How good do you expect the sec to be this season?

[Primedfor9]

I think it could end up being the best in college basketball, or it wouldn't surprise me at least. A lot of talent and potential top 25 teams, much more talent on teams that have been down lately like Alabama, Auburn and Miss st. Arkansas should be about what they were last year. Georgia should be much deeper than they've been recently. Missouri should be pretty good. South Carolina loses Dozier and Thornwell whose production won't be replaced but they bring back some key players along with a top five shooting guard transfer and Martin who I think is a great coach. Texas A&M, Mississippi St, Florida and maybe Auburn all have top 15-25 talent of their rosters.

If it's not the best, it will be one the deepest leagues for sure imo. I can't think of any team that looks bad on paper, LSU, Vandy and Tennessee look the worst but they all have some nice pieces too. I know with a few of these teams it'll probably come down to coaching and not just talent, but just from a sheer talent standpoint I believe this will be the best the sec has been in a long time.

 

[Smashcat]

Very good league and wouldn't be surprised to see some pre-season gurus pick Bama to win it all.

 

[Hoopcatjc]

It's a myth that the SEC is no good in basketball. The NCAA tournament proved that last year. Also proven was that the ACC was not that strong

 

[LeonThe Camel]

3rd or 4th conference as usual.

 

[Bkocats]

We got some good talent committing to SEC schools in the last couple of years. Also have an improvement in coaching, overall.
Agree, I think we did prove the SEC was stronger than people think, during tourney time. To hear the pundits talk, UK should've been the only one to come out of the first weekend. Guess it hurt when it didn't work out that way.
Lot of returnees, too. I think the SEC will be competitive - not sure yet if we'll have the best conference yet, though. That remains to be seen.

 

[UKWildcats#8]

It's a myth that the SEC is no good in basketball. The NCAA tournament proved that last year. Also proven was that the ACC was not that strong

What about the year before?

 

[mustnotsleepnow]

Should be much improved.

However, it would not surprise me at all if the rest of the SEC lays an egg in some early, easy games as usual.

 

[BlueBomb]

Until I witness otherwise, I'll stick with what I see every year:

Ranked 4th or 5th in the metrics. Bad pre-season losses. Beat each other up in conference play making it difficult to get many teams in the tournament. And then looking pretty decent in the NCAAT, ruining the year-long media hyperbole.

 

[Hoopcatjc]

The SEC will never get 8 teams selected to the NCAA tournament if that's the measure of quality. But, I do believe that the conferences are closer than most think. There are more "bad" teams in the ACC, Big 10, Big 12, PAC 12 than good teams.

The only exception to equality in collegiate conference sports is SEC football and that is because of the venues. 11 of the 14 schools fill 85,000+ seats every Saturday.

 

[UKWildcats#8]

The SEC will never get 8 teams selected to the NCAA tournament if that's the measure of quality. But, I do believe that the conferences are closer than most think. There are more "bad" teams in the ACC, Big 10, Big 12, PAC 12 than good teams.

The only exception to equality in collegiate conference sports is SEC football and that is because of the venues. 11 of the 14 schools fill 85,000+ seats every Saturday.

There are more bad teams in every conference, including the SEC. The SEC just shoots itself in the foot a ton OOC by losing to cupcakes...not good teams...cupcakes. I think the SEC can regularly get 5-6 team in the NCAA if the teams will just stop losing to the cupcakes and no name lower tier SEC teams.

 

[JerseyCat84]

Very good league and wouldn't be surprised to see some pre-season gurus pick Bama to win it all.

Basketball not football

 

[bucsrule8872]

I really like UK, UF, and Bama to not only be tourney teams, but to make deep runs.

There are a few other teams that could make the tourney.

I think we could have 5-6 teams in the tourney this season.

 

[chroix]

It will be nice to not have to hear about how our conference doesn't prepare us for the tournament again. It's been one of those jabs they've loved to take for too damn long.

 

[SaguaroCat]

The computers numbers improve. From 5th best to 4th.

Missouri and LSU will be better. There's the RPI/Kenpom growth.

Not sold on Alabama. Avery hasn't impressed me yet and coaching young talent is harder than it looks.

South Carolina won't make the tourney, let alone final four.

