On Tuesday, Alabama won in quadruple overtime at South Carolina, LSU only lost by seven at Kentucky, and Vanderbilt blew out Arkansas in Fayetteville even without its best player.
SEC basketball is all about the drama.
Let’s take a look at Wednesday’s action.
Season Prediction Record: 37-27 (includes most conference games and SEC/Big 12 Challenge)
Ole Miss (14-9, 5-5) at Tennessee (13-10, 5-5) – 6:30 PM ET, SEC Network
These two teams have played good basketball over the last few weeks.
The Rebels had near misses against Texas A&M and Baylor, but are now on the right track with impressive wins over Mississippi State and Vanderbilt.
As for Tennessee, it won four straight before letting up too early and allowing Ben Howland’s team to mount a 19-point comeback for the win.
When these two met in Oxford on January 17, Ole Miss won by 11 despite only going 1-for-14 from three. That was also the game where senior guard Rasheed Brooks suffered the health scare, with the Rebels perhaps using that to fuel a 12-2 run in the final minutes to score the victory.
It’s hard to know how things will play out this time around. Ole Miss and Tennessee are similar in a lot of statistical categories, so that always present challenges when predicting a game.
One thing the Vols have done well recently is play outstanding basketball at home. They’ve won three in a row at home, which included two superb wins over Kentucky and Kansas State.
But guess what? The Rebels have have played well on the road as of late. Andy Kennedy has led them to wins in three out of the last four away from home, with the only loss coming without Deandre Burnett at South Carolina.
I think Rick Barnes will have the Vols focused after the second half lapse in Starkville. But this game feels like a complete toss-up.
Prediction: Tennessee 73, Ole Miss 67
Missouri (6-16, 1-9) at Texas A&M (12-10, 4-6) – 8:30 PM ET, SEC Network
The more I contemplate Texas A&M’s disappointing season, the more I realize we should have saw this coming.
I mentioned before the season that if there was a team that could play below its preseason projection, it was probably the Aggies. Billy Kennedy lost lots of key contributors and lost Rick Stansbury and Kyle Keller on the coaching staff. It’s proven to be too much to make up for in one season.
Of course, we couldn’t have foreseen the turnover issues that has plagued Texas A&M in certain stretches of the season. There’s also the injury to DJ Hogg that has limited his minutes in recent weeks. Admon Gilder’s progression has made up for inconsistency earlier in the year, so that’s a positive going forward.
And then there’s Missouri. The Tigers finally captured that elusive first SEC win of the season by beating Arkansas, and it was well-deserved considering that this team hasn’t been terrible in SEC play.
As I discussed in this week’s SEC power rankings, Missouri is certainly a better team right now than LSU (even if Johnny Jones’s squad did play well at Kentucky on Tuesday). Kim Anderson may not be in Columbia next season, but at least the Tigers haven’t given up.
I can see Missouri using the Arkansas momentum to keep this game close for a while.
But the Aggies really need this win and should get it.
Prediction: Texas A&M 71, Missouri 61
Blake Lovell has worked in sports media for over 10 years. He currently covers SEC football and basketball for various publications.