Alabama Basketball: Pre-SEC Tournament Power Rankings
By Ronald Evans
No. 5 (also 5-seed) – Florida Gators
Mike White does not get enough credit for the job he has done this season. Losing his best player, Keyontae Johnson, in a life-threatening medical event, stunned the Florida program. Johnson collapsed on the court in a December game against Florida State. Later diagnosed as a heart problem, Johnson has recovered enough to join his teammates on the Florida bench but not play.
The Gators had a tough loss to Missouri last week and fell to Tennessee on Sunday. The loss to the Vols should be discounted because this season’s best Florida player, Tre Mann missed the game because of a migraine.
No. 4 and No. 3 Tournament Seed – LSU Tigers
The Bengal Tigers can score with just about any opponent – except Alabama Basketball when the Tide is making 23, threes. The problem for LSU is they are not very good defensively. They have lost two of their last four games. In one of the losses, they gave up 91 points to Georgia.
Recently, former Alabama Basketball head coach, Wimp Sanderson colorfully described the LSU defense.
"LSU couldn’t guard a naked cheerleader."
With what is transpiring in Baton Rouge, that is not a timely comparison. But Wimp is right about the Bengal Tigers’ defense not being very good.
No. 3 and No. 4 Tournament Seed – Tennessee Vols
The Vols have been up and down in February. One reason is Rick Barnes has to rely too much on two very good freshmen. Keon Johnson and Jaden Springer are good young players. They don’t have much big-game experience, which may explain why the Vols sometimes struggle with turnovers. Yves Pons, slowed earlier in the season by a knee injury, is one of the SEC’s best all-around players.