Step inside for another spin around the Southeastern Conference. With the regular season rounding the final turn, the standings are tightening, the bubble talk is heating up for some teams, and every game carries a little extra weight as we look ahead to March. There are some fun matchups ahead, and teams peaking at the right time. Hop in as we take another lap.
What Saturday Taught Us
Last Saturday reminded us that life in the SEC is still wildly unpredictable, but Florida continues to look like the league’s steadiest force. The Gators handled their business again, while the pack behind them keeps shifting from game to game. With March creeping closer, Florida looks every bit like a team built for a deep run and a potential repeat.
Elsewhere, the weekend delivered a little bit of everything: Auburn stunned Kentucky at the buzzer in a controversial finish, Arkansas kept rolling behind its freshman star, Tennessee survived another grinder, and Georgia protected home court.
The Standings
- #7 Florida 12-2 (21-6)
- #17 Alabama 10-4 (20-7)
- #20 Arkansas 10-4 (20-7)
- #22 Tennessee 10-4 (20-7)
- Texas A&M 9-5 (19-8)
- #25 Vanderbilt 8-6 (21-6)
- Missouri 8-6 (18-9)
- Kentucky 8-6 (17-10)
- Texas 8-6 (17-10)
- Georgia 7-7 (19-8)
- Auburn 6-8 (15-12)
- Mississippi State 5-9 (13-14)
- Oklahoma 3-11 (13-14)
- South Carolina 3-11 (12-15)
- Ole Miss 3-11 (11-16)
- LSU 2-12 (14-13)
SEC Tournament Bracketology
With two weeks left in the season, KSR’s SEC Tournament Bracketology used KenPom’s game predictions to project the SEC Tournament field. In this exercise, Kentucky wins one of its last four games and finishes in a four-way tie for sixth in the conference.
However, the Wildcats are fourth among the sixth-place finishers, earning the No. 9 seed in Nashville. That’s a spot in the first game of the tournament at 11:30 a.m. local time. Gross.
SEC Player of the Week
Arkansas star freshman Darius Acuff Jr. takes this week’s honor after an absurd two-game stretch, averaging 34.5 points in wins over Alabama and Missouri. The headline was his 49 points at Alabama in one of the games of the year in college basketball.
With Acuff taking POTW, Tennessee freshman Nate Ament was named SEC Freshman of the Week, averaging 21 points and 7.5 rebounds in wins over Oklahoma and Vanderbilt. Ament also delivered the dagger in Nashville, hitting the go-ahead shot in the final minute against the Commodores.
Other SEC Player of the Week
The Other SEC Player of the Week goes to a guy whose team went 0-2, but he did all he could in those games. Otega Oweh matched his career-high scoring with 28 points in a loss to Georgia, then set a new career mark with 29 in a loss at Auburn. He has 11 games of 20+ points in league play this season, tied for the most of any player in the conference.
Box Score Shenanigans
- Florida rolling: Florida became the first power conference team since the 1996-97 season to win four consecutive league road games by at least 19 points. The average margin of victory in those four wins is 23.8 points.
- Acuff’s historic night: Darius Acuff Jr.‘s 49-point night at Alabama was historically absurd because no freshman in NCAA history has ever scored more against a Top 25 opponent.
- Murphy vs UK: Auburn’s KeShawn Murphy was everywhere in the Tigers’ one-point win over Kentucky, finishing with 25 points, 10 rebounds, and eight offensive boards. That is an absurd number of second chances in a game decided by a single point.
- Ament at the line: Tennessee’s Nate Ament sank 30 of his last 31 free throw tries (96.8%) and his last 18 straight for the Vols.
- SEC in the NET: The SEC leads the nation with 56.3 percent (nine) of its teams ranked in the Top 40 of the NCAA’s NET rankings.
- Gators on the glass: Florida’s +14.7 rebounding margin, 16.1 offensive rebounds, and 45.8 rebounds per game all lead the nation. Rueben Chinyelu is the No. 1 rebounder in college basketball.
- Alabama from 3: The Crimson Tide has hit 10+ threes in eight straight games, with seven straight wins.
Game of the Week
Tonight, our eyes will be on the Wildcats’ trip to Columbia, and you have two games to choose from after that. Tomorrow, Arkansas vs. Texas A&M is likely the best of the five.
Tuesday, Feb. 23
- Kentucky at South Carolina (SEC Network) – 7:00 p.m.
- Auburn at Oklahoma (ESPNU) – 9:00 p.m.
- #22 Tennessee at Missouri (SEC Network) – 9:00 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 24
- #7 Florida at Texas (ESPN2) – 7:00 p.m.
- Georgia at #25 Vanderbilt (SEC Network) – 7:00 p.m.
- Texas A&M at #20 Arkansas (ESPN2) – 9:00 p.m.
- Mississippi State at #17 Alabama (ESPNU) – 9:00 p.m.
- LSU at Ole Miss (SEC Network) – 9:00 p.m.
Looking Forward To Saturday
The second-to-last Saturday of the regular season brings two top-25 SEC matchups, plus Kentucky’s redo game with Vanderbilt, all in a row. You can watch ESPN’s SEC triple-header of Kentucky-Vanderbilt, Alabama-Tennessee, and Arkansas-Florida without changing the channel. They slid Kansas at Arizona in there at 4:00, too.
Saturday, Feb. 28
- Missouri at Mississippi State (SEC Network) – 1:00 p.m.
- #25 Vanderbilt at Kentucky (ESPN) – 2:00 p.m.
- South Carolina at Georgia (SEC Network) – 3:30 p.m.
- Texas at Texas A&M (ESPN2) – 4:00 p.m.
- #17 Alabama at #22 Tennessee (ESPN) – 6:00 p.m.
- Oklahoma at LSU (SEC Network) – 6:00 p.m.
- #20 Arkansas at #7 Florida (ESPN) – 8:30 p.m.
- Ole Miss at Auburn (SEC Network) – 8:30 p.m.
The season is winding down, friends. Hang on tight.