Now that all the Thanksgiving Tournaments have been digested and all the teams have some games of substance under their belts, now is a good time to look at the initial WBN Power Rankings for the Southeastern Conference. Only one team stands undefeated as of December 5th and that may not be a good thing as there have been some eye raising losses thus far, but let’s take a look and see where the teams stand now.
1. Tennessee (6-0) : The Volunteers have had some close calls this season (60-56 vs Missouri State, 77-72 bs Belmont) but they already have a signature win this season as well (78-68 over then #7 Villanova). Former Kentucky recruit Tobias Harris is as good as expected, averaging 16.7 a game and hitting 6-8 of his 3-pointers. Scotty Hopson is the leader of this team and they have responded to him nicely. THIS WEEK: 12/11 – versus #3 Pitt
2. Vanderbilt (7-1): This year was expected to be a down year for the Commodores, but they are off to a nice start and defeated North Carolina 72-65 when the Tar Heels were ranked 8th. Their only loss was a tough 74-71 loss to West Virgina and the ‘Dore have ripped through their other non conference games convincingly. Sharpshooter John Jenkins has three games with 5 made 3-pointers already and leads Vandy with 19.9 points a game. THIS WEEK: 12/8 – @ Missouri
3. Kentucky (5-2): The Wildcats started out strongly with four impressive wins to open the season, including a hard fought win over then ranked #11 Washington 74-67. Then came the blowout loss to Connecticut and yesterdays tough loss to North Carolina. I don’t consider the UNC loss a “bad loss” even though the Heels are not ranked because they have as much talent as anyone in the country, but the Wildcat’s lack of depth in the frontcourt has been exposed. Freshmen Terrence Jones and Brandon Knight lead the Cats in scoring with 19 and 17 points respectively. THIS WEEK: 12/8 – vs Notre Dame (@ Louisville), 12/11 vs Indiana
4. Arkansas (5-1): Finally a team from the West enters the rankings and it is good to see John Pelphery’s Razorbacks off to a solid start. I may be putting the Hogs a little high as their biggest win this year has been over Oklahoma by 10 and they did suffer a five point loss to UAB, but with Pelphery at the helm, I can not deny a soft spot. In case you wondered, Rotnei Clark is still gunning away and 17 of his 27 FG’s on the year have been treys. He leads Arkansas in scoring with 16.6 points per game. THIS WEEK: 12/8 – vs Seton Hall
5. Florida (6-2): The Gators were expected to win the SEC from many pundits, but they have gotten off to a slower start than expected. Their best win so far is over a tough FSU team (55-51) and they have struggled against teams like Morehead State (61-55). In addition, UF lost to UCF 57-54. I don’t consider that a bad loss as the Knights are a pretty solid team. Kenny Boynton is leading the Gators with a 14.6 average. THIS WEEK: 12/9 – vs Kent State
6. South Carolina (6-1): The Gamecocks have been one of the early season surprises in the league as they have won six of their first seven games. Their only loss was a respectable 82-73 loss to then #2 Michigan State and the Gamecocks have been the deliverer of several blowout victories. This is a very good rebounding team and they are currently around one of the top five rebounding teams in the NCAA so they are getting it done with hustle. South Carolina just knocked off a very good Clemson team, so they may be for real. Freshman Bruce Ellington leads the team in scoring with 12.5 a game. THIS WEEK: 12/11 – vs Wofford
7. Georgia (5-2): The Bulldogs came into this season as the darkhorse darlings of the SEC as some pundits (myself included) pegged them as a top 25 team by the end of the season. There have been lots of red flags to indicate this may not be the case with narrow wins over lesser opponents (72-70 over Mississippi Valley State, 61-59 over St Louis, and 66-64 vs UAB). The losses have been respectable to tough teams though (Notre Dame 89-83, Temple 65-58). Trey Thompkins leads the Dogs with a 16.0 average. THIS WEEK: 12/7 – @ Georgia Tech
8. Mississippi (4-2): As of now, the Rebels have just once win that could be considered a quality win right now, an 84-71 win over Penn State, who is 6-2. The losses have been respectable to the Dayton Flyers and to Miami. Note this is not a ringing endorsement to put the Rebels above anyone, but we are starting to reach the lower echelon of the league here and the Rebels have a good record. Chris Warren is having another solid year averaging 18.3 a game. THIS WEEK: vs Arkansas Little Rock
9. LSU (5-2): The Tigers have been impressive in their five wins this season, rolling through their cupcakes the same way Bruce Pearl finishes off a Chinese buffet. They also have a respectable loss to the Memphis Tigers by just a 9 point margin. The one troubling aspect of their season, and one that can not be forgiven at this early junction is the 9 point loss to Nichols State. Hence the 9th place ranking. Freshman Andre Stringer has been very impressive so far as he leads LSU with a 16.1 point average. THIS WEEK: 12/11 – vs Central Michigan
10. Mississippi State (4-1): Yes, the Bulldogs have won most of their games, but have not been impressive all year and beat Appalachian State by just two points 76-74. Add in the fact that they are coming off a 61-59 loss to Florida Atlantic and you can see the reason for the double digit ranking. Ravern Johnson has almost doubled his scoring from last year though and is going off at a 25.4 per game clip and he is hitting 51.2% of his treys and already has a 7 3-pointer game. At 6’7, that is impressive. THIS WEEK: 12/11 – vs ETSU, 12/12 – vs North Carolina A&T
11. Alabama (4-4): I really like Anthony Grant, so you have to feel bad for his Crimson Tide getting out of the gate slow, but it should be noted that they have been playing a pretty aggressive schedule. They suffered losses though to Seton Hall, Iowa, and St. Peters in the Paradise Jam and recently lost to Purdue by 18. Of those, I would consider only St Peters a bad loss, even though it was by just a point. Thing is, Bama has no quality wins yet either. Tony Mitchell is averaging 13.9 a game to lead the Tide. THIS WEEK: 12/11 – @ Providence
12. Auburn (3-4): Remember when Tiger coach Tony Barbee said he was going to go after John Calipari’s throat this year? Yea… he may want to rethink that statement as his team is undeniably the worst in the SEC. They have had a cupcake schedule this year also with losses to UNC-Asheville, Samford, Campbell and Jacksonville and just today won b
y just four points over a winless Arkansas Pine Bluff. As Charles Barkley would say, thery are “Turrible”…. but at least they have that nice, snazzy new stadium to stink up. Someone called Andre Malone leads the Tigers in scoring with 14.3 a game. THIS WEEK: 12/11 – vs Rutgers
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