NC State in San Antonio should be a bit closer, but the Wolfpack are still the same team that got beat by Ole Miss by 20 just a couple weeks ago. If the Vols end up going 2-0 this week (they should), the 4-3 record to start the season could be forgotten as easily as Vanderbilt’s tourney hopes. (I’m sorry Vanderbilt. I own a Vanderbilt fleece and it’s quite comfortable, I just enjoy low-hanging fruit. Please forgive me.)
3) Kentucky Wildcats
Last week’s ranking: 4 (+1)
Record: 7-2
Last week: W vs. Penn (81-66)
Next week: vs. North Carolina (Dec. 16 – 5:30 p.m., in Atlanta)
Quality wins: Miami (Fla)
Bad losses: UNC Wilmington
Kentucky introduced the college basketball world to freshman Aaron Bradshaw, who led the Wildcats in points (with Rob Dillingham) and rebounds (by himself) in a 17-point, 11-rebound double-double performance off the bench in his college debut. The game against Penn was technically a neutral site, but it was played in Philly, much like Will Smith back in the day before he moved to live with his uncle and aunt in Bel-Air and before the Chris Rock incident, which is still somehow newsworthy in December 2023? I digress, but Kentucky didn’t seem to find much trouble, beating the Quakers behind a runaway 2nd half and a 40.0% clip from deep.
As good as Bradshaw looked, and this might just be a product of rust, but the Kentucky offense might be better with him on the bench. It sounds crazy, but from a pure offensive standpoint, the team is more lethal with the previous pre-Bradshaw offensive combos. Kentucky has the luxury of having pre-Bradshaw and present-Bradshaw combos, though, and the offense is going to work either way.
The SEC game of the week resides in Atlanta this week when Kentucky takes on North Carolina. This will be the 2nd-toughest test of Kentucky’s season so far, behind the Kansas game. It’s also, according to the latest AP poll, the last ranked matchup Kentucky will play until a February game against Tennessee. Imagine that. Of course, they still have to play Florida (twice), Texas A&M, Mississippi State, South Carolina, and Arkansas in that span, but as of right now, none of those teams are ranked. For now, North Carolina is enough of a challenge, but Kentucky should be favored. (The Tar Heels are a loss away from setting off the brand-new SEC Power Rankings Fraud Meter.) Similar to the Kansas game, a loss isn’t the end of the world, but a win could be great for seeding once March rolls around. As for now, the Wildcats are top 3 in the SEC Power Rankings, and they’re earned it, even if the Miami win looks a little less impressive than it did last week.
4) Auburn Tigers
Last week’s ranking: 8 (+4)
Record: 6-2
Last week: W vs. Indiana (104-76)
Next week: vs. UNC-Asheville (Dec. 13 – 8 p.m.) vs. Southern Cal (Dec. 17 – 1 p.m.)
Quality wins: Indiana, St. Bonaventure, Virginia Tech
Bad losses: N/A
Jekyll and Hyde, example one. Auburn, after a tough defeat on the road in the Appalachian, absolutely obliterated Mike Woodson and the Hoosiers. I’m talking about Mississippi State levels of offense. (That sentence literally only works this week.) Aden Holloway had arguably his best game as a Tiger, posting 24 points on 7-11 shooting with zero (0!) turnovers. Jaylin Williams also scored 24, and led the way with 7 assists. All in all, 6 Tigers scored 10+ points, which was needed on a day where Johni Broome had more fouls (4) than points (2). Auburn went 14-for-29 from deep, which is insane considering they just shot 3-for-27 in their previous game. I have no clue what to think about this team. This wasn’t even in Neville, this was a neutral-site drubbing.
With other teams in the conference dealing with multiple losses, the two that Auburn have don’t really look that bad in comparison with the rest of the conference. Sure, Auburn doesn’t have a ranked win, but a lot of other teams don’t, and Auburn’s losses are just neutral-site Baylor (undefeated) and road App State (top of the Sun Belt, maybe). Kudos, Auburn, for (can’t state this enough, but MOSTLY) taking care of business so far this year.
This week, they are rewarded with a game against UNC-Asheville, who aren’t looking nearly as good as they were thought to be in the preseason, and another home matchup against Boogie Ellis and Southern Cal, which figures to be a much closer game. It’s one they lost last year in Los Angeles, so one assumes that the team is itching to take revenge. A 2-0 week is expected, and needed if they want to keep a top-4 ranking in the SEC Power Rankings.
