SEC Power Rankings Week 10

Welcome to Inauguration Day in this country, the United States of the SEC! There will be no talk of elections or Presidents because in the SEC we have a benevolent dictator that lives in Kentucky. The Wildcats and their leader, John Calipari of the Moon, Pennsylvania Caliparis have been in charge of the Conference for some time and our voters see no end to their blue and white reign atop the conference anytime soon. While others claw to sit at the big boy table, those in garnet and black and blue and orange, others merely look to get by on the table scraps provided to them when they are invited to be feasted upon by the Wildcats, those the three sets of Tigers that populate our land. In the middle you have the undecideds, those who from game to game and moment to moment cannot come to a decision about whether they want to enjoy the upper echelon of SECLand or move to the lower ranks where things are more peaceful, unpleasant and embarrassing surely, but still, the end comes sooner. In any case, the season must continue for their are games to play, wins to be had, losses to be dealt and happiness for some but the malaise only winter can bring for most.

Tier 1

This is getting a bit old, I guess, but welcome to Kentucky land, the world of top teams! They’ve not lost in conference, are dominating when they want and letting teams hang around on the road just to give something to the fans in attendance. Well done Big Blue! This week they took care of State in a game that looked closer than it was, but good for Ben Howland’s team for not rolling over like so many have and will.

Tier 2

We have a flip flop (how very electoral of us)! For weeks the Gators have held the second spot in these rankings and have taken care of the SEC games that they have had to play in. This week they took on always third place South Carolina, and lost! South Carolina, took care of business in Columbia SC and as a result jumped the Gators. Had this not happened, who knows if these rankings couldn’t even continue, but they did and your weekends are now safe. In related news, SC have yet to lose when Thornwell is in the lineup, so stay healthy Thornwell or who knows what happens in March for the Gamecocks…

Tier 3

Welcome to the teams that really want to dance in March, but probably won’t. Georgia continues to hold onto the fourth spot and look solid against the lesser teams of the SEC and not so much against the top the of conference. If they want to dance, it’s going to need an upset sometime over the next few weeks, or win Nashville, the whole city, pedal pubs and all! Arkansas remains fifth and that makes sense because no one should be rewarded for beating Mizzou at home where Mizzou has not won since Frank Haith was in charge. Bama, for their part also stayed in the same spot, because as was just said, beating Mizzou at home means not much.

Tier 4

The top of this tier, I feel a bit unfair doing to them, because they probably need their own tier, but only Kentucky gets a tier. So State, who have woken up and beaten a few teams and looked quite competent against Kentucky lead Tier 4 and they lead it by 12 points, so really they’re in a middle of the pack class of their own. Sorry Bulldogs, though I do appreciate your well-lit arena, it’s a nice change. In state rival, Ole Miss remains in 8^th place, where they have been forever, slow and steady, slow and steady people. They did take care of suddenly feisty Tennessee at home in the Pav, so good on you Rebels, Saiz is doing work. Speaking of Tennessee, they follow in 9^th and our biggest risers this week jumping three spots. Tennessee has looked very pleasant against the good teams in the conference and beat Vandy, so they deserve to be rewarded. Also, the bottom of the SEC is a horror show, someone’s got to be in this spot…

Tier 5

Leading the not horrible teams of the SEC, the merely not bad is Vanderbilt, who have lost four in a row, but are in their spot, because again someone has to. For the ‘Dores, things don’t get much easier going forward, so good luck Vandy! The Auburn Tigers come in at 11^th in a tie with Texas A&M. A fun tie. Auburn beat LSU this week, which doesn’t mean much and A&M lost to Arkansas, which not many other people are doing, so there you go. Poor A&M, things are going down hill quickly…

Tier 6

It’s the bottom! Land of Tigers, LSU and Mizzou. LSU lost to other Tiger Auburn, and they are hideous, but I bet they are thankful for Mizzou who are even worse. The road is not kind to Mizzou, and now it’s a race to see who can fire their head coach first, Jones vs Anderson, who ya got?!

Points were distributed as follows: 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

It's impressive what Avery Johnson and Alabama are doing, with the clean recruiting and all. (Red Cup Rebellion)

Beat the bottom two this week. Sitting at 4th in the standings. Went on a run around this time last year to get on the bubble. Maybe they can do it again. (Garnet and Black Attack)

Road games against Auburn on the weekend, and Georgia mid week, will give an idea if they are good, or just gotten schedule lucky so far. (Dawg Sports)

Remember when the game against Mizzou mattered? (Rock M Nation)

Winning games this weekend hosting LSU and mid week at Vandy could get them some bubble talk going in to Oklahoma St next weekend. (Dawg Sports)

The Hogs took care of Mizzou and then won at A&M. Could go on a run with the schedule coming up. (Garnet and Black Attack)

Their win over LSU secured their stranglehold on 12th position. We could sue you for this, but we won't. But we could. (Good Bull Hunting)

