SEC Watch: Florida and Texas A&M won big to shake up the standings
Kentucky’s record in the Southeastern Conference hasn’t changed since our last SEC Watch. Still, the weekend was unkind to the Wildcats as they dropped yet another home game, a non-conference against Gonzaga, in Rupp Arena, while Florida and Texas A&M won challenging home games to keep from falling behind Kentucky in the standings.
Texas A&M never trailed No. 6 Tennessee
On Saturday, Tennessee cooled off in College Station, Texas, running into a couple of hot hands in Tyrece Radford and Wade Taylor IV. The Aggies’ star guards combined for 52 points in Texas A&M‘s 85-69 blowout victory over the Vols. A&M never trailed in the game, staying in the SEC mix with four losses. Tennessee dropped to fourth place with its third loss.
Florida beat No. 12 Auburn by the same spread
Like Texas A&M, the Florida Gators won one of the biggest games on the entire home schedule, also by 16 points. On Saturday, Florida hosted Auburn, one of the league’s three first-place teams at the time, and sent the Tigers home with a third SEC loss, all in the last two and a half weeks. Riley Kugel (22), Walter Clayton Jr. (20) and Zyon Pullin (19) had 61 points, four shy of Auburn’s entire team in the 81-65 finish.
Alabama and South Carolina share the first-place tie
While Auburn lost, Alabama and South Carolina handled their Saturday business with double-digit wins: Alabama on the road at LSU and South Carolina at home against one-win Vanderbilt. Now, they share the conference lead with 9-2 SEC records. The Crimson Tide won the only head-to-head meeting, so the tiebreaker sides with Alabama.
Four in the Top 15
When the AP poll released its new Top 25 earlier today, the Southeastern Conference made up four of the top fifteen teams in the country. Despite Saturday’s loss, Tennessee remained in the top 10 at seventh in the new poll. South Carolina was one spot out at No. 11, followed by Auburn at No. 13 and Alabama at No. 15. Kentucky held onto its top-25 ranking at No. 22.
KenPom projects a No. 7 seed for Kentucky in Nashville
With eight games to go (only seven for some), Kentucky winning the league seems nearly impossible, barring an unbeaten run through the rest of the schedule and some help elsewhere. The double-bye in Nashville is unlikely, too, meaning the Big Blue Nation is on a crash course with a Thursday game in the conference tournament that Kentucky once owned. Even then, Kentucky may be the third-best of the Thursday teams. KenPom currently projects a seventh-place finish and the No. 7 seed for the Wildcats.
- Alabama (14-4)
- Tennessee (13-5)
- Auburn (13-5)
- South Carolina (12-6)
- Florida (11-7)
- Texas A&M (10-8)
- Kentucky (10-8)
- Mississippi State (9-9)
- Ole Miss (9-9)
- LSU (8-10)
- Georgia (7-11)
- Arkansas (6-12)
- Vanderbilt (2-16)
- Missouri (1-17)
Saturday’s SEC Scoreboard
| AWAY | HOME | ||
| (16) Alabama | 109 | LSU | 92 |
| Vanderbilt | 60 | (15) South Carolina | 75 |
| (12) Auburn | 65 | Florida | 81 |
| Gonzaga | 89 | (17) Kentucky | 85 |
| Georgia | 75 | Arkansas | 78 |
| (6) Tennessee | 69 | Texas A&M | 85 |
| Mississippi State | 75 | Missouri | 51 |
SEC Standings
| CONFERENCE | OVERALL | |
| South Carolina | 9-2 | 21-3 |
| Alabama | 9-2 | 17-7 |
| Auburn | 8-3 | 19-5 |
| Tennessee | 7-3 | 17-6 |
| Florida | 6-4 | 16-7 |
| Kentucky | 6-4 | 16-7 |
| Texas A&M | 6-4 | 15-8 |
| Ole Miss | 5-5 | 18-5 |
| Mississippi State | 5-6 | 16-8 |
| LSU | 4-6 | 12-11 |
| Georgia | 4-7 | 14-10 |
| Arkansas | 3-7 | 12-11 |
| Vanderbilt | 1-9 | 6-17 |
| Missouri | 0-11 | 8-16 |
SEC Schedule
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13
| AWAY | HOME | TV | |
| 7:00 PM ET | Texas A&M | Vanderbilt | ESPNU |
| 8:00 PM ET | LSU | Florida | SEC Network |
| 9:00 PM ET | Ole Miss | (22) Kentucky | ESPN |
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14
| AWAY | HOME | TV | |
| 8:30 PM ET | (11) South Carolina | (13) Auburn | SEC Network |
| 9:00 PM ET | (8) Tennessee | Arkansas | ESPN2 |
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17
| AWAY | HOME | TV | |
| 12:00 PM ET | Texas A&M | (15) Alabama | ESPN |
| 1:00 PM ET | Florida | Georgia | SEC Network |
| 2:00 PM ET | Arkansas | Mississippi St | ESPNU |
| 3:30 PM ET | LSU | (11) South Carolina | SEC Network |
| 6:00 PM ET | (22) Kentucky | (13) Auburn | ESPN |
| 6:00 PM ET | Vanderbilt | (8) Tennessee | SEC Network |
| 8:30 PM ET | Missouri | Ole Miss | SEC Network |
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