Given that Kentucky is regarded as the team to beat in all of college basketball, the notion that the Wildcats are the SEC’s best — and with ease — is not up for debate. What is open to question, however, is which SEC squad has a rightful claim as the league’s second-best. At a little past the halfway point of SEC play, four teams can make a legitimate argument for that spot. Let’s take a closer look at each.
- Arkansas. The Razorbacks are the league’s second-most talented team, and they have shown signs of a group that can make some noise in March. Mike Anderson’s team has a good RPI (#25), is relatively highly-regarded by Ken Pomeroy (#30), and may also have the SEC’s best player in Bobby Portis. The problem is that this club is prone to moments of sleepwalking through games — especially away from Bud Walton Arena — as in the case of perplexing losses at Clemson and Tennessee. On the other hand, the Razorbacks have taken care of business more frequently in SEC play than last season, and may have finally turned a corner on some of those brain freezes. Other than upcoming trips to Ole Miss, which handled them by 14 in Fayetteville last month, and Kentucky, the Razorbacks will be the favorite in each of their remaining eight games. At 18-5 overall and 7-3 in SEC play, Arkansas is not only squarely in the NCAA field, it is now playing for seeding.
- Georgia. The Bulldogs are a veteran club that dropped two winnable games versus Arkansas and LSU where they blew big leads and suffered an ugly loss at South Carolina. Their schedule softens over the next couple of weeks, though, which should give Mark Fox’s team an excellent opportunity to cruise to double-figure league wins. Georgia currently owns the league’s second-best RPI (#24), and based upon a very good pre-conference schedule, the Bulldogs are in position to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011. They lost their only game against fellow competitor for the throne of second-best team, Arkansas, but will get a chance to stake a different claim as the SEC’s maid of honor when Kentucky comes to Athens in early March. Georgia has a veteran roster that features all five starters averaging double figures in scoring. If they can position themselves well over the last month of play, the Bulldogs might have the best chance of advancing into March deeper than any team but the Wildcats.
- Texas A&M. After dropping its SEC opener at Alabama and losing a double-overtime thriller against Kentucky, Texas A&M got leading scorer Jalen Jones back from injury and subsequently reeled off six wins in a row. After a loss at Ole Miss last week, the Aggies bounced back by trouncing Missouri on Saturday to move to 7-3 in league play. Billy Kennedy’s team has received key offensive boosts this season from transfers Jones (SMU) and Danuel House (Houston), his only two players averaging double figures, and with a top-five recruiting class headed to College Station next fall, this team appears to have gotten off to a head start on a run of success. While the Aggies still have work remaining to feel safe about an NCAA Tournament bid, a favorable upcoming schedule gives them a chance to reach 12 or 13 wins in SEC play. There is little doubt that they’ll be dancing for the first time in four years if they can reach that number.
- Ole Miss. After losing its season opener in Oxford against Charleston Southern (RPI #182) and following that up with a home loss against Western Kentucky, the new year did not appear to hold much promise for Andy Kennedy’s squad. Ole Miss then opened SEC play by taking Kentucky to overtime in what may have been the most entertaining and well-played game of the SEC season. The Rebels, led by guards Stefan Moody and Jarvis Summers, used the confidence shown in that game as a springboard to a really nice subsequent run, and they now stand at 7-3 in league play. In addition to a big win at Arkansas, they have also taken care of business at Missouri and Auburn and own a home win against Texas A&M. It was almost inconceivable that Ole Miss could contend for an NCAA Tournament bid this season before that early January trip to Lexington; now, as they sit in the RPI’s top 40, they are very well-positioned to earn a coveted spot in the field of 68.
The debate over which team is second fiddle to Kentucky will continue over the next four weeks and may not ultimately be settled until the teams convene in Nashville for the SEC Tournament. What is clear, though, is that as the league has shown modest improvement from its middle tier, the four teams battling for runner-up status to Kentucky have done a lot to stake their case and have correspondingly put themselves in great position for nice March runs.