Written by: Bobby Engelhard
Twitter: @wingspansports (follow for all your sports information; we follow back)
This week the SEC was able to flex some muscle by winning the SEC/Big 12 challenge. I think a lot of NCAA basketball fans were somewhat surprised by some of the upsets the SEC pulled off. After following this conference all year the results did not surprise me at all.
League Standings
1. Auburn 7-1 2. Florida 6-2
3. Tennessee 5-3
4. Kentucky 5-3
5. Alabama 5-3
6. Arkansas 4-4
7. Ole Miss 4-4
8. South Carolina 4-4
9. Miss St 3-5
10. Missouri 3-5
11. LSU 3-5
12. Georgia 2-5
13. Texas A&M 2-6
14. Vanderbilt 2-6
Last week Auburn dropped to #19 overall while Kentucky, after two losses, dropped completely out of the top 25. Tennessee held fort at #22 overall and Florida jumped into the top 25 at #20 overall. This week Auburn takes a big jump up to #11 overall. Tennessee jumps up four spots to #18 overall, while Florida stays ranked but falls to #23 overall. Kentucky, after an impressive win over West Virginia, regains top 25 status at #21 overall.
This is week two of the NBA pro prospect big board. The top of the board does not change much but I have moved Bryce Brown up to #10 overall. His ability to consistently knock down threes is a major quality for any NBA draft prospect. The only other notable change is adding Duop Reath to the just-miss list. With good size at 6-11, 244lbs, Reath is starting to put up numbers and with his size he needs to be monitored.
- Collin Sexton PG Alabama
- Kevin Knox SF Kentucky
- Shai Gilgeous Alexander PG Kentucky
- Hamidou Diallo SG Kentucky
- Robert Williams PF/C Texas A&M
- Jarred Vanderbilt SF Kentucky
- Nic Richards C Kentucky
- Yante Maten F Georgia
- Jalen Hudson SG Florida
- Bryce Brown SG Auburn
- Egor Koulechov SG Florida
- Jontay Porter PF Missouri
- D.J Hogg SF Texas A&M
- Jordan Barnett SF Missouri
Just Missed
- Tremont Waters PG LSU
- Jared Harper PG Auburn
- Duop Reath PF LSU
- Chris Silva PF South Carolina
Inactive list
- Michael Porter Jr F Missouri
- Austin Whiley C Auburn
Auburn steamrolled this week, beating Missouri by 20-plus points and LSU by 25 points. Auburn is turning into the class of this conference with an athletic front court and great guard play led by Harper, Brown, and Heron. They kind of remind me of how Villanova builds their teams, so this success is maintainable for sure.
Tennessee has a nice week by holding off a Vanderbilt team who has been playing much better lately and then pounding Iowa St in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
Speaking of Vanderbilt, they are at the bottom of the SEC but were able to beat a solid TCU team this Saturday.
Florida had a tough loss early in the week to South Carolina but came on strong to crush Baylor on Staurday by 21 points.
The biggest winners this weekend were Alabama and Kentucky. The big showdown between Collin Sexton and Trae Young went to Sexton and Alabama. Over 50 scouts were at this game and Sexton outshined the bigger name of Young all game. This is the exact reason you do not want to see this Alabama team come tournament time. The same thing can be said for Kentucky, as they had a rough week and then rebounded to beat a great West Virginia team. Kevin Knox showed why he is a top 10 pick as he dropped 34 points in the win.
I am all but ready to say Texas A&M will not make the tournament this year. Another two losses to LSU and Kansas are the deathblow for this team. They just do not have enough time to get it together and I don’t see them winning eight straight games in this conference with how they have looked.
Arkansas is another dangerous team who had a very nice week, beating both the Oklahoma St team and Georgia team. They moved to 15-6 on the year and are building a great resume as we speak.
Games to Watch
1/30/18
Florida @ Georgia 7PM
1/31/18
LSU @ Tennessee 6:30PM
Missouri @ Alabama 9PM
2/3/18
Kentucky @ Missouri 2PM
Alabama @ Florida 4PM
League Leaders
Points
1. Yante Maten 19.6
2. Jaylen Barford 18.8
3. Collin Sexton 18.5
Rebounds
1.Robert Williams 9.8
2. Yante Maten 9.2
3. Tyler Davis 8.8
Assists
1. Chris Chiozza 6.1
2. Tremont Waters 5.8
3. Jared Harper 5.4
