SEC basketball returns to action for midweek games, with 12 of the 16 teams set to play on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Kentucky, Auburn, LSU, and Oklahoma will get to rest before returning to action on Saturday.
Here are the five things I’m looking at closest for this midweek’s SEC games.
- Who’s on upset alert?
We’ve seen a series of upsets every time SEC teams take the floor. This week, my money is on Missouri beating Texas. That may not sound like an upset since Missouri is currently ranked No. 22 in the country and Texas is 1-4. However, Vegas has the Longhorns as a 1.5-point favorite over Missouri.
- Will home court hold serve
This has become one of the more impressively consistent storylines in the SEC this year—home court advantage is a big advantage. Home teams are currently 150-18 this season. That includes a 134-3 mark before conference play began. Where does that play the biggest role this week? My attention is on Georgia heading to Arkansas. Arkansas is 0-5 and set to face a strong Georgia team that was recently ranked and is coming off a near upset of No. 1 Auburn.
- Can Tennessee bounce back?
The only top-15 matchup of the midweek games will take place in Knoxville. Tennessee and Mississippi State will face off in a matchup likely featuring two top-four seeds come tournament time. Tennessee has been about as unpredictable as Joe Biden’s closed captioning sentences. However, they’re at home where they have been unbelievably tough. Not just tough to beat, but Tennessee has been physically dominant against almost every team they play in Knoxville. Their defense in the paint hits harder than any of Jeremy Pruitt’s defenses ever did.
Tennessee has the second best scoring defense in the country right now, allowing just 58.8 points per game. Their scoring defense at home is 55.4 points per game, which is nearly eight points less than they allow on the road.
- Counting CaLLLLLs
In hindsight, that play on words about John Calipari would’ve been better if I just put one “L” because now it looks like I’m saying Calls. However, one “L” doesn’t fit with Calipari or an Arkansas team that is currently 0-5 in the SEC. Arkansas gets Georgia at home on Tuesday and desperately needs a win.
There are only two teams in the conference who are winless in SEC play, South Carolina and Arkansas. The optics are already poor in Fayetteville, but if South Carolina gets in the win column before Arkansas, there may actually be a riot in the Ozarks.
- Flying under the radar “Champions of January” to be crowned in Oxford
Ole Miss and Texas A&M play Wednesday night in Oxford in a No. 13 versus No. 16 game. This feels like a separation game for the winner—not just in the standings, but also in terms of seeding when March rolls around. Both of these teams have been really good but for whatever reason have flown under the radar. Ole Miss beat Alabama by double digits on the road last week and only moved up one spot in the polls. Texas A&M has four losses this season, three of which were to teams ranked in the top 10 at some point. That includes two SEC losses, both to current top-10 teams.