I'm serious y'all, just wait till you see next year's Auburn team. (College and Magnolia)

I’m guessing the leap teams make in their third year is on Daylight Savings Time for these Tigers...(Rock M Nation)

Florida is still a talented team that is finding themselves while finding ways to win. (Red Cup Rebellion)

The Gators lost a tough one at SC, but this is still very much a tournament team. (Good Bull Hunting)

Watching Canyon Berry shoot free throws granny style is my favorite thing in the conference this year. (College and Magnolia)

Despite the loss at Florida, the Bulldogs still retain their stranglehold on the 4th spot.. but that home game against Bama will mean much more than we all figured. (Good Bull Hunting)

Continues beating teams they should beat, and losing to teams they shouldn't beat, but whether that's good enough for the committee will be seen in March. Mark Fox does this every year it seems, particularly the December struggles before getting hot in conference play. (Dawg Sports)

The selection committee is begging, yearning, NEEDING, to get a fourth SEC team into the tourney, and you, Dawgs, are the best chance, so you know try not to crap the bed against the Aggies mmmkay? (Rock M Nation)

The SEC is starting to shake out a little bit more and a few teams are emerging from the pack. Obviously, Kentucky is still excellent. (Orange and White Report)

Kentucky let two bottom feeders hang close this week. I'm calling for an upset this week. (College and Magnolia)

Kentucky got bored on the road against a good Mississippi State team and still won by seven. (Red Cup Rebellion)

Tied with Alabama at the 5 minute mark before getting blown out in the final 5. Lost a close one at Auburn. (Garnet and Black Attack)

LSU hasn't even played the Top 50 RPI SEC teams yet. (Good Bull Hunting)

Easily may not win another game this month, and are probably looking at a 4 win SEC season. How many will come under Jones? (Dawg Sports)

The Dawgs are young but talented and well coached. They'll be tested at Tennessee this weekend and a win in Knoxville would build big time momentum for Ben Howland's squad. (Orange and White Report)

Ben Howland and his squad have four of their next six on the road. They took Kentucky to the brink, now we will see what this team is really made of. (Red Cup Rebellion)

Who would have thought that the opener against Alabama was for a spot in the First Four? Guys, guys, I'm kidding. Kind of. (Good Bull Hunting)

Lost again and then again. (Garnet and Black Attack)

I guess the benefit of watching Mizzou on the nightly is you get to see new and more interesting ways to lose, it’s like airplane food, no matter how good it tastes in that moment, it’s still garrrrrrbage...(Rock M Nation)

Poor Mizzou. Sweet, sweet Mizzou. How has it come to this? (Good Bull Hunting)

Ole Miss, and Florida and look like the only other NCAA tournament lock in the league besides Kentucky. (Orange and White Report)

Ole Miss may not be very good, but that was a huge win after Rasheed Brooks went down. Get well soon, 'sheed. (Red Cup Rebellion)

Ole Miss had better double their current conference win total this week if they want to stay alive. (College and Magnolia)

I still get the sense that Florida is the true challenger to UK this season, but the Gamecocks have a chance to shift that narrative on Saturday. (Good Bull Hunting)

It was ugly, but a big win over Florida. 12-0 with Thornwell in the lineup. A tourney team for sure, Saturday at Rupp can be a barometer for what to expect from this team come March. (Garnet and Black Attack)

South Carolina has really stepped up in recent games. (Orange and White Report)

They beat Vandy. Yes, we're grading degrees of awful at this stage. (Dawg Sports)

Speaking of Tennessee, the Vols are the most up and down team in the SEC. One game, they can easily dispose of Vanderbilt in the Nashville, and the next, they blow a double digit second half lead to Ole Miss. They're frustrating but much like MSU, they're very young and their upside is big. (Orange and White Report)

I have a feeling that the Rick Barnes hiring will be a lot like the Lon Kruger hiring at OU, boring, uninspiring and then consistent NCAA tournaments for years...you know your average college basketball fan’s worst nightmare. (Rock M Nation)

Rick Stansbury creates basketball powers at schools with no basketball tradition which craters when he leaves. Sorry, Aggies. (College and Magnolia)

I dub thee, Texas A&M... King of the Fourth! Tier. (Good Bull Hunting)

With their guard play, Press Virginia is gonna get nasty in their SEC/Big 12 Challenge game at the end of the month. (Dawg Sports)

4 game losing streak for the 'Dores. Double digit loss to Tennessee at home. (Garnet and Black Attack)

Lost four straight headed in to Gainesville, so probably should make it give before they host Arkansas in a critical who's less awful mid tier matchup. (Dawg Sports)

The losing streak they’re about to embark upon is not Mizzou level bad, but it’s gonna be close to LSU bad, never a good look. (Rock M Nation)

---

And there you have it, enjoy the weekend...you’ve got SC and Kentucky today, so be on upset watch...maybe...