SEC Power Rankings Week 2

Welcome back College Basketball and welcome back SECBASKETBALLFEVER! It only took hours into the new season before one of our SEC brothers went down in a heap on day one.  I'm just going to lay it out there for you, here were the casualties in week 1:

Georgia lost to Chattanooga (a Southern Conference team), Mississippi State lost to Southern and get whooped by Miami, Arkansas lost to Akron (not a bad team but Akron), Tennessee lost to Georgia Tech, Auburn lost to Colorado and Ole Miss lost to George Mason (not the final four team from 2006). Finally, Bama got destroyed by Dayton (not unexpected really) and Mizzou lost to Xavier on the road (again, not a bad loss).

What does this all add up to?

Well, confusion my friends, confusion. Outside of the top of our rankings where the undefeated teams live and those that look great doing so, our voters are at odds with themselves. Let's check out the movement in the Tiers...

Tier 1

Welcome to the creme de la creme of the SEC. Here you'll find the teams that haven't lost and haven't done anything to hurt their standing with our voters.

Kentucky still lives at the top of our poll as they have since we started this whole ranking thing. Perhaps one day they will move down to second, but not this day. For you see this week they went to Chicago and took down last year's champ, the easily hated Duke. They beat them by 11, and then Cal just went out and signed another top 1 recruiting class, stealing an Arkansas kid in Malik Monk. It's been a great week for the Wildcats, just magnificent...damn them!

A surprise number 2 in our poll are the Commodores of Nashville and Vanderbilt, even after need OT to beat the beasts of the America East, Stony Brook. But the Fancy Pirates continue to roll and are undefeated as they head to Maui to face some real competition, win there and this ranky feels more real, if you know what I mean.

Also joining the 'Cats and 'Dores are the Tigers of LSU. The Tigers of LSU should just be called "The LSU Ben Simmons' and those other Guys in Purple, featuring Johnny Jones Face." Simmons is the real deal and everyone should enjoy getting to watch him before he heads off to the NBA next year with all of Kentucky's players.

Finally, rounding out the top Tier of our rankings are the Aggies of A&M. All the Aggies have done is win the games they're supposed and done so convincingly, so pretty much 2014-2015 season part deux. By the time we rank next week we'll see how they're doing after playing their former rival, the Shaka Smart led Texas Longhorns.

Tier 2

Tier 2 has shrunk, we've lost a team. And that's what losing will do.

Sitting in Tier 2 we've got the Gators of Florida and the Gamecocks of South Carolina.

Both teams remain undefeated and are just beating the teams they are supposed to in a manner one would expect from a Power 5 conference team against "lesser" competition. Florida especially has been putting a hurting on teams, and it looks like the players have bought into what Mike White is selling. Gators may be back everyone...

Tier 3

The drop from Tier 2 to Tier 3 is dramatic. Tier 3 is where the teams who seem to have most disappointed our voters the most. For here lies, Ole Miss, Auburn, Arkansas and former SEC Power Rankings darling, Georgia.

Looking at the week that was, none of these teams places here are all that surprising. The most surprising loss would have to have been Georgia losing to Chattanooga, a Southern conference team you've probably never heard of. I honestly have no idea what to make of it, but it got them an emotional 14th place vote from one of our voters.
Ole Miss took a loss to a well coached George Mason team, but still this isn't the 2006 Final Four team, so this loss is bad, bad, bad, bad!

Auburn and Arkansas both took losses to Colorado and Akron this week which aren't terrible losses but it speaks to how this season may go for both squads. Auburn looks to be another year away, and Mike Anderson is having trouble recruiting local kids and people are upset! How could you Malik Monk?!

Tier 4

Welcome back to the bottom and welcome back Mississippi State.

This first week was not kind to the Howland led Bulldogs, Malik Newman is still not healthy and as a result they took a severe beating at the hands of Miami, and then a troubling loss to Southern of the SWAC, this is not good readers, really not good. Perhaps the hype for Howland was a bit too high, or perhaps it's early in the season.

Also joining State in the bottom are Tennessee and Mizzou who both lost closer than expected road games to Georgia Tech and Xavier respectively. Nothing to get too alarmed here, perhaps these teams are better than some in Tier 3, time will tell.

Finally we have Alabama. Bama got beaten to a pulp by a good Dayton team on the road, which was to be expected, losing by 32 was perhaps not on the docket, but it happened. Welcome to the bottom Tide, at least you still have football.

To the Rankings!

Team	Points	Ranking	Ranking Last Week	Change	Highest Rank	Lowest Rank
Kentucky	112	1st	1st	None	1st	1st
Vanderbilt	98	2nd	3rd	Up 1	2nd	4th
LSU	96	3rd	2nd	Down 1	2nd	4th
Texas A&M	89	4th	4th	None	2nd	6th
Florida	79	5th	6th	Down 1	2nd	8th
South Carolina	71	6th	8th	Up 2	5th	7th
Ole Miss	47	7th	9th	Up 2	7th	11th
Auburn	45	8th	10th	Up 2	8th	12th
Arkansas	42	9th	11th	Up 2	5th	13th
Georgia	37	10th	5th	Down 5	6th	14th
Mississippi State	35	11th	7th	Down 4	4th	14th
Tennessee	34	12th	13th	Up 1	7th	13th
Mizzou	34	12th	14th	Up 1	8th	14th
Alabama	19	14th	12th	Down 2	11th	14th

Points were distributed 1st = 14, 2nd = 13, 3rd = 12, 4th = 11, 5th = 10, 6th = 9, 7th = 8, 8th = 7, 9th = 6, 10th = 5, 11th = 4, 12th = 3, 13th = 2, and 14th = 1

