PICKNROLL'S EARLY RANKS OF INTEREST...   

With only seven games or so left on the schedule of SEC teams, here are my team rankings

14. Vanderbilt - Ever think you would ever see the Commodores this bad?

13. Georgia - Tom Cream has his work cut out for him

12. Missouri - Martin will get them on track but for now, they are in pain

11. Texas A&M - Not as bad as some think. Kennedy laid the hammer down.

10. Florida - A dangerous team at times, but disappointing.

9.  Arkansas - The Razorbacks are hot and cold.

8.  South Carolina - Good SEC record but only even on the season. Hard-nosed bunch

7.  Auburn - From a top 10 team to this?  What happened.

6.  Alabama - Tide always seems ready to make a jump, and then…

5.  (tie) Ole Miss and Mississippi State - to fine teams with excellent guards.

3.  Kentucky - Will likely go far in NCAAT but two teams are better.

2.  LSU - After knocking off the Cats in Lexington they are moving on up.

1.  Tennessee - 19 in a row is quite a fee in the SEC.

     The top five teams listed can go a long way in the NCAAT. It all depends on the brackets. These five teams have separated themselves from the SEC pack. Alabama and Auburn are the next levels and they are capable of winning big games. South Carolina heads the remainder. They are 7-4 in the SEC, but their overall record hints of some problems.

     

Surprise Team? Ole Miss was picked to finish dead last in the SEC. So far they have shown what great guard play and coaching mean in basketball. Tennessee is a very close second.

Biggest disappointment?  Without a doubt, the Auburn Tigers.

SEC COACH OF THE YEAR?  Rick Barnes in 15 round decision over Kermit Davis

Freshman of the Year? Lots of good players in the SEC. Keldon Johnson edges out Kira Lewis, Jr.

Player of the Year?  This isn’t a tough decision. Grant Williams of Tennessee.

     The SEC is going to have a minimum of 6 teams in the NCAAT. It is likely to be 7, and if all things go extremely well, and there are not a lot of upsets in the Conference Tournament 8 is possible. What makes the SEC so respected is not the quality at the top but 12 teams in the SEC can beat almost everyone in the league.

     A couple of good wins will help Alabama become assured of a berth and a better seeding than 8 or 9. Those seeds are a death march. Same applies to Auburn. Some late season wins will make Arkansas a bubble team at worst. Ole Miss and Miss. State are in the ‘fighting for seeds’  in the weeds right now.

Alabama can get bumped if they don’t finish with 19 wins in the regular season. They would need to win one game in the SECT. A win over LSU would be key in their late-season run. Auburn has NO quad 1 wins. None. How they are consistently given good seeds in brackets seem strange to me. The irony of all ironies, the Tigers might need to beat Alabama on the road to keep an NCAAT berth.