The gym is open and the ball is bouncing. College basketball is here. Well, almost. The clang of the ball bouncing off the rim will soon turn into the sweet sound of the nothing but net shot that comes with practice, practice and more practice. The offseason was eventful in the SEC, and now that the dust has settled, here are a few conference predictions, observations, and questions for each team as they begin their 2014-15 journey.

John Calipari is in a good mood with so many prep All-Americans on his roster (AP).

1. Kentucky: Kentucky dominated the headlines this offseason, and for good reason. After a national title game run last April, expectations could not be higher for this group. The Wildcats played well in six games in the Bahamas during an August trip, earning high praise from observers despite a loss in their final game. The exhibition tour gave John Calipari‘s group of new highly-touted freshmen an opportunity to log significant minutes, a valuable advantage for this time of the year. The big story in Lexington is the possibility that Calipari will rely on a platoon system to provide sufficient minutes for the abundance of talent on his roster. Whether it works is something to watch for this season, but with returnees Alex Poythress, Dakari Johnson, Willie Cauley-Stein, Andrew Harrison and Aaron Harrison joining another impressive recruiting class, it is hard to imagine this group failing to dominate the SEC.
2. Florida: The Gators looked like a team that could have won it all last season on its way to a Final Four, a 36-3 overall record, and a perfect 21-0 in SEC play. The key pieces in that run are now gone, but coach Billy Donovan reloads yet again in Gainesville. Sophomore Chris Walker figures to play a more significant role, as do Kasey Hill and Dorian Finney-Smith. Florida has always thrived with the team-first approach, but it will rely heavily on the sharp shooting of junior Michael Frazier to carry the scoring load. The Gators will again find themselves in the upper echelon of the conference standings.

How will the rest of the conference shake out?

3. Arkansas: Could this finally be the breakout year for Mike Anderson‘s Razorbacks? Arkansas has not made an NCAA Tournament appearance since 2008, and it has not finished better than last season’s fifth place conference standing since 2006, but the talent is in Fayetteville this year to contend with the big boys at the top. Bobby Portis, Michael Qualls, Ky Madden, Anthlon Bell and Alandise Harris all return to give Anderson the horsepower he needs to effectively run his breakneck system. Third place has been up for grabs for some time now in the SEC, and it is about time a team firmly establishes itself in that spot.

4. LSU: Johnny Jones returns two of the best big men in the conference in sophomores Jordan Mickey and Jarell Martin, so that alone might be enough to insert the Tigers into the conversation at the top. Add in four-star freshman center Elbert Robinson, and LSU has one of the best front lines in the conference and a good deal of momentum heading into 2014-15. Former Texas Tech guard Josh Gray and sophomore Tim Quarterman will likely man the point guard position, and their progress handling that responsibility will be key in determining just how far the Tigers go in year three under Jones.

5. Georgia: The Bulldogs return four starters from a team that surprised everyone by going 12-6 in conference play last year, but the departing player is starting center Donte Williams. Georgia was a decent rebounding team last year, so it certainly stings a little to lose a player of size who was one of the best rebounders on the team. Mark Fox needs to find more consistent offensive production this season, though it certainly helps to have Charles Mann and Kenny Gaines for another year in Athens.

6. Texas A&M: The Aggies return four starters and add four-star point guard Alex Robinson and SMU transfer Jalen Jones to the mix. Billy Kennedy has not yet made the NCAA Tournament in his three-year tenure in College Station, so the pressure to earn a postseason berth will surely heat up in year four. A&M is a solid defensive club that could make significant strides this season, but it will need to shore up a shaky offense and poor rebounding on both sides of the ball in order to move up the SEC ladder.

7. Auburn: Bruce Pearl is coming into a difficult situation with the Tigers this season. He loses Chris Denson and Asauhn Dixon-Tatum, putting a lot of pressure on the backcourt of T. Harrell and Tahj Shamsid-Deen to pull out a couple of victories. JuCo forward Cinmeon Bowers is eligible immediately, and that is a good thing because Pearl will assuredly need him. Do not count the Tigers out with Pearl roaming the sidelines again in the SEC, though. This could be a sleeper team.

8. Ole Miss: Marshall Henderson shot the Rebels into many games with his hot shooting from beyond the arc, but he also shot them out of just as many games by continuing to shoot when he was off. Jarvis Summers will get his time in the spotlight here, and it could be a case of addition by subtraction for Andy Kennedy’s group.

9. Alabama: The Crimson Tide lose do-it-all point guard Trevor Releford, but there is some good incoming talent headed to Tuscaloosa. Four-star guards Justin Coleman and Devin Mitchell will team with Retin Obasohan and Levi Randolph in the backcourt along with some talented, young frontcourt players. The challenge for Alabama will be whether it can hit enough from the outside to keep opposing defenses from clogging up the lane.

10. South Carolina: Frank Martin loses Brenton Williams, but everybody else returns for a team that made strides towards the end of last season, including Tyrone Johnson, who was limited to just 16 games because of injury. This team could make an even bigger leap if Sindarius Thornwell plays to his full potential and has a breakout sophomore season.

11. Tennessee: Robert Hubbs and Josh Richardson will need to carry the way for a depleted Volunteers roster, as Tennessee lost a lot of offensive production from last year’s surprising Sweet Sixteen team. Hubbs and Richardson can score, so now new head coach Donnie Tyndall needs to find some guys who can rebound since he lost a couple of big guys who you have may have heard of.

12. Missouri: Missouri underachieved last season with Jabari Brown, Jordan Clarkson and Earnest Ross, so without those players available it is hard to imagine the 2014-15 version of the Tigers exceeding expectations. The Tigers have some returning solid players in place with Wes Clark at the point and Johnathan Williams at power forward, but will that be enough?

13. Vanderbilt: Vandy should be excited about its returning frontcourt tandem of Damian Jones and James Siakam. Add four-star freshman Matthew Fisher-Davis to the mix and there is a good nucleus in Nashville. However, the Commodores have to score enough to win, and that could be a big problem.

14. Mississippi State: The Bulldogs lost their last 13 conference games of the regular season, and there is not much to suggest that this season will be any different. Head coach Rick Ray returns Craig Sword, Gavin Ware, Roquez Johnson and Fred Thomas, so there’s that, but lady luck already appears to be against the Bulldogs as the injury bug has already struck Sword and Johnny Zuppardo before the season began. With a #1 football team on campus, will anyone in Starkville notice?

Brian Joyce (333 Posts)

Brian Joyce is an advanced metrics enthusiast, college hoops junkie, and writer for the SEC basketball microsite for Rush the Court.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 15th, 2014 at 12:32 pm by Brian Joyce and is filed under microsites, sec. Tagged: alabama, arkansas, auburn, florida, georgia, kentucky, lsu, mississippi state, missouri, ole miss, south carolina, tennessee, texas a&m, vanderbilt. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.