Ranking SEC basketball teams by tiers
Not a bad take and writeup on the SEC for the upcoming season.
Ranking SEC basketball teams by tiers
- Thread starter Runt#1969
- Start date
Not a bad take and writeup on the SEC for the upcoming season.
All speculation. It’s all bs until some authority prints a report of what actually gets paid. Otherwise it is a guess
There’s only 2 tiers of SEC basketball.
Tier 1 is UK
Tier 2 is everyone else.
Tier 1 is UK
Tier 2 is everyone else.
Not recently. Not even close.There’s only 2 tiers of SEC basketball.
Tier 1 is UK
Tier 2 is everyone else.
Yup and history is awesome for fans to discuss. But putting in hard work for the program, themselves, fans, all of KENTUCKY means a bunch. But 14 guys and coaches playing for one another over all else, trying to make 5 on the court become one with the coaches and guys on the bench, that is where good things, luck and wins come from. This is where a special 6 plus months happen and you end up playing in late March / Early April.
Florida should be 1st in the SEC till we take it from them this year. They earned it. We want to be on top then you have to win the SEC, SEC tourney and finally NCAA tourney.
GO BIG BLUE!!!!!!!
Yes, recently and forever!
More SEC championships than all the other 15 combined.
Twice the NC’s of all the others combined.
More wins that any program in the world. Not just the SEC.
UK haters can have their occasional moment.
The gold standard is UK!!
I think Oklahoma is being underestimated. Nijel Pack, Derrion Reid, and Tae Davis are some upper echelon transfers imo. I'd put them on par with Auburn's tier.
I don't think LSU is as basement-level as the author implies also. He didn't even have their best transfer listed, in Maquel Sutton, Summit League POY. Jalen Reed is back and is really good. At least, I don't see a lot of separation between them and, say, Vanderbilt.
I don't think LSU is as basement-level as the author implies also. He didn't even have their best transfer listed, in Maquel Sutton, Summit League POY. Jalen Reed is back and is really good. At least, I don't see a lot of separation between them and, say, Vanderbilt.
After looking at teams in the super early preseason top 10, I think #7 or #8 is about right for Kentucky. There’s a good amount of teams in front of Kentucky that have really stacked starting lineups. Kentucky’s depth might be the best in the country. But I’m not sure the starting lineup is top 5. Probably top 10. But Pope seems to be a damn good coach. And we should be able to withstand injuries better than other good teams. So I like our chances at a major run
I’m not as high on UF as most of the media is. Their backcourt could be great, but it is brand new. They lost their top four guards. There has to be a little bit of drop off there.
Here are my way too early SEC rankings:
1 Kentucky
2 Arkansas
3 Florida
4 Alabama
5 Missouri
6 Tennessee
7 Auburn
8 Vanderbilt
9 Oklahoma
10 Texas
11 Ole Miss
12 Mississippi St.
13 Georgia
14 Texas A&M
15 LSU
16 South Carolina
I like Mizzou a lot more than most. I think Mitchell is a beast and they looked really good in February before going off the rails a bit. The Robinson-Mitchell duo is going to be really good for them and I think Crews is going to step up as well. They are my dark horse to challenge for the title, so to speak.
I think the top four really stand out as potential contenders on the national scene, with Mizzou and Tennessee just a cut below. Auburn is rebuilding, but Pearl will keep them competitive. Vandy has a great coach that should get them back to the tourney.
Once you get into the middle of the rankings, it’s hard to say who will be seventh or eight as opposed to 11th or 12th.
Not as much separates top from bottom as it did last year. Losing a bunch of Seniors will bring several teams back down to earth.
Here are my way too early SEC rankings:
1 Kentucky
2 Arkansas
3 Florida
4 Alabama
5 Missouri
6 Tennessee
7 Auburn
8 Vanderbilt
9 Oklahoma
10 Texas
11 Ole Miss
12 Mississippi St.
13 Georgia
14 Texas A&M
15 LSU
16 South Carolina
I like Mizzou a lot more than most. I think Mitchell is a beast and they looked really good in February before going off the rails a bit. The Robinson-Mitchell duo is going to be really good for them and I think Crews is going to step up as well. They are my dark horse to challenge for the title, so to speak.
I think the top four really stand out as potential contenders on the national scene, with Mizzou and Tennessee just a cut below. Auburn is rebuilding, but Pearl will keep them competitive. Vandy has a great coach that should get them back to the tourney.
Once you get into the middle of the rankings, it’s hard to say who will be seventh or eight as opposed to 11th or 12th.
Not as much separates top from bottom as it did last year. Losing a bunch of Seniors will bring several teams back down to earth.
awesome post and interesting thoughts.
I agree that Mizzou is being overlooked here. Gates likes and wants his teams to shoot free throws at a prolific rate, and make them. The guard he's got coming in definitely fits the bill for his system and strategery. It'll work wonders at home for them again this year, thus, surely putting them into the top half of the SEC. The top 4, I concur.
I have to agree that second place comes down to Arky and the Gators, very difficult to think they won't be elite SEC teams next year. Tennessee will take a step back, but I don't think by much. Gillespie from Maryland will fit nicely for Barnes and run the show. It's the rest of the supporting cast which is an unknown to me.
And all of this kinda left Auburn looking up. So if I think we're going to be wrong, Auburn might be the team that becomes the fly in the ointment for our list here. And if Oklahoma is better than what I am thinking as well .... the SEC might not be taking much of a step back AT ALL.
lots to take in here. good food for thought
Past performance has zero impact on future results. Absolute fact! This also applies from one game to the next.