Arkansas and Florida will be as good, but should get better rankings.

All the other mediocre SEC coaches keep doing mediocre sec things. You all realize Pearl hasn't got anymore, right.

I do like Bryce Drew to keep Vandy competitive.

 

[morgousky]

What about the year before?

This board buys the propoganda. The SEC is usually, even during most down years, rated between 4 and 6th best basketball conference in the nation. If you listen to this board you'll think its never been above the top 10.

Ive heard the same crap from memphis fans. The opinion that the SEC hasnt really been better than the AAC or CUSA over the last decade. Cal had worse teams at memphis and went 4 years undefeated. Hes had much better teams at UK and look at his conference road record.

 

[morgousky]

The computers numbers improve. From 5th best to 4th.

Missouri and LSU will be better. There's the RPI/Kenpom growth.

Not sold on Alabama. Avery hasn't impressed me yet and coaching young talent is harder than it looks.

South Carolina won't make the tourney, let alone final four.

Arkansas and Florida will be as good, but should get better rankings.

All the other mediocre SEC coaches keep doing mediocre sec things. You all realize Pearl hasn't got anymore, right.

I do like Bryce Drew to keep Vandy competitive.

Dont agree at all.

Pearl is having to turn Auburn into a contender. Thats not easy. Check out his recruiting class.

Alabama is going to be really good.

South carolina not making the tourney?

Tennessee, vandy, florida, arkansas will all be good.

Sec could see 5 ranked teams at some point and several top 50.

Youre selling it way too short.

 

[KeepingItReal74]

Slapdick good.

 

[jgodek]

Dont agree at all.

Pearl is having to turn Auburn into a contender. Thats not easy. Check out his recruiting class.

Alabama is going to be really good.

South carolina not making the tourney?

Tennessee, vandy, florida, arkansas will all be good.

Sec could see 5 ranked teams at some point and several top 50.

Youre selling it way too short.

SC limped into the tourney last year before making their magical run.

Frank Martin will have a tough defensive group, but losing Thornwell and Dozier will be tough. They won't be as good as last year (and until the FF run, it wasn't looking very good).

Making the tournament certainly isn't a sure thing for them, in fact, I'd have to lean towards them missing.

 

[Wall2Boogie]

If we can build from the success the sec had in the dance this yr we could be very good. That said, the cocks are going to go back to the normally mediocre team but I think fla, bama, a&m, tenn, and vandy could all be solid. I don't think any legit writer outside the state of Alabama or affiliated with the program will pick ten to win it all though.

 

[Cowtown Cat]

Dont agree at all.

Pearl is having to turn Auburn into a contender. Thats not easy. Check out his recruiting class.

Alabama is going to be really good.

South carolina not making the tourney?

Tennessee, vandy, florida, arkansas will all be good.

Sec could see 5 ranked teams at some point and several top 50.

Youre selling it way too short.

This.

 

[kats23]

For the first time in a long time, I think it will be a strong conference. I have long been a naysayer that the SEC is good and often get a chuckle out of the pre season SEC hype that always appears on here. However, pour me a glass of that Kool-Aid this year. The former West division may have some talent. Alabama is on the rise. Ole Miss should give some teams fits. Arkansas is always tough in their home court. Auburn has to show it to me before I become a believer. I have heard the Bruce Pearl story too many times now. A&M returns a 1st round pick. They should get back after a somewhat disappointing season.

Florida will be back up there as usual. UGA and Vandy played well towards the end of the season. It will be interesting to see if they keep that trend going. I think USCjr takes a step backward. That felt like a Cinderella type run and they lost some key players for next season. I don't see a repeat. I won't call it the best, but the SEC should be middle of the pack next year when it comes to conference strength and tests for UK. It's not the complete dog turd that's it's been the last few seasons and that's good to see.

 

[LeonThe Camel]

Until I witness otherwise, I'll stick with what I see every year:

Ranked 4th or 5th in the metrics. Bad pre-season losses. Beat each other up in conference play making it difficult to get many teams in the tournament. And then looking pretty decent in the NCAAT, ruining the year-long media hyperbole.

Every conference beats itself up in conference play. The difference is can any team other than Kentucky show it is better than the average.

