Let’s focus on the other 11 teams first.
Auburn destroyed Arkansas. I want to say this was the most surprising outcome of the year in the conference, but as we go forward in this season, I don’t think it will be. Auburn played so well against Kentucky that Big Blue Nation had to wonder if Auburn was that good or if it was just one lucky night where the Tigers had the Midas touch. Let’s just say that Auburn playing so well against Kentucky was not a coincidence that was only possible because of a below average performance by Kentucky. Just like in that game, the Tigers went into a hostile road environment and started jacking threes. Only this time, those threes were going in at an alarming clip. Auburn started out 8-9 from three and didn’t look back for the rest of the day.
Arkansas had no answer for the Tigers’ quickness on defense and lost all patience on offense. To put it bluntly, they looked like a poorly coached team and the polar opposite of what they were four weeks ago when they beat Oklahoma and Texas in the same week. LSU and Mississippi State are still the big dogs in the West, but watch out for Auburn. They’re one post player away from being the prohibitive favorite to win the division, but with the way they’re playing now, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if they reeled off some more upsets, of at least wins that are perceived as upsets. As for Arkansas, that OU/Texas week feels like years ago. They’re terrible right now, but unfortunately for the Hogs, their biggest flaw is inexperience, and it takes time to remedy that.
Florida destroyed Vanderbilt. This was a nationally televised game from inhospitable Memorial Gym. I tuned in because I thought Florida might be reeling from their choke job against South Carolina and Vanderbilt would be angry after their 40-minute abortion against Tennessee. Instead, Vanderbilt left their defense in their dorm rooms. You look at the box score, and you’ll probably think Florida was just hot from three on this particular day. And you’d be right, but you wouldn’t know that all 12 threes in the first half were from open looks. Vanderbilt was a team that prided itself on defense all year long, and unless they slipped up a bit after the Kentucky and Tennessee games, they were one of the best teams in the country in either scoring defense or FG% defense. Florida made them look like the Washington Generals.
Tennessee and LSU provided the conference with a healthy dose of the epic fail. Both teams had winnable home games against ranked teams and both teams fell flat on their face in their efforts. Memphis scored fewer points against Tennessee than Jodie Meeks did by himself. That should have been enough for the Vols to win by a significant margin. It wasn’t. The 2000 Portland Trail Blazers think Tennessee’s shot selection in the final minutes was bad. LSU had an advantage over Xavier in the size and athleticism departments, and they hadn’t lost at the PMAC since Kentucky beat them last season. That should have been a winning combination. It wasn’t. The Tigers looked like they still had some bad John Brady juju on offense. Once again, Paul Westhead thought their shot selection sucked down the stretch. The one that really stings is Tennessee losing to Memphis because there’s a good chance that a loss may have knocked Memphis out of the polls with no more opportunities for them to get a quality win until the tournament, but it just wasn’t meant to be.
And now, for some quick hitters:
Is Georgia better than we thought, or is Mississippi State worse? MSU had no business blowing that lead in Athens.
Who gets the ax first – Dennis Felton or Mark Gottfried. It seems like both guys are living on borrowed time.
Every game Vanderbilt plays on TV is justification for Shan(e) Foster winning the SEC POY last year. Florida effectively utilized the 2-3 zone the entire game and stymied the Vandy shooters with it. Can you imagine Billy Donovan or any coach outside of Syracuse having the balls to zone a Vanderbilt team with Shan(e) Foster on it? The guy that misses Shan(e) the most has to be AJ Ogilvy. I know he’s had foot problems this season, but he’s looked awful every time I’ve seen him.
Kentucky is still undefeated. How sweet it is.
Finally, a word on the Coaches’ Poll: Any poll that argues that two 12-6 teams are among the nation’s top 25 in January is a poll I don’t trust.