By Chris Marler
We’re a full week into conference play, and the projections that this SEC basketball season would be a gauntlet may have been an understatement.
As of the start of this week’s games, 14 of the SEC’s 16 teams were ranked in the top 60 of the NET rankings, 13 were projected to make the NCAA Tournament, and nine were ranked in the top 25, including six in the top 10.
Here’s this Saturday’s Starting Five — five key things to watch:
1. Will Home Court Hold Serve?
As of Tuesday night, the SEC’s combined home record this season stands at 134-3. Home court could be a major factor again this weekend, especially given the scheduled slate of games. We saw Tuesday night that a high ranking doesn’t always outweigh home court advantage, as evidenced by Florida’s 30-point win over No. 1 Tennessee and Georgia’s double-digit win over No. 6 Kentucky.
2. More Upsets coming
Building off the home court theme, six ranked teams will be playing on the road this Saturday, with four of those facing unranked opponents. Could we see more midweek-style upsets of top teams?
Maybe—but where? While Auburn losing to South Carolina seems unlikely, as it’s arguably a matchup between the league’s best and worst teams, I’d put money on at least one upset coming from this group of games: Tennessee at Texas, Oklahoma at Georgia, and Florida at Arkansas.
The best bet for an upset? Oklahoma traveling to Stegeman Coliseum to face a 13-2 Georgia team fresh off an upset over Kentucky.
3. Tiers and Tears
This weekend could provide more clarity on the tiers of teams in the league, separating contenders from pretenders. For instance, Missouri and Vanderbilt’s unranked matchup in Columbia may not seem significant, but it’s a must-win for the Commodores if they want to remain in contention for an NCAA Tournament spot.
Meanwhile, the two ranked matchups will draw the most attention. Alabama heads to College Station to face Texas A&M in a top-10 showdown, while No. 6 Florida travels to Starkville to take on No. 14 Mississippi State. Wins for Alabama and Florida would strengthen their cases for potential No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament. On the flip side, wins for Texas A&M or Mississippi State would be crucial for securing two or three seeds come March.
4. Avoiding 0-3 Starts
Five teams currently sit at 0-2 in conference play: LSU, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas. Of those, Oklahoma seems to have the best chance of avoiding an 0-3 start.
South Carolina and LSU are likely overmatched in their games, and Texas will probably face a fired-up Tennessee team looking to rebound from one of the most embarrassing losses of the Rick Barnes era against his former school.
Arkansas is the team to watch. They face a confident Florida squad at a time when, just 15 games into the Calipari era, fans are already growing restless. Will they show up at Bud Walton Arena in better form than on Wednesday night? We’ll see.
5. What Do I Want to See Most? A Future Clash of Titans
Alabama has long been known as a basketball state—everyone knows that, right? Auburn and Alabama have always had proud basketball traditions that make football an afterthought on the Plains and in Tuscaloosa. (Okay, I’m kidding. Kind of. We’ll see how DeBoer and Freeze do next season.)
Jokes aside, Auburn and Alabama may very well be the two best basketball teams in the country this season. However, they won’t face off for another month. Imagine what a No. 1 vs. No. 2 Basketball Iron Bowl would look like. It wouldn’t feed families—it would destroy them.
I’m here for it, so here’s hoping these two teams can make it to that showdown unscathed.