 

[LeonThe Camel]

It will be nice to not have to hear about how our conference doesn't prepare us for the tournament again. It's been one of those jabs they've loved to take for too damn long.

Look at what many of the top prospects have said. They come to Kentucky to get into the NBA, they play in the ACC for the competition. So somewhere along the line, it is getting believed.

 

[kyjeff1]

I think the SEC needs to validate what it did in the NCAAT. Yes, the league showed out after completely crapping itself in November/December and pretty much the past 10 years.

Someone above said that the SEC always gets a bad rap during the season, then plays well in the tournament. I have not noticed much tournament success until 2017. Up until 2017 the SEC, aside from UK and Florida, fell flat on it's face in the NCAAT like they were projected to. Partly because of low seeding, but also because those teams weren't very good.

I don't know if there is another league out there where the talent is high, but the effort is low until the lights shine bright (IE: UK comes to town). If these lower and middle tier SEC teams would just play up to their potential when they aren't playing UK, the league would be better as a whole. We see it every year in the SEC. Hopefully the league is on an upswing though.

Also, South Carolina is going to be terrible this year. They lost Notice, McKie and Thornwell. The only name that is really of note that is returning is PJ Dozier. Without Thornwell last year I don't think they even make the tournament. They were a 7 seed with him.

 

[awf]

Should be much improved.

However, it would not surprise me at all if the rest of the SEC lays an egg in some early, easy games as usual.

There is the problem. The SEC losses games (OC) in the early part of the season. They are then labeled as a bad conference. I am boycotting the NCAA until they punish UNC/UL so I only watch UK. I see some pretty competitive teams in SEC play. Last season it showed in the tournament what kind of league the SEC is. No one wanted to play USC...or any of the other teams that were representing the league. Like others have stated I believe that the quality of coaches is better than it has been in the recent past. The SEC hired a guy to help the profile of the league.

 

[Primedfor9]

SC limped into the tourney last year before making their magical run.

Frank Martin will have a tough defensive group, but losing Thornwell and Dozier will be tough. They won't be as good as last year (and until the FF run, it wasn't looking very good).

Making the tournament certainly isn't a sure thing for them, in fact, I'd have to lean towards them missing.

They have a transfer from Delaware who's supposedly an immediate impact player, averaged 18 and 4 assists for them and shot 40 percent from three. I know it's Delaware but still that's impressive. He could make up for the loss of one at least on offense and Silva will be really tough this year, Kotsar and Felder looked great at the end of the season too. I wouldn't think of sc as being in the top half of the conference but they might not be as down as people are thinking.

 

[Primedfor9]

I think the SEC needs to validate what it did in the NCAAT. Yes, the league showed out after completely crapping itself in November/December and pretty much the past 10 years.

Someone above said that the SEC always gets a bad rap during the season, then plays well in the tournament. I have not noticed much tournament success until 2017. Up until 2017 the SEC, aside from UK and Florida, fell flat on it's face in the NCAAT like they were projected to. Partly because of low seeding, but also because those teams weren't very good.

I don't know if there is another league out there where the talent is high, but the effort is low until the lights shine bright (IE: UK comes to town). If these lower and middle tier SEC teams would just play up to their potential when they aren't playing UK, the league would be better as a whole. We see it every year in the SEC. Hopefully the league is on an upswing though.

Also, South Carolina is going to be terrible this year. They lost Notice, McKie and Thornwell. The only name that is really of note that is returning is PJ Dozier. Without Thornwell last year I don't think they even make the tournament. They were a 7 seed with him.

I agree for the most part, still not sure about South Carolina and what to expect from them. They did lose Dozier too though, he declared and signed with an agent.

 

[caneintally]

It will be a top 2 league. UK is a top 2 team. UF is a top 10 team and Bama, A&M and Auburn IMO will be top 30ish teams .Vandy will be just outside that area and Miss St is going to be a tourney team IMO as well. Mizzou has added enough talent where they should make a run at a 10-12 seed also. I expect 7 bids with 8 an outside shot.

 

[bucsrule8872]

Fourth to sixth best is not very good when there are only five or six major conferences.