5) South Carolina Gamecocks
Last week’s ranking: 1 (-4)
Record: 8-1
Last week: L at #24 Clemson (72-67), W at East Carolina (68-62)
Next week: vs. Charleston Southern (Dec. 16 – 6 p.m.)
Best wins: Virginia Tech, Grand Canyon
Worst losses: N/A
I actually blame myself for the Gamecock loss against Clemson. If I had put them at the second spot in the SEC Basketball Power Rankings, they might’ve held on to their 11-point second-half lead, but the top-rank curse is going to curse, no matter what. It really wasn’t a bad loss, and a 5-point road defeat to an undefeated Power 6 school in December is definitely a moral victory. Do I believe in moral victories? Sometimes, and I think it’s applicable here. The Gamecocks bounced back with a turbulent first road win of the season against East Carolina in Greenville, and they’re now 8-1 on the year, already just 3 wins shy of last year’s season total. With Charleston Southern, Winthrop, Elon, and Florida A&M left on the non-con schedule, there’s a solid chance that Lamont Paris will have 12 wins by the time SEC basketball games roll around.
One major reason is the emergence of Meechie Johnson as a #1 scoring option. The junior is averaging 18.4 PPG this season, but he’s averaging 23.5 PPG over his last 4 games, with 2 of those games coming against Power 6 competition. He’s shooting 42.3% from behind the arc, and he’s playing like SEC Player of the Year type material so far. That’s not an overreaction. He’s 3rd in the SEC in PPG, and his eFG% is 4th-best in the conference amongst guards, behind just Mark Sears, Antonio Reeves, and Sean East II. Meechie Johnson is an NBA player, but right now he’s helping South Carolina to their best start since 2016-2017, and we love it at SEC Power Rankings Headquarters. (Columbia, SC.)
This week, South Carolina takes on Charleston Southern, who’s under the control of interim coach Saah Nimley after Barclay Radebaugh retired mid-season. Shout out to Mr. Barclay, who won 228 games with the Bucs, but shout-out to Nimley as well. A mid-season coaching change is always hardest for the interim coach, and he led Charleston Southern to a win over SC State in his first game as a head coach. Congrats, Mr. Nimley. That undefeated record is most likely not going to last after this week, but it’s still very impressive given the uncertainty the program went through in the past few weeks.
6) Texas A&M Aggies
Last week’s ranking: 3 (-3)
Record: 7-3
Last week: W vs. DePaul (89-64), L vs. Memphis (81-75)
Next week: vs. #4 Houston (Dec. 16 – 2:30 p.m., in Houston)
Quality wins: at Ohio State, Iowa State, at SMU
Bad losses: N/A
Texas A&M looked out of this world against DePaul, then crashed back down to Earth with a home loss to Memphis. It reminds me of that one Trilly Donovan tweet that he keeps re-quoting any time that exact situation happens to a team. But it happened last week, and it happened to the Aggies. 6 different Aggies scored in double digits against DePaul, including Manny Obaseki and Bryce Lindsay (career-high!) off the bench. Not only did DePaul shoot better than the Aggies from deep (50.0% to 45.2%), but they also shot better than the Aggies from the field in general (54.8% to 53.0%). Despite this, Texas A&M still won by 25 and led by 34 at one point. That’s because the Aggies only committed 4 turnovers, while forcing 15 of them from the Blue Demons.
It was another story against Memphis, however, with the duo of David Jones and Jahvon Quinerly combining for 53 for the Tigers. The Aggies shot just 6-for-33 from deep, an 18.2% clip, which couldn’t match up with Memphis’s 40.9% rate. The varying levels of perimeter offense will continue to be a concern for Texas A&M, who didn’t do enough in the offseason, it seems, to create a consistent deep threat on offense. Still, they’re 7-3 with some quality wins and no real bad losses.
