Another week has come and gone. Here's what I think the rankings for the SEC would look like.
1. Kentucky- No change here. They are the best team, though they did look vulnerable on the road. Last year's team would have lost the two games that they pulled out wins with this year. They will still be tough to beat at home so don't look for them to fall unless they have an injury or collapse.
2. Mississippi State- Back up to the #2 spot for me after a solid win over Alabama and Tennessee. They will be another team that will be tough to beat on their homecourt.
3. Alabama- The Tide gets credit from me for winning a slightly tougher game over LSU, while losing to the Mississippi State Bulldogs isn't a bad loss.
4. Vanderbilt- Most might have them higher on account of their 3-0 SEC record, but I just want to see them play an upper level SEC team before I move them higher. They get their chance this week with Alabama and Mississippi State.
5. Florida- The Gators move up after a couple of wins over their lesser SEC East foes. A step in the right direction for Billy Donovan's team, since they were winless in their previous 4 road games this season.
6. Arkansas- The Hogs get the edge over LSU for a home win over the Tigers. A loss to Ole Miss earlier in the week keeps them from being higher.
7. LSU- The Tigers move back to where the rest of the SEC ranked them last week after a couple of road losses to their SEC West foes, Arkansas and Alabama. A 2-1 record would have been a victory for a team that hasn't won a lot over the last two years, but 1-2 isn't that bad. 1-3 would be, however.
8. Auburn- This might surprise some people, but Auburn gets a bump up for playing a good week of basketball. They gave Kentucky all that they could handle despite losing by double figures, and pulled out a hard fought win over Mississippi in double overtime. Will they be able to keep it up on the road?
9. Mississippi- I find it hard to place this Mississippi team. They could be slighly higher for a solid win over Arkansas, or lower for losing to Auburn. That loss to LSU was too ugly to put them much higher than 8th though.
10. Tennessee- The Vols are another team that put up a great effort against Kentucky. Jarnell Stokes is a great player and it will be interesting to see how he develops. He's certainly a big pickup for Cuonzo Martin.
11. Georgia- Both UGA and South Carolina played the same two teams. The Bulldogs lost on the road, while SC lost at home. That's really all that distinguishes them.
12. South Carolina- The Gamecocks are 0-3, but have played the toughest 3 teams in the SEC East already. They might win some games, they might not. Too early to tell with this team, but the schedule doesn't get any easier with 3 of the next 4 on the road.
Be sure to check out Garnett and Black Attack for the results. As always feel free to bash me for whatever I did wrong or thumbs up for putting Ole Miss so low.