SEC Men's Basketball Power Rankings Early January '09

College Football's now over (congratulations to Nick Saban's Alabama Crimson Tide for making it four-straight SEC national championships), the NFL play-offs are in full swing (how about that 51-45 Arizona win yesterday decided on a defensive touchdown), and college basketball, at least for the SEC, has finally started. Raise your hand if you thought a short-handed Tennessee team would've knocked off top ranked Kansas. Yeah nice try. Raise your hand if you thought Ole Miss was going to start conference play 0-3 (not a reality yet, but two tough road games await this week). And raise your hand if you thought Kentucky was going to lose its first game to Georgia at HOME (true this didn't happen, but it looked this way up until the last minute or so when DeMarcus Cousins took over).

1. KENTUCKY (16-0) -- They are one of the country two undefeated teams. While Connecticut and North Carolina have had their recent struggles, those are two clearly impressive wins. Louisville (not a surprise) and Georgia (a surprise) each gave Kentucky a good game on Kentucky’s home court. It’s quickly become a matter of when as opposed to a matter of if Kentucky will lose. Watch out for a dangerous Florida team coming off a tough loss at Vanderbilt who hosts Kentucky Tuesday night.

2. VANDERBILT (12-3) -- Vanderbilt’s early season road win against St. Mary’s continues to look better as Saint Mary’s is once again looking to be Gonzaga’s best competition in the West Coast Conference. Vanderbilt also beat Missouri who has gone on to beat Illinois, Georgia, and most recently Kansas State. All three of losses have also looked better as the season has progressed and none of the losses were blowouts. Oh, and Vanderbilt just knocked off Florida who was previously seen as Kentucky’s best competition not only in the East, but also in the conference. However, Vanderbilt has two somewhat difficult road games in Tuscaloosa and Columbia to validate this latest ranking.

3. TENNESSEE (12-2) -- Tennessee’s record, ranking, and wins at Memphis and then home against Kansas may be more impressive than Vandy’s, but the 22-point loss to USC, a much weaker overall non-conference schedule, and the lingering questions regarding recently dismissed Tyler Smith and the other three suspended players are all causes of concern that may indicate Sunday was a fluke. Tennessee can notch its third impressive January victory and silence such doubts when Ole Miss comes to Knoxville on Saturday.

4. MISSISSIPPI STATE (13-3) -- The Tennessee schools separate themselves from Mississippi State on the sole basis of a surprising 88-74 home loss to Rider. The other two losses were to Richmond (also beat Florida) and Western Kentucky (also beat Vanderbilt) and both were by only one possession. They’ve gone on the road and beat UCLA, Houston, and San Diego, while also notching a neutral-court victory over Old Dominion, a strong mid-major team. While those are nice victories, it separates itself from Ole Miss by virtue of its second half comeback in which point guard Dee Bost (offensively) and center Jarvis Varnado (defensively) took over the game Saturday in Oxford.

5. OLE MISS (12-3) -- No school has taken a bigger hit, in terms of perception and reality, than Ole Miss. Ole Miss is this month’s Tennessee with too much talent to have this low, but the current resume and current performance don’t match the talent. The close wins against UTEP and Southern Miss continue to look worse as C-USA continues to look more and more like a one-bid league. The victory against Kansas State in San Juan and close losses to Villanova, also in San Juan, and at West Virginia are carrying the non-conference resume. The scorers didn’t score (Chris Warren and Terrico Warren combined for only 24 points) in a disappointing home loss to in-state rival Mississippi State, setting up a crucial two-game road trip this week at much improved Georgia and then Tennessee.

6. FLORIDA (11-4) -- Florida has notched impressive victories against in-state rival Florida State and #9 Michigan State, but they came at the end of November. They have not been the same team since the SEC/Big East invitational loss to Syracuse in Tampa, dropping a home game to a disappointing South Alabama team and its SEC opener at Vanderbilt while beating nobody of note. However, there’s not too much separation from two through six in the league with each having a resume, in my opinions anyways, worthy of a NCAA Tournament bid.

7. ALABAMA (11-4) -- Teams seven through nine in the league, like two through six, are close in terms of talent, resume, and also the opportunity to still play their way into the NCAA Tournament. Alabama’s neutral-court victory against Baylor is the most impressive between these three teams with Baylor having already notched two SEC road victories and a neutral-court win against Xavier. None of the losses are bad after seeing Cornell push Kansas earlier last week. Alabama hosts Vanderbilt Wednesday night giving them yet another opportunity to knock off a quality opponent in Tuscaloosa after nearly beating Purdue and Kansas State earlier this year.

8. SOUTH CAROLINA (10-5) -- The way Alabama dominated LSU compared to South Carolina close battle with Auburn and also South Carolina falling to Baylor compared to Alabama’s triumph separates those two schools. While there is no Baylor or Georgia Tech win on South Carolina’s resume, the wins over Richmond and Western Kentucky impress given these teams’ performances against other SEC teams. They’ve also found a way to overcome the loss of Dominique Archie, playing tough at Boston College and then at home against Baylor before breaking through at Auburn. They, like Alabama, also get a shot at home against Vanderbilt this Saturday. Once again, South Carolina’s season is based more on Devan Downey than any other player’s impact on any other team.

9. GEORGIA (8-6) -- Based on this past week’s performances (73-66 win at home against in-state rival Georgia Tech and a 76-68 loss at Kentucky) and last month’s win against Illinois, Georgia would be in the top half of the SEC, but a home loss to Wofford, a neutral-court loss to St. John’s, and a 28-point loss at Missouri are some reasons to the contrary. Travis Leslie, Trey Thompkins, and the Bulldogs have a chance to continue to climb in the ranking, playing host to Ole Miss and then an away game against the other Mississippi school, Mississippi State.

10. AUBURN (9-7) -- While like LSU, they dropped its SEC home opener to South Carolina and has its share of disappointing losses, specifically Sam Houston State by 18, their marquee win, a home victory against Virginia, is slightly better than LSU’s and their ability to compete and score the basketball make this team more promising. They get their chance to turn their season around much as Georgia could do when they host Kentucky on Saturday.

11. LSU (9-6) -- LSU has one impressive win which is one more than Arkansas, thus this ranking. This win, however, was at home to mid-major Western Kentucky and is impressive because this same team also won at Vanderbilt and beat Mississippi State. Beyond that LSU shamed itself in Madison Square Garden, losing by 26 to Connecticut and 19 to Arizona State, followed by a 24-point loss at Xavier and a dropping its SEC home opener to Alabama 66-49. With only three players than can realistically score, this ranking may get worse, but its doubtful to improve unless other teams find ways to collapse in a similar manner.

12. ARKANSAS (7-8) -- While maybe a higher ranked team based on talent alone, especially with guard Courtney Fortson returning with a 19-point performance against Texas in an 11-point defeat, there’s no other reason whatsoever why to rank this team higher. A 30-point loss to Louisville, a 20-point loss at Oklahoma, a 23-point home loss to Baylor, and home losses to bad Morgan State, East Tennessee State, and South Alabama teams are why this is so.