About the best thing that can be said about Alabama is that Avery Johnson is a much better dresser than Wimp Sanderson. (College and Magnolia)

Did you guys get the license plate of that truck? It had Ohio plates, but that's all I remember. (Good Bull Hunting)

Bama fans are too busy focused on football to even notice how bad they are at basketball (Red Cup Rebellion)

So if the Razorbacks make me look smart with my preseason prediction, can I say I knew all along that Moses Kingsley was going to be a breakout star? Cause I totally knew Moses Kingsley was gonna be a break out star this season. [/whispersintobuddy'sear,"WhoisMosesKingsley?"] (Dawg Sports)

Nothing too impressive from this team so far. A home loss to a MAC school and a big win over Southern University. Might be a long year in Fayetteville. (For Whom the Cowbell Tolls)

Quick, someone find Mike Anderson a new nephew who’s good at basketball! (Rock M Nation)

Unlike last year, they actually have some talent for Pearl to work with. (Anchor of Gold)

When Cinmeon Bowers (with no noticeable decline in ability) goes from one of your best assets to one of your bigger liabilities you know the talent level is improving on the Plains. When everyone is healthy/eligible this team will surprise some people. (College and Magnolia)

When football season isn't going well, turn your attention to basketball. When basketball isn't going well, take up a new hobby. (Red Cup Rebellion)

I saw an uninspired team out on the court against Navy but whatever held the Gators down in their season opener vanished in a demonstrative win over North Carolina A&T. (For Whom the Cowbell Tolls)

I still haven't seen anything to suggest they're that much better than last year. (Anchor of Gold)

I don't like them, I don't dislike them, and I don't think the team we see this month will be much like the team we see come January as White adapts to his players and they adapt to him. (Dawg Sports)

I imagine this is somehow Mark Richt’s fault right? (Rock M Nation)

When the entire conference on opening week goes 15-1, and you're the one, you sit in the cellar and think about what you did. BAD DAWG! [/rollsupnewspaperandpopsitacrossthenose] (Dawg Sports)

I can't vote Georgia last because MSU is already there. Not a good year to be a bulldog. (Good Bull Hunting)

Really nice statement over Duke (Good Bull Hunting)

Dominant against Duke for a majority of the game. Surprised to see some early rebounding issues but no team in the SEC comes close to Kentucky in terms of raw talent. (For Whom the Cowbell Tolls)

Wanna trade a couple of our football players for a backup forward or center? - Ole Miss fans (Red Cup Rebellion)

Ben Simmons has so far lived up to the hype for LSU. No one that tall should look that coordinated. (College and Magnolia)

They can be really good when they feel like it, but have the same maddening tendency to play down to the opposition. (Anchor of Gold)

Ben Simmons is so amazing I don't think Johnny Jones can even screw this up…prove me wrong Johnny. (Rock M Nation)

Ugh. This is why SEC Basketball can't have nice things. (Good Bull Hunting)

Starting the season with a losing record was probably not what Ben Howland thought would happen in his first year at Mississippi State. The loss to Miami is forgivable but the performance against Southern in a home loss is simply inexcusable. (For Whom the Cowbell Tolls)

The only people who didn't think that there would be growing pains under Howland in year-one were Mississippi State fans. They have problems everywhere, but luckily for MSU fans, Howland is addressing those issues big-time on the recruiting trail. (Red Cup Rebellion)

They're miles better than last year; that much is obvious. Waiting to see if they're good enough to avoid the bottom four. (Anchor of Gold)

With the way this team has started the season, they may fill half the arena by January. (Rock M Nation)

Pretty competitive against Xavier but is that a blip or a sign of more positive things to come? (For Whom the Cowbell Tolls)

"No hair, don't care." Andy Kennedy is making quite a career with these teams. (Dawg Sports)

The guard heavy Rebels only have one true big man. That fact will be exposed many times this season. (Red Cup Rebellion)

The true forces of SEC Basketball fever have shown themselves early this year. Just one of multiple teams in the league to lose to a lower level team, Ole Miss has a lot to prove by March. (For Whom the Cowbell Tolls)

A bit of a slow start, but I'm still buying a turnaround year. (Anchor of Gold)

It may not be pretty, but they're undefeated through six days. That, sadly, places them in the top half of the conference for me. (Good Bull Hunting)

Martin has a talented backcourt, experienced bigs, and the chance to actually do some damage to more than just by stomping on the floor. The Gamecocks should be among those fighting for an NCAA spot come February. (Dawg Sports)

A two-point road loss to an ACC team? Yeah, that's excusable. (Anchor of Gold)

It was difficult to rank this week because virtually everyone other than Kentucky, LSU, A&M, and Vandy lost. The SEC is bad this year. Real bad.(Rocky Top Talk)

Rick Barnes may bring this program back to the quality they had under Cuonzo Martin. But it won't be this year. (Dawg Sports)

How much can we read into blowouts over bad teams? Well, at least they're blowing out the bad teams... unlike some people. (Anchor of Gold)

The Aggies can't stop scoring. 55% from downtown through two games. (Good Bull Hunting)

For as long as Alex Caruso has been at A&M all I’ve wanted to do is get him a haircut. There’s no reason to look like your mom cuts your hair at this age bud. (Rock M Nation)

The Dores can score in bunches but can they defend? (Red Cup Rebellion)

A lot seems to be clicking, although the close call with Stony Brook is a little disturbing. (Anchor of Gold)

Two solid 7'ers, a very good PG, and a solid batch of makers from deep make the Commodores as complete a team as there is in this conference. (Dawg Sports)

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That will do it for Week 2 of our Rankings.  Hopefully you enjoyed it and feel free to help yourself to the hand sanitizer on the way out, you don't want any of the fever on you.