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SEC basketball power rankings: Picking a preseason favorite – Clarion Ledger
Monday marks the official starting point on college basketball’s long road to the Final Four, where the SEC – despite its recent basketball rejuvenation – has not been represented since Auburn qualified in 2019.
The coaching carousel, chaotic two offseasons ago with six changes, was more subdued this spring. Ole Miss’ Chris Beard is the only new face among this group of 14.
Still, there are storylines aplenty as recent SEC powers like Tennessee and Alabama look to finally make some March magic in the NCAA Tournament. There’s consternation in Kentucky after another subpar season, and plenty to worry about near the bottom of the standings, too.
Here are our initial power rankings before the action tips off. Surely the sport we love for its volatility won’t make these look silly, right?
The Vols have familiarized themselves with the top tier of the SEC under Rick Barnes, and − though we know not to live and die by scrimmage results − a win over Michigan State without Santiago Vescovi and Zakai Ziegler seemed to justify their status as a preseason favorite.
If Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin is college football’s Portal King, it might be time for Eric Musselman’s coronation on the basketball side. Another batch of talented transfers has the Razorbacks looking like a threat again. It’s probably not a coincidence that Kiffin and Musselman, leading the way in transfer portal enthusiasm, both have experience in the professional ranks.
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A second-place finish in the SEC last season did not translate to NCAA Tournament success for the Aggies. Fortunately for them, they’ll get a chance to run it back, returning four of their five most common starters from last season. As long as coach Buzz Williams has Wade Taylor IV, expect A&M to be a factor.
Five members of last season’s team earned some kind of recognition in the SEC’s postseason awards. Four of them are gone, including the conference’s Player of the Year in Brandon Murray. But coach Nate Oats reloaded with the SEC’s top transfer class – among them 6-foot-11 North Dakota State transfer Grant Nelson, who should be one of the conference’s most fun players to watch this season.
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If Kentucky doesn’t win the SEC this season, its 2020 freshman class won’t have a regular-season conference championship. There’s been just one other four-year period like that since 2000. Like always, coach John Calipari has the talent. Can the Wildcats, depending on a group of youngsters, make it work?
Bruce Pearl’s 2021-22 team was among the most fun in college basketball, combining electric offense with pinballing pace. Last season, the Tigers transitioned into a team that was borderline tedious, losing 10 of their last 15. They’ll need standout big man Johni Broome to help them back into the SEC’s top tier.
The Bulldogs wound up in the NCAA Tournament in their first season under coach Chris Jans by sheer force of will, using an elite defense to cover for college basketball’s worst 3-point offense. How quickly they get Tolu Smith back from injury could determine whether they can graduate from the bubble in Jans’ second campaign.
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Todd Golden, Florida’s whiz kid, did not instantly come up with a winning formula in Gainesville, but the second-youngest power conference coach in the country did take the Gators to the NIT, giving Florida a nice platform to work with in his second year. Florida has to be better during its nonconference slate this season – a 7-6 mark like last time around won’t cut it.
Coach Dennis Gates brought one of the most efficient offenses in college basketball to Columbia last season. But the Tigers couldn’t guard or rebound. The Tigers lost their top three scorers, so they’ll need to figure out the defensive end of the floor fast – or produce a fresh crop of bucket-getters.
New coach Chris Beard has spent the offseason telling reporters that this season shouldn’t be viewed as a write-off. That’s bold, especially considering that the fates of two of his most important transfers – Moussa Cisse and Brandon Murray – haven’t been decided yet by the NCAA. We’re firmly in wait-and-see mode on the Rebels.
Mike White turned former coach Tom Crean’s 6-26 mess into a .500 team last season, but the Bulldogs will have to replace their top three scorers. The Bulldogs had a productive offseason for themselves in the transfer portal and brought in a quartet of four-star prospects. That won’t lead to instant results, but it’s a program trending up.
Vanderbilt’s run to the SEC semifinals and nice victory over Michigan in the NIT made the Commodores one of the feel-good stories late last season. If coach Jerry Stackhouse wants those vibes to persist, he’s got to fill the 7-foot hole left by star Liam Robbins.
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It didn’t work out between coach Lamont Paris and his five-star building block GG Jackson last season. Jackson has gone pro, and that Gamecocks’ roster doesn’t look much more gifted than the one that finished 4-14 in the SEC. Aside from playing the slowest offense in the SEC, South Carolina didn’t do much last season to give its undermanned roster a chance. It’s going to take something drastic to steer clear of the bottom four.
It’s difficult to see a decent transfer class turning the Tigers into contenders after they spent last season drowsing in the SEC’s basement. Luckily for those in Baton Rouge, coach Kim Mulkey’s juggernaut in women’s basketball can be the main focus.