It’s been an exciting five days for LSU men’s hoops, as the Tigers have finally learned how to win tight games, coming up with thrilling one-point victories over No. 11 South Carolina and No. 17 Kentucky.
In doing so, LSU has revived its season: the one thing you could count on before was that the team would fight, but that doesn’t translate to a postseason bid unless it produces wins.
LSU is on the up, and with several marquee matchups happening in the recent week in the SEC, the conference’s hierarchy continues to fluctuate. That opens the door for teams on the bubble like LSU, especially as some of the other bubble teams have hit a snag.
Here’s how I have the SEC teams ranked at this point in the season:
1. Tennessee – 20-6 (10-3 in the SEC)
Tennessee is the top team until proven otherwise, because it possesses the best combination of elite offense and defense, as well as the best scorer in the SEC in Dalton Knecht.
The Volunteers haven’t folded when faced with the conference’s best, with wins over Kentucky, Alabama and Florida. The final stretch of the season, though, will go a long way toward defining this team, with games against Auburn, Alabama, Kentucky and South Carolina.
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2. Alabama – 19-7 (11-2)
Though I might not take them to go further this season than Tennessee or Auburn, the Crimson Tide are the hottest team in the league, having won seven of eight.
Alabama’s offense is the best in the nation, and there are very few teams that can hope to keep pace with it. Each game with Alabama becomes a track meet, and so far only Purdue, Creighton, Arizona, Tennessee and Auburn have found a way to top the Crimson Tide.
It’s no coincidence all those teams are found in the top 10 of the NET rankings and possess both elite offenses and defenses. To beat the Tide, you have to run the race step for step and slow them down just enough to come out on top, a nearly impossible task.
3. Auburn – 20-6 (9-4)
Auburn’s greatest strength is its incredible depth, with a roster full of players who can burn you at any time and from anywhere. Each of those players are also lengthy and can be relied on for solid defense, making for a tough matchup for 40 minutes.
The problem Auburn has run into in recent losses to Florida and Kentucky is the lack of an alpha dog. The offense has stagnated, and the team doesn’t have an elite and aggressive player who can both initiate and finish the offense. As good as Johni Broome is, he doesn’t create his own looks.
When everything is going right, Auburn can overwhelm anyone. When things break down, who can it rely on to make tough shots?
4. Florida – 18-8 (8-5)
Florida’s best trait is its consistency: the Gators take care of the games they’re supposed to and always keep themselves close against top teams.
Often, though, Florida plays down to its competition, primarily because of its defense, which ranks No. 90 in KenPom, lagging far behind its No. 11 offense.
5. Kentucky – 18-8 (8-5)
Like coach John Calipari said after Kentucky’s loss to LSU, this is a young team that makes young mistakes. After showing a great improvement in defensive intensity in two straight wins, the Wildcats fell into the same mistakes against LSU.
Kentucky is more talented than anyone, but the buy-in and consistent focus on the defensive end will determine how far it goes.
6. Mississippi State – 18-8 (7-6)
Mississippi State boasts wins over Tennessee and Auburn and has won four straight against teams they ought to beat. That’s a tournament resume without a doubt.
The Bulldogs are a fundamentally sound team, and though there have been times where it seems there’s a clear gap between them and some of the conference’s powers, they’ll be a tough out come March.
7. South Carolina – 21-5 (9-4)
Back-to-back duds have made it difficult to get a feel for how good South Carolina is. The team lost by a whopping 40 points to Auburn and then gave up a 16-point lead in a loss against LSU.
In what way is South Carolina elite? It’s a defense that’s good, but has slipped recently on the interior and doesn’t force turnovers. The offense is far from lethal, and in a conference where the top teams represent some of the top offenses nationally, that makes it hard to keep up.
If teams have figured out how to foil the blueprint that gave South Carolina its impressive wins over Tennessee and Kentucky, the Gamecocks must pivot. How they respond will define their season.
8. LSU – 14-12 (6-7)
The Tigers have won their last two over ranked opponents in South Carolina and Kentucky, both in stunning fashion after mounting double-digit comebacks.
It might be easy to dismiss those as flukes, until you realize LSU has been on the cusp of this all season: in each of LSU’s seven losses, the team has been firmly in the game in the second half.
Now, LSU needs to find stability and sustain these winning efforts. After a game with Mississippi State, LSU’s final four games will be against each of the bottom four teams in the SEC standings.
Maybe those wins won’t impress any committees, but they’d prove LSU is a team that can take care of business and increase its legitimacy as an NCAA Tournament contender.
NCAA Tournament talk is far away. First, LSU has to prove it’s a team that can catch fire instead of just a temporary spark.
9. Texas A&M – 15-11 (6-7)
One of the most confounding teams in the SEC, A&M can compete with anyone but also has a few head-scratching losses to Memphis, Vanderbilt and Arkansas.
The latter two have come in A&M’s latest 0-3 stretch, which has the Aggies on the brink of being outside the tournament field. A&M needs a strong finish more than anyone, and the team goes as its two star guards, Wade Taylor IV and Tyrece Radford, go. It’ll be on them to lift A&M to wins.
10. Ole Miss – 19-7 (6-7)
Though it was a bit of a murderer’s row, Ole Miss has lost four of its last five, putting its NCAA Tournament chances in doubt.
The biggest issue for the Rebels has been defense. Despite having two of the nation’s premier shot blockers in Moussa Cisse and Jamarion Sharp, Ole Miss is No. 136 in the nation in percentage allowed on 2-point shots.
That stems from a lack of physicality, both on the inside (including on the boards) and on the perimeter, where Ole Miss’ guards have been far too lax allowing players to drive past them.
11. Arkansas – 13-13 (4-9)
Arkansas vacillates between inspired efforts and total no-shows, but the program’s talent bed and coaching edge (Eric Musselman is NCAA Tournament-tested) has kept it afloat enough to steal a few games.
A win over Duke in November showed what this group is capable of, but it hasn’t had much time to gel. The team deserves credit for continuing to fight as this season draws to a close.
12. Georgia – 15-11 (5-8)
Georgia’s fall from grace has been dramatic. After a win over LSU that put the Bulldogs at 5-2 in the SEC, they lost six straight, a streak which was recently snapped by a win over Vanderbilt.
Georgia is a tough team that wasn’t embarrassed in any of those losses, but a once-promising season has gone by the wayside because of an inability to close out and hold on defensively. The Bulldogs led Alabama for 35 minutes in a January loss, but allowed the Tide to score 58 points in the second half.
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13. Vanderbilt – 7-19 (2-11)
Vanderbilt is actually the worst team in the SEC according to the NET rankings, where it ranks No. 232. However, the Commodores have managed to pull off two conference wins over Texas A&M and Missouri, which lifts them above Missouri.
Jerry Stackhouse is on the hot seat because the roster he’s built is problematic, particularly offensively. His tenure began with hope and unexpectedly solid recruiting, but Vanderbilt is now a team without much success to be found, in the present or on the horizon.
14. Missouri – 8-18 (0-13)
Missouri is a stunning 0-12 in conference play, but it isn’t as though the team hasn’t been close. The Tigers have been in games late against Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt and South Carolina, but have failed to seal the deal.
Kobe Brown was the engine of last season’s NCAA Tournament appearance, and with him (and many of last year’s contributors) now gone, Missouri has fallen to the cellar of the SEC.