This week, however, may be a tad difficult. Why? Houston comes to town. Or rather, the Aggies travel to Houston for a “neutral-site” game that’s simply being played in a Houston venue that isn’t the Fertitta Center. Why not just call it a road game? I don’t know, I don’t make those decisions. Someone else does, so if you’ve got questions, ask them. The point is, that it’s a tough environment against an even tougher team that will hoop for 40 minutes. Houston doesn’t just play basketball. They hoop. There’s a difference, and if you don’t know the difference, try playing offense against a Kelvin Sampson defense, and then you’ll have your answer. I don’t expect a win for the Aggies, and it’s not likely to happen. But a win would immediately become the best win all season for an SEC squad. It’s not out of the realm of possibility, but I don’t live in that realm.
7) Georgia Bulldogs
Last week’s ranking: 7 (-)
Record: 6-3
Last week: W vs. Georgia Tech (76-62)
Next week: vs. High Point (Dec. 16 – 5:30 p.m.)
Quality wins: Wake Forest, at Florida State
Bad losses: N/A
Georgia continues to stack up the wins that it needs to stack, while avoiding landmines on their schedules. After starting 2-3, they’re back up to 6-3, and they’ve got a good chance to be 10-3 by the time conference games roll around. This week, it was a nice win over a Georgia Tech squad that was coming off wins over Mississippi State and Duke, with Noah Thomasson leading the way with 16 points for the Bulldogs.
Georgia played aggressively on the glass and ended up with 50 rebounds on the night, with 5 Bulldogs recording 5+ rebounds. While they didn’t shoot the ball particularly well, (40/30/67 splits) they held the Yellow Jackets to 32% from the field overall, which was enough for the win. The tough part of the non-con schedule was dealt with early, which means the Dawgs are just doing whatever they need to do to stack up wins and beat the next team up. They still don’t have any bad losses, which some teams can’t attest to, and all three of the Bulldogs’ leading scorers are shooting 35% or better from deep.
Georgia can’t sleep against High Point, who is ranked ahead of teams like Notre Dame, Cal, and Louisville in the KenPom rankings and who has an 8-3 record to begin the year, but by all means this is a game that the Bulldogs shouldn’t have trouble winning, especially at home. It may not lead to an upward jump in the rankings, but staying the course and avoiding landmines is currently keeping Georgia in the top half of these rankings.
8) Mississippi State Bulldogs
Last week’s ranking: 12 (+4)
Record: 7-2
Last week: W vs. Tulane (106-76)
Next week: vs. Murray State (Dec. 13 – 7:30 p.m.), vs. North Texas (Dec. 17 – 4 p.m.)
Quality wins: Northwestern, Arizona State, Washington State, Tulane
Bad losses: Southern
Jekyll and Hyde, example two. After a nightmare week against Georgia Tech and Southern in which the Bulldogs failed to reach 60 points in either game, they went and scored 106 against Tulane in a game that was somehow even more lopsided than the final score suggests. Josh Hubbard scored 22 points by halftime, and Mississippi State ended up shooting 13-28 from three, a number that would have been unthinkable last year. The Bulldogs shot a blistering 58.6 FG%, and made double the amount of threes in the first half that Tulane made over the course of 40 minutes. They had more defensive rebounds than Tulane had total rebounds, and the lead at one point had stretched to 41 points. It was the best showing in years for this program, and that’s not an overstatement.
If only they could do that every game. Maybe they can and they’re about to hit the century mark in 21 straight games to end the season, but more likely it was just a really good shooting afternoon and a sign of progress along the perimeter. It would be nice to see Josh Hubbard start a game, as he’s literally the only Bulldog averaging double figures right now at 16.7 PPG. I wouldn’t go as far as to say it’s a travesty, but he needs to be on the court as much as possible. He’s the defensive team’s best offensive threat, which is of immense importance in March. Mr. Jans, please send Josh Hubbard the ball perpetually.
This week, Mississippi State plays two games, one against Murray State at home and one against North Texas in Tupelo. (About an hour away from Starkville.) North Texas plays a very similar brand of basketball to the Dawgs, and that game will be fun to watch if you’re a big fan of either team scoring for 40 minutes. All in all, it’s best to suggest the Bulldogs improve to 9-2 after this week, which we now have to say with caution after the absolute debacle 2 weeks ago. Keep winning, and they’ll keep moving up.
9) Alabama Crimson Tide
Last week’s ranking: 9 (-)
Record: 6-3
Last week: W vs. Arkansas State (89-65), L vs. #4 Purdue (92-86)
Next week: at #8 Creighton (Dec. 16 – 8 p.m.)
