1. (LW-1) #3 Kentucky 11-1 (defeated Samford 82-50, defeated Loyola 87-63): No Terrence Jones, no problem. Jones was unable to play due to a dislocated finger but freshman Kyle Wiltjer stepped up with a career high 24 points versus Loyola. And that is the thing about these Wildcats. There are literally seven players that can step up and score 20 on any given night. THIS WEEK: 12/28 vs LaMar, 12/31 vs #4 Louisville
2. (LW-2) #12 Florida (10-2) (defeated Mississippi Valley State 82-54, defeated Florida State 82-64): Make no mistake, the Gators are for real. True, I have been down on them for being thin in the front court but the Gators make up for that with speed and athleticism. THIS WEEK: 12/29 @ Rutgers, 12/31 vs Yale
"#8 Missouri 12-0 (defeated #24 Illinois 78-74): Mizzou is the class of the Big 12 so far and one of the few undefeated teams in the country. The Illini gave them their closest test of the season and became the only team to play them within single digits. Would be quite ironic if the Big 12 Champ bolted to the SEC next year. THIS WEEK: 12/30 @ Old Dominion"
3. (LW-3) Mississippi State 12-1 (defeated Northwestern State 82-67): You can knock the schedule, but the Bulldogs have won 11 in a row and are ranked in the top 40 nationally in scoring, rebounding, and shooting percentage. Dee Bost and Arnett Moultrie make a gruesome twosome, both averaging over 17 a game. THIS WEEK: 12/28 vs #7 Baylor, 12/31 vs Utah State
4. (LW-5) LSU 9-3 (defeated #10 Marquette 67-59, defeated North Texas 67-58): Who would have thunk that one of the SEC’s signature wins this year would come from LSU? Great job in knocking off the previously undefeated Marquette team, and for now, that high #4 ranking in the WBN Power Rankings is deserved. Good job. THIS WEEK: 12/29 vs Grambling State
5. (LW-6) Alabama 9-3 (defeated Oklahoma State 69-52): There is that good ole Alabama defense. Granted, its kind of a down year for the Cowboys, but winning by 17 is a very impressive win for Anthony Grant’s boys. THIS WEEK: 12/29 vs Jacksonville
6. (LW – 8) Arkansas 8-3 (defeated Eastern Kentucky 71-57, defeated Louisiana Tech 77-63): The Razorbacks have put together a three game winning streak and it looks like they have a pretty decent defense to boot. I like Mike Davis and he will have the Hawgs back in the national rankings in the next two years. THIS WEEK: 12/28 vs Charlotte, 12/30 vs Texas Southern
7. (LW-9) Vanderbilt 8-4 (defeated Longwood 99-71, defeated Lafayette 89-58): You go Commodores. Pound those cupcake teams silly. We can scoff at the ‘Dores, but this is the first sign of life they have shown all year and they are out of excuses with Festus Ezeli back THIS WEEK: 12/29 @ #10 Marquette
"Texas A&M 8-3 (lost to Rice 65-58): Uh oh, someone is starting to get exposed a bit. The Aggies have not scored over 70 points since November 13 and the cupcake portion of the schedule is ending soon. And this defense is not enough to carry the Aggies like Alabama’s is. THIS WEEK: 12/29 Arkansas State"
8. (LW-4) Mississippi 8-4 (lost to Middle Tennessee 68-56): Losing two straight to non SEC teams gets you dropped in the WBN Power Rankings. I still think that Ole Miss can be a decent team but right now, the only thing they are doing well is rebounding. And its a sign of a poor team when a good rebounding team starts to lose. THIS WEEK: 12/30 @ Dayton
9. (LW – 7) Auburn 8-2 (lost to Long Beach State 64-43): Losing to Long Beach State in itself is not a bad thing. LBSU has already beaten Pitt and Xavier and lost to UNC by just 6 points. Scoring just 43 points and losing by 21 is a bad thing. THIS WEEK: 12/25 vs UTEP in Hawaii, 12/30 vs Georgia Southern
10. (LW – 10) Georgia (defeated Mercer 72-58, defeated Furman 64-50): Georgia racks up two easy wins this week, but you can’t put lipstick on a pig and call it anything else. The Buldogs still rank in the 300’s nationally in scoring and FG percentage. THIS WEEK: 12/27 vs Winthrop, 12/30 vs Delaware State
11. (LW-11) South Carolina 5-6 (defeated SE Louisiana 62-43): Darrin Horn has his boys playing inspired ball lately. Just hope for his sake, they look at that rather than measure his success by just wins and losses. THIS WEEK: 12/28 vs Wofford, 12/31 vs USC Upstate
12. (LW-12) Tennessee 5-6 (defeated North Carolina Asheville 72-68, defeated East Tennessee State 66-63): Tennessee held on against a couple of cupcakes this week and then got a huge present in the form of Jarnell Stokes. While Stokes will make the Vols better, it will be hard to judge progress in January as UT has a killer schedule ahead. THIS WEEK: 12/29 vs The Citadel