I thought it was interesting he added three very tall centers in the portal to help Mitchell defensively.
Several teams have had a few good years and other fans and media hoped they would take the SEC crown from UK. More often then not we sit atop the league and that’s a fact also. I also wouldn’t trade our roster this year with any other team in the nation much less a SEC team. Pretty sure we are gonna be the favorites to win the league yet again.
Purdue and Houston probably have the most complete teams, other than us. And they don’t have as much depth, they probably have better starting fives, though.
-bring back our leading scorer from last year who will be a senior and was all-SEC last year
-bring back three other solid players from the rotation last year a junior and two sophomore’s
-bring in from HS three top 33 players one considered the best shooter in the class, another the best center in the class and another who is a freak athletic wing
-bring in a top 5-10 international prospect who is 6’11” 225lbs who played against grown men the last two years
-bring in a xfer who lead his team in scoring, assists and steals who was all-ACC last year
-bring in a xfer who is being projected as a top pick in the draft and already ahead of schedule on his knee rehab
-bring in the 6th man from the national title team last year
-bring in the glue guy from a team that was in the top 10 all last year
-bring in another freak athletic wing who shot 46% from 3 last year
-bring in a 7’1” 220lbs who has played a lot of minutes at a smaller school the last two years
-bring back three other solid players from the rotation last year a junior and two sophomore’s
-bring in from HS three top 33 players one considered the best shooter in the class, another the best center in the class and another who is a freak athletic wing
-bring in a top 5-10 international prospect who is 6’11” 225lbs who played against grown men the last two years
-bring in a xfer who lead his team in scoring, assists and steals who was all-ACC last year
-bring in a xfer who is being projected as a top pick in the draft and already ahead of schedule on his knee rehab
-bring in the 6th man from the national title team last year
-bring in the glue guy from a team that was in the top 10 all last year
-bring in another freak athletic wing who shot 46% from 3 last year
-bring in a 7’1” 220lbs who has played a lot of minutes at a smaller school the last two years
Purdue is legit with Cluff on board.
Houston is planning to start two freshmen in their top 5. I don’t see it with them. Sampson also has only started 1 freshman in his five-yr run. And that freshman, Walker, was Houston’s only 5-star this century until now with the big 3 on this years roster.
His system shines due to the veterans buying in.
Yep. Plus in basketball, the SEC was historically a rec league. Says more about the conference than It does about UK
Yep I think FL or KY will win the SEC regular season and be clear Final Four contenders.
The way I see it, UK undeniably is the king of SEC basketball with respect to accomplishments, titles, and tradition. I don’t think I’d say that a couple teams “had a few good years” which essentially lumps UF, UT, Auburn, and Arkansas into one category… which they are not. UF is clearly and by a wide margin the #2 program in the conference. It hasn’t been a few years, it’s been about 30. I do agree about the other schools just having a few good years, though.
But yes to your point, no other SEC school can match UK’s overall historical basketball record. It would take decades of excellence by one school with simultaneous collapse by UK. Not gonna happen.
Fl has 3 titles with 2 different coaches and FF’s with 3 different coaches.
So maybe 2nd?
LSU has FF’s with 2 different coaches.
Ark has FF’s with 2 different coaches. But 1 was when they were in a different conference.
UK and Fl are charter SEC schools.
If anyone can claim 2nd it’s them.
But it’s a distant second.
Last edited:
UF is definitely second to us. No one else has multiple national titles.
Titles carry the most weight, so Arkansas is third.
I don’t think anyone else has a title.
Titles carry the most weight, so Arkansas is third.
I don’t think anyone else has a title.
I’d probably put LSU next. I think they have the most Final Fours without a title in the SEC.
LSU has 4 FF’s with 3 different coaches.
Oklahoma just joined, but they have five Final Fours, including two runner-up banners (1947, 1988).
That trumps LSU, IMHO.
Who else besides Oklahoma(5), LSU(4), Texas(3), and Auburn(2) have more than one Final Four appearance?
I know UGA, SCAR, Miss St., and Bama have one Final Four each.
Is that it?
I know UGA, SCAR, Miss St., and Bama have one Final Four each.
Is that it?
Does that really matter when we are talking about their overall basketball tradition?
If UNC joined the SEC tomorrow, wouldn’t they be considered the second best program in SEC basketball, even though they would have zero titles as a SEC school?
Food for thought.
Technically, Florida is presently the only champion in basketball, if we aren’t talking about history.
Past performance has zero affect on future performance. NIL and Revenue sharing has changed EVERYTHING. Kids today could care less about the name on the front of their jersey. Someone every year in the SEC will buy a loaded talented team. We will have to deal with that every year. Some years we may be the team with the most talent but we sure as hell can't and won't have the most talent most years going forward. College basketball is a different animal now.There’s only 2 tiers of SEC basketball.
Tier 1 is UK
Tier 2 is everyone else.
If our history means nothing to you then why post?
We go the SEC tourney every year. And have since it was brought back in 1979.
Means something to us.
And to the 1000’s of other UK fans.
The SEC tourney is a UK homecoming.
UK takes over wherever it’s held.
I see no recency bias when there.
Right now, in the present, which according to you is all that really matters, we are reportedly spending more NIL money than anyone in the country, let alone the SEC. So, I guess RIGHT NOW, UK is tier 1 and everyone else is tier 2 like he said. We spent more than everyone else and in this present time, that is what matters. Right?
Also, we spend more because of our history. So, it kind of does have an impact on the future. We are willing to put more money into basketball than everyone else in the SEC because of our heritage and tradition.