Let’s take a quick look at this week’s Associated Press rankings. Yes, just as you’d expect it. Six teams from the mighty SEC among the top 25. Three in the top 10. Four in the top 15.
What’s that, you say? This isn’t football? It’s basketball? Yes, it’s men’s basketball, where the “It Just Means More” conference is off to an impressive 2022-23 start in college hoops.
Monday’s AP rankings reveal put Alabama at No. 4, Tennessee at No. 6, Arkansas at No. 10, Kentucky at No. 13, unbeaten Mississippi State at No. 17 and Auburn at No. 19.
Heading into Wednesday night’s play, Ken Pomeroy’s advanced analytics slotted the SEC as the nation’s third-strongest basketball league behind only the Big 12 and the Big Ten.
Kenpom’s numbers had Tennessee as the nation’s best team in adjusted defensive efficiency and No. 3 overall, followed by Kentucky at No. 6, Alabama at No. 10, Arkansas at No. 14, Auburn at No. 17 and Mississippi State at No. 22.
Alabama (9-1) has earned its ranking. With Nick Saban absent from this year’s College Football Playoff, Nate Oats has picked up the slack. Bama basketball has not one but two wins over teams ranked No. 1 at the time — 103-101 in four overtimes over then top-ranked North Carolina in Portland and 71-65 last Saturday at then top-ranked Houston. Alabama rallied from 15 down for the win. It also beat then-No. 12 Michigan State, 81-70. The Crimson Tide plays No. 15 Gonzaga in Birmingham on Saturday.
Tennessee (9-1) has a pair of top-13 wins. It shut down No. 3 Kansas 64-50 in the Battle 4 Atlantis finals. Sunday, the Vols outfought No. 13 Maryland 56-53 in Brooklyn. Rick Barnes’ club shot just 28.8 percent from the floor, but forced the Terps to miss 22 of their 24 three-point attempts. Tennessee is at No. 9 Arizona on Saturday.
Meanwhile, out in Fayetteville, Arkansas (9-1) owns an overtime win over No. 17 San Diego State 78-74 in Maui. That followed a close 90-87 loss to No. 10 Creighton in the islands.
Though neither team has faced a ranked opponent yet, both Mississippi State and Auburn have impressed. At 9-0, Mississippi State is the league’s lone unbeaten team. After opening 8-0, Auburn lost to Memphis 82-73 last Saturday in Atlanta. That dropped Bruce Pearl’s Tigers eight spots in the AP poll.
New blood on the bench has helped. After going 122-32 at New Mexico State, Chris Jans has Mississippi State humming. The Bulldogs beat Minnesota 69-51 in Minneapolis on Sunday.
In a 180-degree shift from Cuonzo Martin’s grind-it-out style, Missouri is ripping and running under former Cleveland State coach Dennis Gates. Mizzou has scored 90-or-more points in five of its 10 games. The Tigers were 9-0 before slamming into a reality-check, falling 95-67 to No. 6 Kansas on Saturday.
New coach Matt McMahon has LSU at 9-1 thanks to a pair of players he brought with him from Murray State. KJ Williams is averaging 18.6 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. Point guard Justice Hill is averaging 4.2 assists per game, second only to UK’s Sahvir Wheeler’s 6.5 in the SEC.
Those two aren’t the only former OVC stars making an SEC impact. Former Morehead State center Johni Broome leads the SEC in blocked shots (3.0 per game) at Auburn. He’s also scoring 10.9 points and grabbing 8.4 rebounds per game.
Meanwhile, Wichita State transfer Ricky Council IV leads the SEC in scoring at 19.2 points per game at Arkansas. Freshmen Brandon Miller and GG Jackson are averaging 18.5 and 17.1 at Alabama and South Carolina, respectively. D’Moi Hodge, who followed Gates from Cleveland State to Missouri, is averaging 16.5 points per game.
Where does Kentucky fit into all this? The Cats lost to then-No. 2 Gonzaga 88-72 in their only game against a ranked team to date. John Calipari’s club gets another crack on Saturday when it faces No. 16 UCLA in the CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden.
Meanwhile, we’re less than two weeks away from more head-to-head matchups between ranked teams. That’s because SEC play begins Dec. 28.
