Azubuike24
1. Kentucky (18-0, 3-0)
Key Wins: North Carolina, Connecticut, Louisville, Florida
Week Recap: Strong win on the road against Florida, and doing it with an off night shooting for John Wall. As we know, if UK gets big production from guys outside of the big 3, it’s going to be very tough for anyone in this conference to slow them down. Daniel Orton is really becoming a beast on the defensive end. A very uninspiring performance in the 2nd half after being up by 19 points early.
Upcoming: vs. Arkansas
Projection: SEC Champions, #1 Seed in NCAA
2. Vanderbilt (14-3, 3-0)
Key Wins: St. Mary's, Missouri, Florida, Alabama, South Carolina
Week Recap: Vandy steals one in Tuscaloosa after trailing for the first 30 minutes, they fought back and got a tough road win.
Upcoming: vs. Auburn
Projection: NCAA Tournament, 2nd SEC East
3. Tennessee (14-2, 2-0)
Key Wins: Kansas, Memphis, Charlotte, Mississippi
Week Recap: The Vols are really rolling after even with a roster in limbo. They rolled Auburn at home and gutted one out against Ole Miss. Getting Tatum and Goins back leaves the Vols in great shape.
Upcoming: at Alabama, at Georgia
Projection: NCAA Tournament, 3rd SEC East
4. Mississippi State (14-3, 3-0)
Key Wins: Mississippi
Week Recap: The Bulldogs go back home and take on a resurgent Arkansas team and took care of business after having a big lead in the 2nd half before pulling out a fairly close victory. Jarvis Varnado got a good test against Michael Washington and he handled it like a champ with a triple double. You would figure an easier game against UGA at home, but MSU had to come back from 13 down with 7 minutes left to get the win. Varnado is only 47 blocks away from the all-time NCAA record.
Upcoming: at Alabama
Projection: NCAA Tournament, SEC West Champions
5. Mississippi (13-4, 1-2)
Key Wins: Kansas State
Week Recap: Ole Miss gets a big win on the road against Georgia who has really battled teams tough to start the league. This team must continue to rebound better and improve their shot selection. A ton of turnovers cost them a chance at a big win in Knoxville.
Upcoming: vs. South Carolina, at LSU
Projection: NCAA Tournament, 2nd SEC West
6. Florida (12-5, 1-2)
Key Wins: Florida State, Michigan State, North Carolina State
OOC Games Remaining: vs. Xavier (2/13)
Week Recap: The Gators didn’t quite have the horses to match Kentucky player for player. They played better on the interior, but it’s still clearly a weakness. They are another team who can go cold from outside and refuses to quit trying to shoot their way out of it.
Upcoming: at Arkansas, vs. South Carolina
Projection: NCAA Tournament, 4th SEC East
7. South Carolina (11-6, 2-1)
Key Wins: South Florida, Western Kentucky, Richmond
Week Recap: They are 2-0 in the conference, but have won against arguably the 2 worst teams in the conference in LSU and Auburn. They were pretty much whipped by Vanderbilt and USC played no defense. Devan Downey had to score 35 just to keep this one from being blowout status.
Upcoming: at Mississippi, at Florida
Projection: NIT, 5th SEC East
8. Alabama (11-6, 1-2)
Key Wins: Providence, Baylor
Week Recap: Huge game that the Tide didn’t really have go their way losing at Coleman to Vandy. It wasn’t one they had to have, but would’ve been nice to add a team with a likely 25-win season and NCAA Tourney bid to their wins. Following that up losing by double-digits to Arkansas did not end a good week for the Tide.
Upcoming: vs. Tennessee, vs. Mississippi State
Projection: NIT, 3rd SEC West
9. Georgia (8-8, 0-3)
Key Wins: Illinois, Georgia Tech
Week Recap: Another “close, but no cigar” loss for Georgia who will likely be that team who goes 4-12 or 3-13 in the league and easily could’ve been .500 or better. Have to like the combo of Thompkins and Leslie, very underrated around the country. The battle of the Bulldogs was much of the same with UGA having a lead and not being able to finish it.
Upcoming: vs. Tennessee
Projection: None, 6th SEC East
10. Arkansas (8-9, 1-1)
Key Wins: Missouri State, Alabama
Week Recap: Another valiant effort by Arkansas, but it’s becoming old news as the Hogs fall to Mississippi State in Starkville by 2 points. They finally got rewarded with a W beating a game Alabama team at home. Fortson really makes this team dangerous.
Upcoming: vs. Florida, at Kentucky
Projection: None, 4th SEC West
11. Auburn (9-9, 0-3)
Key Wins: None
Week Recap: The Tigers got whipped at Tennessee and despite a little bit better play, they lost at home to UK. Lebo has to be happy with the fight against the Cats though, the opposite of Thursday night. Their lack of size pretty much leaves them totally reliant on making the outside shot.
Upcoming: at LSU, at Vanderbilt
Projection: None, 5th SEC West
12. LSU (9-8, 0-3)
Key Wins: Western Kentucky
Week Recap: Looking at the loss to USC, only 58 points scored and 46 of them from Spencer, Mitchell and Warren. Without monster games, they are simply going to get beat in almost any type of game. They shot 48% in the game and still should have lost by double digits. Different story against the Gators, and although the production was a bit better from other players, the Gators shot the ball well and LSU did not.
Upcoming: vs. Auburn, vs. Mississippi
Projection: None, 6th SEC West
Awesome finish to Florida - South Carolina.