Basketball Blues: SEC Hoops Hope to Rebound By March

While the SEC football conference celebrated another milestone this week as the Florida Gators brought home the conference’s third straight national championship, the basketball teams hit an all-time low.  Not a single SEC basketball squad made this week’s USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Poll for the first time in the poll’s history. 

Moving forward, schools from this power conference are hoping to avoid embarrassment on Selection Sunday.  Very few SEC teams are close to being locks at this point, but there is a lot of room for improvement as jockeying for NCAA tournament spots begins. 

Looking Like Locks

As tightly packed as the SEC’s talent level is and with the blaring lack of a powerhouse, there are probably no definite locks heading into conference play.  However, a good case can currently be made for both Arkansas and Kentucky.

Arkansas is in a good position, as they earned the conference’s marquee non-conference victories when they knocked off No. 5 Oklahoma and No. 11 Texas earlier this season.  However, the Razorbacks have a bad loss against Missouri State and a recent letdown against SEC West foe Mississippi State.

If Arkansas can return to the form that saw them knock off two highly rated teams, they should be able to lock up a spot in the big dance come March. 

Based on recent form, Kentucky appears to be playing the way that the fans in Lexington expect every season.  After they were upset early in the season by VMI and then blown out by UNC, the Wildcats’ prospects of getting back to the NCAA tournament appeared dim.

But with the help of player of year prospect Jodie Meeks, and based on last night’s road blowout of Tennessee, Kentucky seems to have made a complete turnaround.  Add in a solid non-conference win against West Virginia, and it appears Kentucky have set themselves up well for a return trip to the tournament.

Remains to be Seen

The at-large bids for the SEC may be few and far between come March due to the league’s poor perception and the embarrassing non-conference schedules some of the schools played this season.  Therefore, conference games, especially head-to-head matchups among the conference contenders, will be particularly important this season. 

Perhaps the league’s biggest disappointment so far this season has been Tennessee.  However, Volunteer fans shouldn’t despair quite yet.  A very tough non-conference schedule highlighted by wins over Georgetown and Marquette, plus a looming showdown with Memphis, could bolster Tennessee’s tournament chances.  Things will have to change in Knoxville though, as they have lost three of their last four games, two of which were at home. 

Another team that a lot was expected of this season was the Florida Gators. While the Gators have a seemingly great record at 14-2, outside of a neutral site victory against Washington, they don’t have a top-notch win to write home about.  The Gators have a lot of young talent, and how they do in conference play will determine if Billy Donovan’s boys are ready to make it back to March Madness or if a return trip to the NIT is in order.

Conference Dark Horses

Some SEC teams land in this category for various reasons.  Whether it be new coaches, the lack of early season big matchups, or the injury bug, we are still in the dark concerning which of the remaining SEC squads have a chance to snatch up the league’s last bid or two. 

LSU and South Carolina both began the 2008-2009 season with new leaders at the helm.  Soft non-conference schedules have kept us from getting a true grasp on what the Tigers and Gamecocks are capable of.  Because of this, every night in the SEC will be critical to these teams’ chances of stealing a tourney bid. 

The injury bug has bitten Ole Miss harder than perhaps any other team in the country this season.  While the Rebels have a more solid strength of schedule than many of their SEC counterparts, the lack of depth could hinder their chances as conference play continues. 

Because of some bad non-conference losses and the lack of an impressive win, Mississippi State and Alabama are both on very thin ice entering conference play.  However, with the SEC West seemingly wide open at this point, neither team can be counted out just yet. 

Vanderbilt is in a very similar position as the Bulldogs and Tide, but with the East looking to be more difficult than the West, the chances of a Commodore run through to the tournament is looking more and more rare. 

Hoping for the Best in Tampa

As this season’s SEC conference tournament moves to the sunshine state, Georgia and Auburn’s only chance of making the big dance appears to be by running the table come conference tournament time.  However, as we learned last year, anything is possible in the SEC.