WBN SEC Basketball Power Rankings: 12-30-2012 Edition
By Wayne
Dec 22, 2012; St. Louis, MO, USA; Missouri Tigers guard Phil Pressey (1) pumps up the crowd during the first half against the Illinois Fighting Illini at the Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports
1. #12 Missouri Tigers (10-2, 0-0) Last Week: L @ UCLA 97-94: Mizzou dropped a heart breaker to UCLA in OT up in Pauley Pavilion, and if Phil Pressey doesn’t break out of his shooting slump, no amount of assists will cover their ass. Sure he had 19 Points and tied an SEC record, 19 Assists, but those 19 points came on 22 shots. Still with Bowers and Oriakhi patrolling the paint, Mizzou is the best in the SEC at this point…but Kentucky is coming on strong. This Week: 01-05 vs. Bucknell
2. #8 Florida Gators (9-2, 0-0) Last Week: W vs. Air Force 78-61: Patric Young…umm…you might wanna watch out for Erik Murphy. He was huge against Air Force (21-8-4), and with Boynton breaking out of his 4-32 slump from downtown, the gators used a huge run to break Air Force. This team has been pretty consistent throughout the year and there’s no question that they must play an Inside/Out game in order to succeed. When Mr. Munster figures that out, Florida will make it incredibly tough for the SEC East. This Week: 01-06 @ Yale
3. Kentucky Wildcats (8-4, 0-0) Last Week: L @ Louisville 80-77: Ok, so the outcome wasn’t totally unexpected. In fact, UK played tougher and with more hustle than in any game all season and showed a glimpse of just how important Harrow is. FT shooting was less than 50% and will NEVER win you a game. We couldn’t handle the press until it was a little too late and didn’t call a TO during the final turnover by Goodwin, but both of those Cal took on himself as his fault. I agree. The Noel and WCS starting combo created some havoc. If Poythress decides to show up at the same time, UK will be a force. We won’t be in the Top 25 but the rest of the SEC should take notice. This Week: 01-02 @ Eastern Michigan
4. Tennessee Volunteers (8-3, 0-0) Last Week: W vs. Xavier 51-47: Their record is a testament to their terrible O and outstanding D. Only one player on their team took 10 shots (Jordan McRae) and their best big man, Stokes, only took three shots. Martin is making this a very deep team, with 7 players playing 20 minutes or more. That’s a little unheard of anymore. Come tourney time, we will see a much improved UT team. Don’t misunderstand me, this team doesn’t have the ceiling of UK, but they are very tough and play tougher. This Week: 01-04 vs. Memphis
5. South Carolina (9-3, 0-0): Last Week: W vs. Presbyterian 76-60: No shocker here. Frank Martin’s chin would not allow Frank Martin’s to be smited by Presbyterian. As a team, they shot nearly 50% FG and 44% beyond the arc, but their 62.5 % must improve, but it wasn’t necessary against a 2-11 Presbyterian team (0-9 on the road), just looking to make a quick buck. Mission accomplished. Frank’s chin is happy, happy, happy. This Week: 01-05 South Carolina State
6. LSU Tigers (8-2, 0-0) Last Week: W vs. Houston Baptist 75-58: Balance is the word of the day for this one. The box score reads like a couple Sesame Street days on repeat. Three players scored 11 and four scored 9. Hickey was not in the line up so nine players saw significant minutes. I guess a win is a win, but this is certainly nothing to write home about. This Week: 01-05 vs. Bethune-Cookman
7. Texas A&M (9-3, 0-0) Last Week: W vs. Army 61-55: Write this down, when you have a FG % of 33 and FT % of 55.6, Army is a tough game. Statistically, the game was fairly close, with the difference being two 3 PT baskets. Seriously. They don’t have a star to carry them and eventually the thin O will doom their decent D. They forced 16 TO and grabbed 17 OR but that rebound total will not likely be a nightly number. They must improve their O. This Week: 01-04 vs. Houston Baptist