Quality wins: Oregon, Indiana State
Bad losses: N/A
Alabama did what they were supposed to do against Arkansas State, that being to win. Against Purdue, they did not. There are really two ways to handle the Purdue loss, and both can be true. The first is to remember that they were facing a top-5 team at a neutral site and the 6-point loss is nothing to hang your head over. The second is that in 4 matchups against Power 6 schools, Alabama is giving up an average of 90.0 PPG, and has given up at least 85 points in all 4 of those games. Even in the game in which they gave up 85 points, they still lost. This defense has been atrocious against any offense with a pulse. It’s like Charlie Murphy vs. the Blouses bad. It’s Air Bud’s opponent’s level-bad. It’s Louisville type-bad. It’s White Men Can’t Jump (the sequel) level-bad. (I haven’t actually seen the movie, and I’m a fan of Jack Harlow, but you get the point.)
Alabama doesn’t have the resume to show they’re currently a top-half SEC basketball squad right now, and their best win at the moment is actually over Robbie Avila and Indiana State, which is insane to say but is also factually correct. Sure, the Sycamores are good, but Alabama has issues, and I’m not quite sure they can fix them. I said in the KenPom reveal article that the loss of all 3 assistant coaches would cause growing pains. It has, but I didn’t expect the defense to fall to a level like this. Maybe Nate Oats just needs to slow down the pace. It doesn’t matter how many points the offense scores if the defense is going to allow just as much and then some.
Guess what? The road gets tougher. Credit to Nate Oats for having the guts to schedule these games, first off. But the Tide are facing Creighton on the road this week, and then face off against #1 Arizona in their next game, in Phoenix. While the offense is unquestionably elite, how does this defense manage to stop the fifth-rated and eleventh-rate offenses (per KenPom) for 40 minutes? My prediction? It won’t, and Alabama will be 6-5 by December 23. Of course, I say that, and this is when the Tide end up winning both games and sneaking back into the rankings amongst several “I-told-you-so’s” from the Alabama fanbase. I’ll eat my words if that happens, but the Crimson Tide football team has a chance to win the natty, which is nice.
10) Arkansas Razorbacks
Last week’s ranking: 6 (-4)
Record: 6-4
Last week: W vs. Furman (97-83), L vs. #19 Oklahoma (79-70)
Next week: vs. Lipscomb (Dec. 16 – 6 p.m.)
Quality wins: Duke
Bad losses: N/A
One step forward, one and a half steps back. That seems to be the motto so far for Arkansas, who is one of just three SEC basketball schools with 4+ losses, joining LSU and Vanderbilt. Not the best company, basketball-wise. (But that combo could be varying degrees of fun at social events.) This week, it was a solid win over Furman, (with some defensive questions) then a not-the-worst loss to a pretty good Oklahoma team. The Hogs shot 60.7% from the field against the Paladins, led as always by Khalif Battle, who scored 25. He needs to be in the starting lineup in every game from now until the Muss Bus stops. I don’t want to hear any excuses about anything. Put Battle in the starting lineup, please, Mr. Musselman. I feel like at this point he’s just doing it to spite me. Stop the spite, and start starting Battle. He’s averaging 16.4 PPG, and that’s not enough to get into the starting lineup? I don’t want to hear a peep about defensive performance being a reason to hold him back, because if it was, then there would be zero reason to start El Ellis, who’s also shooting just 26.1% from deep to Battle’s 42.9%. Nothing makes sense in Fayetteville, and it never does, until the season ultimately culminates in a Sweet Sixteen berth that maybe a handful of people saw coming. That’s it, there’s my rant.
Against Oklahoma, Battle led the team in points, but not a single starter scored in double figures. The Sooners just looked like the better team, and they out-rebounded the Hogs, out-shot the Hogs, scored more in the paint, and made more threes. This will be an intriguing SEC matchup next season, but for now, it’s just a missed opportunity for Arkansas. It was a neutral site game, played in Tulsa, which is actually the same distance from Norman as it is to Fayetteville. A win would have built momentum, but instead, there are just more nits to pick.
This week, Arkansas gets their A-Sun opponent at home when Lipscomb comes to Bud Walton. It would be nice, a little treat, to maybe see Khalif Battle start a game that is most likely not going to be highly competitive. (CC: Eric Musselman.) A win is expected but it likely won’t move the meter too much in the SEC Power Rankings. A loss would move the Hogs down.