 

[TopCatCal]

I think it could end up being the best in college basketball, or it wouldn't surprise me at least. A lot of talent and potential top 25 teams, much more talent on teams that have been down lately like Alabama, Auburn and Miss st. Arkansas should be about what they were last year. Georgia should be much deeper than they've been recently. Missouri should be pretty good. South Carolina loses Dozier and Thornwell whose production won't be replaced but they bring back some key players along with a top five shooting guard transfer and Martin who I think is a great coach. Texas A&M, Mississippi St, Florida and maybe Auburn all have top 15-25 talent of their rosters.

If it's not the best, it will be one the deepest leagues for sure imo. I can't think of any team that looks bad on paper, LSU, Vandy and Tennessee look the worst but they all have some nice pieces too. I know with a few of these teams it'll probably come down to coaching and not just talent, but just from a sheer talent standpoint I believe this will be the best the sec has been in a long time.

Agree,. You could make a strong case that the SEC was the best conference in college basketball last season. 3 teams in the Elite 8, & would have been 4 teams in the Elite 8 if the referees hadn't screwed Arkansas in their Sweet 16 game against UNCheats.
And with all the returning players in the SEC & the fact that I believe the SEC teams signed more Top 100 recruits for the 2017 class than any other conference. I fully expect the SEC to be right at the top of college basketball this season.

 

[kyjeff1]

I agree for the most part, still not sure about South Carolina and what to expect from them. They did lose Dozier too though, he declared and signed with an agent.

You know, I was pretty sure Dozier signed with an agent too, but I looked at their roster for next season and he was still listed on it. I'm glad you posted that he is jumping, I thought I imagined it.
That further reinforces what I said about South Carolina than, I think they are an NIT team.

 

[kyjeff1]

It will be a top 2 league. UK is a top 2 team. UF is a top 10 team and Bama, A&M and Auburn IMO will be top 30ish teams .Vandy will be just outside that area and Miss St is going to be a tourney team IMO as well. Mizzou has added enough talent where they should make a run at a 10-12 seed also. I expect 7 bids with 8 an outside shot.

7 or 8 teams? From the SEC? Not happening.

 

[BigBlueFanGA]

Dont agree at all.

Pearl is having to turn Auburn into a contender. Thats not easy. Check out his recruiting class.

Alabama is going to be really good.

South carolina not making the tourney?

Tennessee, vandy, florida, arkansas will all be good.

Sec could see 5 ranked teams at some point and several top 50.

Youre selling it way too short.

According to 247 conference top 50 classes look like this:

SEC-11
ACC-10
PAC12-8
BIG1G-7
BIG12-7

That's impressive and if it continues, it will lead to a changing of the guard. The ACC''s top coaches are all old. The SEC is relatively young. I could see the SEC dominating basketball as well as football and baseball soon.

 

[KentuckyRLD]

The sec was very competitive last year and may be the same next season. However i have my doubts that it will be significantly better. I just feel the coaching is way over rated.

 

[Padsfs07]

Mississippi State just lost Mario Kegler (a 4-star freshman from Oak Hill, 9.7 PPG) and Eli Wright, a backup shooting guard to transfer. That will kill Howland's chances of making much noise.

They are bringing back 3 other starters and bring in 5-star PG Nick Weatherspoon.

 

[bucsrule8872]

Mississippi State just lost Mario Kegler (a 4-star freshman from Oak Hill, 9.7 PPG) and Eli Wright, a backup shooting guard to transfer. That will kill Howland's chances of making much noise.

They are bringing back 3 other starters and bring in 5-star PG Nick Weatherspoon.

Any destination for Wright? He's from Owensboro. Wonder if WKU is a possibility? He could be a good player for them. He would be less than an hour from home.

 

[Primedfor9]

Mississippi State just lost Mario Kegler (a 4-star freshman from Oak Hill, 9.7 PPG) and Eli Wright, a backup shooting guard to transfer. That will kill Howland's chances of making much noise.

They are bringing back 3 other starters and bring in 5-star PG Nick Weatherspoon.

Didn't know that, they'll still have several talented guards and a couple of highly rated bigs but Kegler would've given them a true three who can produce. That probably takes them down a notch. Otoh, I didn't realize waters went to LSU and a couple of other players. I downplayed their potential along with Vandy's. Those teams have a chance to be better than I thought initially.

 

[78Gooses]

Good enough to be underrated. As usual.