The SEC continues to be the dominant conference in college basketball, and now it gets to enjoy the calm before the storm. The conference season is coming, but first the league gets to pad the win totals a bit with a relatively easy weekend to close out 2024.
How good are all the SEC teams so far? How does Mississippi State rank in our SEC College Basketball Power Rankings? This will change up for next week, but for now …
🏀 SEC Player of the Week: Dec. 23
🐔 Collin Murray-Boyles@GamecockMBB x #SECMBB pic.twitter.com/NLuXGfzZbY
— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) December 23, 2024
The Gamecocks are on a six-game winning streak with a solid defense, but the shooting needs to step up fast with SEC play coming up.
Polls: N/A
KenPom ranking: 64
NET ranking: 84
Next up: Presbyterian, 7:00 pm, Monday, SEC Network
The Tigers got past the loss to Xavier to get the O going again, but there are too many turnovers and the threes haven’t been there.
Polls: N/A
KenPom ranking: 60
NET ranking: 62
Next up: Mississippi Valley State, 7:00 pm, Sunday, SEC Network
The Commodores are living off of takeaways and getting just enough from three. The schedule hasn’t been anything amazing, but there hasn’t been a ton of drama.
Polls: N/A
KenPom ranking: 53
NET ranking: 38
Next up: New Orleans, 8:00 pm, Monday, SEC Network
There’s no shame in losing to UConn, and the other loss was in the season opener against Ohio State. The Longhorns will rise up fast with the high-powered offense that’s second in the nation in field goal percentage.
Polls: N/A
KenPom ranking: 35
NET ranking: 35
Next up: Northwestern State, 12:00 pm, Sunday, SEC Network
The Dawgs are warmed up now with a light schedule. The interior presence on both ends of the floor – and the defense – will be a problem for the rest of the league.
Polls: AP 32, Coaches 30
KenPom ranking: 38
NET ranking: 25
Next up: South Carolina State, 2:00 pm, Sunday, SEC Network
Coach Calipari’s team is stepping up the defense, but offensive boards and free throws have to start coming. This team can shoot, though.
Polls: AP 23, Coaches 29
KenPom ranking: 43
NET ranking: 47
Next up: Oakland, 7:00 pm, Monday, ESPN2
It’s going to be an up-and-down year, The blowout loss to Ohio State is a concern, but call it part of the growing pains for a team that’s great on the glass and forces a ton of mistakes.
Polls: AP 10, Coaches 10
KenPom ranking: 26
NET ranking: 19
Next up: Brown, 2:00 pm, Tuesday, ESPNU
Yeah, we’re still giving a bit too much credit for the win over Kansas. There’s no real punishment for losing to a terrific Illinois team. This is the deepest team in the SEC, and it’s about to show.
Polls: AP 35, Coaches T38
KenPom ranking: 52
NET ranking: 45
Next up: Alabama State, 7:30 pm, Monday, SEC Network
Ultra-polarizing, the polls LOVE the Sooners with the unbeaten record and wins over Louisville, Arizona, and Michigan, but the rest of the schedule is just okay so far.
Polls: AP 12, Coaches 11
KenPom ranking: 37
NET ranking: 41
Next up: Prairie View A&M, 2:00 pm, Sunday, SEC Network
The Aggies have to start shooting a lot better and need to get on the move, but no one in the nation is better on the boards.
Polls: AP 13, Coaches 13
KenPom ranking: 20
NET ranking: 27
Next up: Abilene Christian, 4:00 pm, Saturday, SEC Network
It’s a fun defensive team that’s on a roll since the tough loss to Purdue. The tests will start to come fast in January.
Polls: AP 16, Coaches 16
KenPom ranking: 30
NET ranking: 31
Next up: at Memphis, 2:00, Saturday, ESPN2
The Buldogs appear to be just starting to get rolling. The terrific win over Memphis is just the beginning for a team that’s not screwing up, has the depth, and is great on the boards. Expect the winning run to continue until the tough stretch of Kentucky, at Auburn, Ole Miss, and at Tennessee coming in mid-January.
Polls: AP 19, Coaches 19
KenPom ranking: 19
NET ranking: 13
Next up: Bethune-Cookman, 9:00 pm, Monday, SEC Network
Defense, schemefense. Everyone knows what Alabama is, but the threes have to start dropping, The strength-in-numbers thing is nice from the outside, but get close to 40% – it’s 31% right now – and look out.
Polls: AP 5, Coaches 6
KenPom ranking: 9
NET ranking: 10
Next up: South Dakota State, 2:00 pm, Sunday, SEC Network
Very fun, very fast, and very promising, the Gators are one of the nation’s most entertaining teams, but the big wins have to start coming. Beating North Carolina, Virginia, and Wake Forest was nice. Kentucky and Tennessee are up next after the layup against Stetson.
Polls: AP 6, Coaches 5
KenPom ranking: 7
NET ranking: 4
Next up: Stetson, 1:00 pm, Sunday, SEC Network
The No. 1 team in the polls has been relatively flawless against the mediocre teams, and came up big when it had to against Illinois. This might be a disrespectful ranking, but at Florida and at Texas are coming up next week.
Polls: AP 1, Coaches 1
KenPom ranking: 3
NET ranking: 2
Next up: Norfolk State, 3:00 pm, Tuesday, SEC Network
The Duke loss still looms, and it’s not wrong to think Tennessee should be here, but the talent, the defense, the interior, the field goal percentage – when this team is on, forget it. BTW, the Tennessee game is January 25th.
Polls: AP 2, Coaches 2
KenPom ranking: 1
NET ranking: 1
Next up: Monmouth, 6:30 pm, Monday, SEC Network