11) Missouri Tigers
Last week’s ranking: 10 (-1)
Record: 7-3
Last week: L at #2 Kansas (73-64)
Next week: vs. Seton Hall (Dec. 17 – 5 p.m.)
Quality wins: at Pitt
Bad losses: Jackson State
Missouri fought in Lawrence, which was about all you could ask in a road matchup against a top-2 team (rankings-wise at least) in December. Sean East II started out on fire, and he ended up pacing both teams with 21 points. The Tigers were up 27-21 with six minutes to go in the first half, but that’s when the Jayhawks turned it on, completing an extended run to go up by 12 when the buzzer sounded. While Missouri outscored Kansas in the 2nd half, the Jayhawk halftime lead was enough cushion for a 73-64 victory. The Tigers forced more turnovers, collected more blocks and steals, and shot better from behind the arc. They just couldn’t get it done. They drop a spot in these rankings only because of the Mississippi State offensive juggernaut that appeared last week, not because of anything Missouri did poorly. Mizzou is like my adopted child in the SEC Power Rankings. I feel like a lot of the SEC fanbase doesn’t appreciate the athletic accomplishments that the Tigers bring to the conference, and I need to make up for that. Missouri Tigers, you are loved.
Dennis Gates’s team will be taking on Seton Hall this week in Kansas City in a bit of an odd non-con matchup. Though the Pirates are 1-4 in their last 5, they’re still a talented team, and the game should be fun. Missouri, however, should win. Unfortunately, Caleb Grill is out for several weeks after a wrist procedure. Tamar Bates started in his place against Kansas, but Curt Lewis will also likely step up in his absence. The Tiger backcourt also of course still has Nick Honor, Sean East II, and Anthony Robinson II, so the cupboard is stocked, but losing the Grill is tough. The game against Seton Hall is a must-win for Missouri, if they want to stay out of the Bottom 3 in the SEC Power Rankings, a place they’ve been before. Never doubt Dennis Gates, though,(I mean it) and the Tigers very well could be 8-3 before their St. Louis matchup against Illinois on December 22nd.
12) Florida Gators
Last week’s ranking: 11 (-1)
Record: 6-3
Last week: W vs. Merrimack (77-57), W vs. Richmond (87-76)
Next week: vs. East Carolina (Dec. 14 – 7 p.m.)
Quality wins: Pitt
Bad losses: N/A
I want to preface by saying Florida is most likely more talented than the team that’s currently sitting at the number one spot in these rankings, and will more than likely win more SEC basketball games than the Rebels as well. The gap between teams 1-12 this year is quite minimal, but I had to move Mississippi State up after a thorough dismantling of Tulane, and Florida couldn’t jump a Missouri team that gave #2 Kansas a scare on the road after the Gators trailed at half to Merrimack. Not all 2-0 weeks are equal, but 2-0 is still the best the Gators could have hoped for this week.
Florida did look very impressive on the boards, clearing out Merrimack by a margin of 57-33, while out-rebounded Richmond 49-30. Against low-major and mid-major competition, yes, but that’s still mightily impressive. Alex Condon recorded a 12-point, 16-rebound double-double against Merrimack, and Tyrese Samuel bested him with an 18-point, 14-rebound double-double against the Spiders. Five Gators (Samuel, Clayton Jr., Riley Kugel, Will Richard, and Zyon Pullin) are all averaging between 27.3 and 30.4 MPG. No other Gator is averaging 19 MPG or over.
Looking ahead, Florida can’t afford to overlook the Pirates of East Carolina. They have Power 6 talent (Bobby Pettiford Jr. (Kansas), Quentin Diboundje (Tennessee), Jaden Walker (Iowa State), and almost took down a similar opponent (South Carolina) in Greenville. The game is being held in Lakeland, FL, so there might not be as much of a home-court advantage as usual compared to Billy Donovan Court. A solid win would set the Gators on a positive track before a Tuesday night matchup with Michigan in Charlotte next week. Florida is 0-1 at the Spectrum Center this year, not that that means anything.
