Alabama Basketball and rest of SEC heading into conference play

Vanderbilt Commodores; 8-4

In their last game, the Dores got a big 69-67 win over BYU on a neutral court. Before that, the best Vandy win was beating an unimpressive Texas State team by 19 points in mid-November. Their worst loss came in Nashville to Temple by a score of 72-68 in overtime. The other three losses were to VCU, SMU and Loyola-Chicago. Next up for the Commodores is a Christmas night game with Stanford, followed by an away contest with Arkansas.

Ole Miss Rebels; 8-4

The Rebels have a resume-building win that Alabama Basketball could not achieve. That assumes Memphis will continue to play to its potential, more often than it does not. Otherwise, the best Ole Miss win was over Dayton by eight points in Oxford. Following the Dayton win, the Rebels had an embarrassing loss, 75-73 to Samford in Oxford. Next up for Ole Miss is a home game against Florida.

Missouri Tigers; 6-6

Coming off a 16-10 record last season, Missouri qualifies as the ‘worst’ SEC surprise team. They have credible wins over Utah and SMU. In the six losses are two clinkers; a 14-point loss at home to Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) and a stunning 28-point defeat by the hands of Eastern Illinois, also at home. Next up for the Tigers is Kentucky in Lexington.

Georgia Bulldogs; 5-7

Georgia being a bad basketball team is no surprise. Like Ole Miss, they have a win over Memphis, while Penny Hardaway’s team was a bunch of bickering individuals. After that, the Bulldogs have no other good win. Their worst losses were in Athens to George Mason and East Tennessee State. Next up for Georgia should be a breather against Gardner Webb, followed by Texas A&M in Athens.

Current Ranking of SEC Teams

The ranking below is not a prediction of how good any team will be at the end of January and certainly not in March. Much will change quickly in just the first few weeks of SEC play. Alabama basketball fans might gird themselves up for some patience as Nate Oats and his team learns to play defense along with its offense.

1. Tennessee Vols
2. Kentucky Wildcats
3. Auburn Tigers
4. Alabama Crimson Tide
5. LSU Bengal Tigers
6. Florida Gators
7. Arkansas Razorbacks
8. Mississippi State Bulldogs
9. South Carolina Gamecocks
10.  Texas A&M Aggies
11. Ole Miss Rebels
12. Vanderbilt Commodores
13. Missouri Tigers
14. Georgia Bulldogs

Discounting the recent Alabama Basketball slump, there does not appear to be a big difference among the top seven teams.

Data for this post came from sports-reference.com, the NCAA NET rankings published by CBS Sports, and the excellent site provided by Ken Pomeroy.

A closing prediction is the SEC road is going to be brutal this season. The Crimson Tide has a chance on Dec. 29, to notch an important home victory. A Tennessee, road win would be a big boost to the Vols.