Surging Aggies
Southeastern Conference men’s basketball coaches love to talk about how their league is more balanced than its national reputation suggests.
Early returns back up their statements and indicate there will be a wide-open race for the SEC title as league play begins Saturday.
“The league is as good as it has been in a number of years,” Georgia coach Mark Fox said.
It’s definitely less predictable. Traditional powers Kentucky and Florida haven’t looked invincible during nonconference play, while the rest of the league has stepped up its performance.
The Top 25 doesn’t necessarily show the SEC has gotten much better. Only three teams are ranked: No. 5 Texas A&M, No. 16 Kentucky and No. 19 Tennessee.
But the RPI gives the league more respect. The RPI ranks four SEC teams in the top 20: Texas A&M (7th), Tennessee (9th), Arkansas (14th) and Missouri (17th). Other SEC teams in the top 40 include Auburn (28th), Alabama (31st), Kentucky (36th) and South Carolina (40th).
“The difference is our league’s playing a better non-league schedule,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said. “Top to bottom, there’s no question our league is playing a much more demanding nonconference schedule. Like we’ve all said, we’ve got to win some of those games. We’ve done that this year probably more so than any year since I’ve been in the league.”
The SEC is hoping to follow up its breakthrough in last season’s NCAA Tournament by getting more teams invited this year. This league hasn’t sent as many as six teams to the NCAA Tournament in a single year since 2008. The SEC earned five NCAA Tournament bids last year, with South Carolina making its first Final Four appearance while Kentucky and Florida reached regional finals.
Kentucky has won at least a share of the SEC’s last three regular-season titles and was the favorite again this season according to a preseason poll of the league’s media. That same poll had Florida finishing second.
Yet Florida has struggled to an 8-4 start after being ranked as high as fifth while Kentucky lost its two highest-profile games against Kansas and UCLA this season. In the meantime, Texas A&M, Auburn and Mississippi State have just one loss each and Tennessee has delivered some quality nonconference wins after being picked to finish 13th out of 14 teams.
So nobody knows what to expect in league competition.
“There’s a lot up at the top there and it could go a variety of ways,” Vanderbilt coach Bryce Drew said. “Texas A&M is playing at a really high level. Kentucky keeps getting better, and as the season goes they’re going to keep getting better, and they’re playing really well. Tennessee is off to a great start, and there are a lot of teams that will be positioned for that top spot. And Florida has been a top 10 team.”
Texas A&M has overcome adversity to earn a No. 5 ranking that matches its highest spot ever in the Top 25. Robert Williams missed two games with a concussion, Admon Gilder has been out with a knee injury and D.J. Hogg will miss the Aggies’ first two SEC games as he completes a three-game suspension.