13) LSU Tigers
Last week’s ranking: 13 (-)
Record: 5-4
Last week: L vs. Kansas State (75-60)
Next week: vs. Alabama State (Dec. 13 – 8 p.m.), vs. #19 Texas (Dec. 16 – Noon, in Houston)
Quality wins: Wake Forest
Bad losses: Nicholls State
The gap between the #12 team and #13 team is the biggest gap between spots in the conference this year. LSU would have to go 3-0 in their next few games while Florida and Missouri forget how to play basketball if the Tigers want to even sniff a top 12 ranking before Christmas. If right now Shaq was inserted onto this roster, would it be a net positive or net negative for the team? On one hand, Shaq is 51 and last played in 2011 for the Celtics. On the other hand, LSU needs frontcourt help and ranks 13th in the SEC in rebounds per game. The fact that I can’t come to an answer concerns me, both for LSU’s fortunes and my own mental capacity.
LSU got a nice opportunity for a Power 6 win at home against a Kansas State team that parted ways with their best player (Nae’Qwan Tomlin) but the Wildcats simply outclassed the Tigers. LSU got beat on the class by a considerable margin, and though they cut a 16-point deficit to just 3 points with 10 minutes remaining, they only scored 2 points over the following 8 minutes and ended up losing by 15. Jordan Wright had a nice game, leading the team with 19 points, but the team just looked like a mess at times. They’re 5-4 with a pretty good win (Wake Forest) and two embarrassing losses (by 23 to Syracuse and the shocker to Nicholls). Will Baker needs to grab more than 5.3 RPG with his 7-foot frame, especially against smaller opponents. On the bright side, Jalen Reed is looking much improved compared to last year.
This week, LSU has a game they should very much win (Alabama State) and a game that would be a bit of an improbable victory if the Tigers could manage it (Texas in Houston). Common sense suggests the Tigers will be 6-5 and cemented into the #13 spot by the time next week rolls around, but there’s always a chance for a Will Baker legacy game that manages to steal a Quad-1 win for LSU. Not saying it’s likely, but there’s a chance. That said, (I can’t stand using “that said,” I feel like a disgruntled former 5-star entering the portal via the Notes app on their phone) the likely scenario is in fact seeing the Tigers at the lovely #13 spot yet again next week.
14) Vanderbilt Commodores
Last week’s ranking: 14 (-)
Record: 4-5
Last week: L vs. San Francisco (73-60)
Next week: vs. Texas Tech (Dec. 16 – 7:30 p.m., in Fort Worth)
Quality wins: UNC Greensboro
Bad losses: Presbyterian
I often reference the cellar of the SEC Basketball Power Rankings, but if I remember correctly, I have never specified what type of cellar it is. It could be of the wine, storm, or basement varieties. For further assistance towards Vanderbilt (and/or LSU), the SEC Basketball Power Rankings cellar will be stocked with Spanish reds and domestic rosés so the Commodores can forget this season if they would like to. Vanderbilt has fallen to below 200 in the latest KenPom ratings, behind DePaul and just ahead of Maine. (Who would beat the Commodores in a neutral-site game, by the way.)
The ‘Dores lost to San Francisco this week to move them below .500, the only SEC team with such a distinction. While the final score, 73-60, doesn’t look all too bad against an upper-mid-tier WCC team, the game was at no point in doubt over the entire course of 40 minutes. The Dons (excellent nickname) never trailed once in Nashville and outrebounded Vanderbilt by a 39-21 margin, while Jonathan Mogbo had a double-double with just 4 points. (14 rebounds, 10 assists.) Vanderbilt allowed San Francisco to shoot better from deep 44.8% than the Commodores shot from the charity stripe, (33.3% on 3-9 shooting) and it’s truly a miracle the game finished with a 13-point margin considering the difference in levels of success each team had.
Vanderbilt may have spent their last 40 minutes at .500 this year. They play Texas Tech in Fort Worth, which, despite being over 4 hours from Lubbock, isn’t going to draw many Vanderbilt fans either. Despite ranking 10th in the Big 12 (Big 14?) KenPom ratings, the Red Raiders are still 165 spots higher than Vanderbilt in those ratings. It would be hard to suggest anything other than a 4-6 start to the season, but a silver lining is that Tasos Kamateros is shooting 51.4% from the field and 45.2% from deep, both leading the team. The copper lining is that he’s only averaging 16.2 MPG, 7th on the team. Feed him, Mr. Stackhouse.