After another crazy week of SEC basketball, this week should once again prove to be highly unpredictable.
Here are thoughts on Tuesday night’s action.
Alabama (13-9, 6-4) at No. 19 South Carolina (19-4, 9-1) – 6:30 PM ET, SEC Network
For the first time this season, the Gamecocks sit at No. 1 in the weekly SEC power rankings.
But you can’t deny this team’s abilities right now. South Carolina is still only allowing 61.5 points per game and is eighth in the country in turnovers forced (17.1 per game).
When Sindarius Thornwell and PJ Dozier have both been on the court, this team has won every single time. The Gamecocks haven’t lost this season when both play (three losses came with Thornwell suspended and one loss came with Dozier injured).
As for Alabama, I was highly disappointed in Avery Johnson’s team last week. The loss at Arkansas was expected, but the loss at home against Auburn was not.
The Crimson Tide’s rebounding ability will give them opportunities at much-needed second chance points in this game, but their erratic offense is impossible to overlook against one of the top defensive teams in all of college basketball.
Prediction: South Carolina 68, Alabama 58
No. 17 Florida (18-5, 8-2) at Georgia (13-10, 4-6) – 7 PM ET, ESPN2
Florida has won its past four games by 22 points or more. Even with LSU and Missouri thrown in there, that’s an impressive feat.
However, it would be the most SEC thing ever for the Gators to have a letdown in Athens against a Georgia team that has played well as of late.
The Bulldogs have indeed lost four of their last five (and four straight SEC games), but Mark Fox’s squad was a play or two away from scoring upsets at both Kentucky and South Carolina. That was progress considering how the last several weeks had gone.
The last time these two met was January 14 in Gainesville. Florida managed to escape with an overtime win before going on to lose its next two games. And then we all know what’s happened since for Mike White and company.
Even with the Gators playing their best basketball of the season, I can’t shake the feeling that this is an upset waiting to happen. Florida is coming off the huge high of hammering the Wildcats, and we’ve seen teams suffer letdowns in similar situations before.
I’m gonna do what recent SEC basketball results tell me to do, and that’s expect the unexpected.
Prediction: Georgia 75, Florida 72
LSU (9-13, 1-9) at No. 15 Kentucky (18-5, 8-2) – 7 PM ET, ESPN
I absolutely, positively will not expect the unexpected in this game.
There’s no reason to waste your time, so we’ll get right to the facts. Kentucky is angry and LSU is one of the worst defensive teams in the entire country.
This game will escalate quickly.
Prediction: Kentucky 104, LSU 71
Vanderbilt (11-12, 4-6) at Arkansas (17-6, 6-4) – 8:30 PM ET, SEC Network
Another week, another opportunity for my incredible streak of incorrectly picking Vandy games to end.
Let us take a look at the last five predictions, followed by the actual result in parentheses:
- at Florida: Loss (Win)
- vs. Arkansas: Win (Loss)
- vs. Iowa State: Loss (Win)
- at Texas A&M: Loss (Win)
- vs. Ole Miss: Win (Loss)
That’s the kind of prediction success that only a mother could love.
But the Commodores have been all over the place this season. There are times where they play well enough to beat anyone (see Florida and Iowa State) and times where they play bad enough to lose to anyone (see blowing a 15-point lead with six minutes left against Arkansas).
The good news is that the Hogs have had consistency problems of their own. Just when we thought Arkansas was safely in the NCAA tournament field, it goes out and loses at winless Missouri.
SEC basketball: It just means mo……actually, we have no idea what it means.
It’s time for Vandy fans to rejoice. I’m picking Arkansas here.
Prediction: Arkansas 79, Vanderbilt 70
Mississippi State (14-8, 5-5) at Auburn (15-8, 4-6) – 9 PM ET, ESPNU
Speaking of teams that make absolutely no sense, let’s now discuss the current state of Mississippi State and Auburn.
The Bulldogs were sliding big time after playing well against Kentucky several weeks ago, but stopped that slide by rallying from 19 down to beat Tennessee.
As for the Tigers, they’ve been up and down all year long, but managed to get a boost of confidence by completing the season sweep of Alabama for the first time since 2009.
The common thread between these two teams? Youth. KenPom has Mississippi State as the least experienced team in the nation, while Auburn isn’t far behind at No. 329. Both programs have head coaches that can get them back where they need to be, but like all rebuilding projects, it takes time.
Auburn is at home and should win thanks to the continued improvement of freshman guard Jared Harper and big man Austin Wiley.
Prediction: Auburn 81, Mississippi State 74
Blake Lovell has worked in sports media for over 10 years. He currently covers SEC football and basketball for various publications.