The Arkansas Razorbacks just picked up their 12th win in 13 games and they’re still the fourth-best team in their conference, according to this week’s men’s basketball AP Top 25 poll.
That’s how good it’s looking in the Southeastern Conference right now.
Auburn and Kentucky have been consistently ranked in the top 5, top 10 all season while Tennessee, Arkansas and Alabama have shown they can compete with anybody. Meanwhile, LSU and Florida are in the middle of the pack in the conference with a chance at the tournament thanks to some big wins this season.
All of this is to say, is the SEC going to be the conference to beat come mid-March? It’s not often we say that, but here we are.
On Wednesday’s Locked On Today podcast, Chris Gordy of the Locked On SEC podcast joined Peter Bukowski to talk Arkansas and SEC basketball as a whole.
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“The crazy part is that everyone’s attention has been on Auburn and Kentucky and they’ve obviously been two of the best teams in the SEC…but Arkansas is kind of the little brother saying don’t forget about me,” Gordy said on Locked On Today. “JD Notae is averaging 19 points per game, he’s right up there for my SEC player of the year with Oscar Tshiebwe of Kentucky…Arkansas is definitely a team worth watching come tournament time.”
While Auburn and Kentucky are both in contention for No. 1 seeds in this year’s NCAA Tournament, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama and LSU are going to be using the end of the season and the SEC Tournament to fight for positioning.
“You’ve got this big clogging in the SEC of Alabama, LSU, South Carolina, Mississippi State, Florida all sitting around .500 in the SEC…I think Alabama and LSU both are anywhere from a 6 to an 8 seed but if they can finish strong and win a game or two in the SEC Tournament, they could get up as high as five.”
Florida is on the bubble of the NCAA Tournament, but they’ve had some big wins this season including one over Auburn just last weekend. They close at Georgia, at Vanderbilt and home against Kentucky. If they can go 3-0 with an upset win over Kentucky, they may punch their ticket.
Meanwhile, Mississippi State is another team that with a big upset win to close the season, could potentially punch a ticket if they can also get a couple wins in the SEC Tournament. The Bulldogs have defeated Arkansas and Alabama this year and close the season at South Carolina, vs. Vanderbilt, vs. Auburn and at Texas A&M. A 4-0 finish with an upset over Auburn could put them tightly on the bubble.
The teams in the SEC have roughed each other up this season, showing even that the teams in the middle of the pack can get away with big wins over ranked teams. That’s usually a recipe for some dangerous teams come the NCAA Tournament.
Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee and LSU could all be dark horse teams that could go deep in the tournament. Alabama is a team that defeated Gonzaga, Houston and Baylor earlier this year. Tennessee has big wins over Arizona and Kentucky and took Texas to the wire as well after a major comeback before falling by one.
The SEC has had just two Final Four teams in the last five years and nobody has won a title since Kentucky in 2012. The SEC is looking very due for success in the tournament.