WBN SEC Basketball Power Rankings, December 19th Edition
By Paul Jordan
1. (2) #16 Kentucky (8-2) (defeated Mississippi Valley State 85-60) – All Kentucky had to do this week was to dispatch of MVSU to take over the top spot in the WBN Basketball SEC Power Rankings. Brandon Knight is still learning the point guard position on the job, and Doron Lamb provides nice energy off the bench. DeAndre Liggins is turning into another nice scoring option as well. UK still has that lack of front-court depth thing to be concerned about, but Kentucky has a lot of other weapons to attack you with. THIS WEEK: 12/22 vs Winthrop
2. (5) #24 Florida (8-2) (defeated #6 Kansas State 57-44) – Hail to the Gator’s who dominated #6 Kansas State this week … and the game was not as close as the score indicated. Plus, Florida gets a reprieve from the UCF loss as the Knights are now 10-0 and should enter the top 25 this week … it was not that bad a loss in retrospect. THIS WEEK: 12/20 vs Jacksonville, 12/22 vs Radford
3. (3) Vanderbilt (8-2) (defeated SE Louisiana 85-52) – The Commodores bounced back from their tough loss to Mizzou by blasting SE Louisiana. Jeffrey Taylor has been his usual steady self and the Commodores looks like they are going to be a force in the SEC East all season. THIS WEEK: @MTSU
4. (7) Georgia (7-2) (defeated Arkansas State 68-59) – The Bulldogs are winning, and won four in a row. But this team is still somewhat a mystery still. They really have no quality wins, and they are winning less than impressively over their cupcakes, but in the end, it’s hard to keep them down with four straight wins … especially with the week some SEC teams had. THIS WEEK: 12/21 vs High Point, 12/23 @ Mercer
5. (1) Tennessee (7-2) (lost to Oakland 89-82, lost to Charlotte 49-48) – What happened? Wow. The loss to Oakland may have been forgiven a bit as Oakland had been playing really tough ball, but the loss to Charlotte is inexcusable. I am trying o give the Vols credit for the Pitt and Villanova wins and that is keeping me from dropping the Vols all the way down to the CUSA. This week: 12/21 vs USC, 12/23 vs Belmomt
6. (8) Mississippi (7-2) (defeated MVSU 101-69, ETSU 71-50) True, the Rebels are playing cupcakes, but they are blowing them out. And the ETSU is the same team that knocked off Mississippi State, so they get a bit more bragging rights over the in state rivals. THIS WEEK: vs Texas State
7. (4) Arkansas (7-2) ( defeated MVSU 87-64, lost to Texas A&M 71-62) The Razorbacks could have used the big win over Texas A&M to solidify their record and their schedule gets a lot tougher for them. John Pelphery has a scrappy bunch and you really hope he can have a successful year so he can hang around and reap the benefits of a very solid 2011 recruiting class. So far, so good for Arkansas, but they need to beat a “name” soon. THIS WEEK: 12/22 vs Texas Southern
8. (6) South Carolina (7-2) (lost to #2 Ohio State 79-57) The Gamecocks got blitzed by the Buckeyes this weekend, showing they are not quite ready for primetime. Like Arkansas though, this is a scrappy bunch and you get the feeling it will not be fun to play them at home. THIS WEEK: 12/22 @ Furman)
9. (10) Mississippi State (7-3) (defeated Nichols State 67-58, defeated Alabama State 67-46, lost to Virginia Tech 88-57) – After waiting seemingly three years, Renardo Sidney finally made his college debut and had 12 points and 3 boards. That was not enough to stop an embarrassing blowout loss to Virginia Tech. Having a player like Sidney though does seem to make the Bulldogs a bit better than the bottom three teams in the SEC. THIS WEEK: 12/22 vs Washington State
10. (9) LSU (7-4) (lost to Coastal Carolina 78-69 OT, defeated McNeese State 78-66 OT, lost to Wichita State 70-69) Horrible week for the Bayou Tigers as they lost to Coastal Carolina and had to go to overtime to beat McNeese State. The loss to Wichita may have actually be a “quality loss” but the showing of the first two games negates any good will towards LSU THIS WEEK: vs North Texas
11. (11) Alabama (5-6) (defeated SE Louisiana 59-38, lost to Oklahoma State 68-60) Maybe, just maybe, there are signs of life for Anthony Grant’s club. The 8 point loss at Oklahoma State is definitely nothing to be embarrassed about and his team showed a lot of fight in the second half. THIS WEEK: 12/21 Lipscomb
12 (12) Auburn (3-7) (lost to Presbyterian 62-59) The embarrassment of riches that is Auburn basketball struck a new low with a loss to the 4-6 Blue Hose. Yes, that is the team name. Not even a spiffy new arena can wash the stink off that loss. THIS WEEK: 12/21 vs USC Upstate
Keep following www.http://wildcatbluenation.com for the best in Kentucky basketball and football news, rumors, and opinions. By Kentucky fans for Kentucky fans