6:03 am | October 17, 2018 | Go to Source | Author:
Ready for some 3-on-3 about the upcoming SEC basketball season? We’ve assembled three basketball experts and asked them three questions. They’ve got answers.
1. There’s a fair amount of talk about this being the strongest the SEC’s been in a long time. True story?
Jeff Borzello: True story. The SEC is absolutely LOADED heading into the season. Considering the league received eight NCAA tournament bids in 2017-18, that’s saying something. Just go through the top half of the league. Kentucky is battling with Kansas atop the rankings. Auburn and Tennessee both return most of their key pieces from co-regular season championship teams. LSU and Mississippi State are loaded with talent and should be prepared to take the next step to the NCAA tournament this season. Alabama loses Collin Sexton, but adds a couple of key newcomers. Florida has an impressive incoming class and brings back KeVaughn Allen and Jalen Hudson. That’s eight teams worthy of preseason top 25 consideration, and that doesn’t even get into Vanderbilt and its five-star freshmen, or potential first-rounders at Missouri (Jontay Porter) and Arkansas (Daniel Giddens).
John Gasaway: True, where “a long time” means a little more than a decade. (The SEC was pretty darn strong when Florida was winning back-to-back national titles in 2005-06 and 2006-07, and that specifically includes teams besides the Gators. Alas, I digress.) In fact, the league’s hitting on all cylinders in its upper tier. Kentucky is Kentucky. Florida has followed two down years spanning the Billy Donovan-to-Mike White transition with two very strong ones. Mississippi State, Alabama and Missouri could (maybe should) all be tournament teams. And, oh, by the way, Tennessee and Auburn are your defending co-champions. I may be a bit less bullish on LSU than Jeff is, but, yes, this is one football conference that now plays excellent basketball.
Myron Medcalf: Yeah, the hype is real. And it’s fascinating. Yeah, the ACC has Duke, Virginia and North Carolina. And the Big Ten’s lineup of Michigan State, Michigan, Purdue and a Romeo Langford-led Indiana is strong, too. But the SEC feels like the league to watch this year. It’s a stacked conference that will again field eight or nine teams that can reach the NCAA tournament. What feels different about the preseason this year, however, is the number of teams from the league with the talent to make a run to the Final Four. Kentucky, Tennessee and Auburn all look like real contenders entering the season. But it’s also a conference filled with intriguing programs and players below the top three. Sexton left Alabama but former Texas standout Tevin Mack could carry the offensive load for Avery Johnson. Vanderbilt has that powerful recruiting class Jeff discussed. Even an Arkansas squad that lost the bulk of the key players from last year’s team and might struggle to qualify for a postseason berth has a potential lottery pick in Daniel Gafford. On Selection Sunday, eight or nine SEC teams could secure invitations to the NCAA tournament.
2. Is John Calipari going back to the Final Four for the first time since 2015?
Borzello: To me, Kentucky is one of the clear two candidates for preseason No. 1 — so my answer is yes, he’s going back to the Final Four. Normally, John Calipari will downplay expectations, especially on his newcomers, and then hit his stride later in the season. This team seems different, though. Calipari seems genuinely excited about this team, and their performance in August in the Bahamas had to help. The Wildcats are deep, they’re versatile, they have shooting, they can really get after it defensively. I lean toward Kansas for preseason No. 1 nationally because of experience, but there’s absolutely a case to be made for Kentucky. The Wildcats are going to be one of the elite teams from start to finish.
Gasaway: Absolutely. Heck, Kentucky’s due. In Calipari’s first six seasons in Lexington, the Wildcats made four Final Fours. Now, UK’s bringing back veterans like P.J. Washington, Quade Green and Nick Richards, and adding Stanford transfer Reid Travis. This isn’t just about freshmen anymore at Rupp (though, to be sure, Tyler Herro and Keldon Johnson looked really good in the Bahamas). Last season was a dip in the road for the Cats on offense. That will change in 2019, and this team should end up in Minneapolis.
Medcalf: Yes. The challenge with assessing Kentucky in the preseason is our proclivity for assigning the same value to every class of one-and-done prospects. But they’re not equal. We learned that in 2013 and the year after that 38-1 team’s ride to the Final Four. But this group feels like the proper squad to end the “drought.” Keldon Johnson could become an All-American. P.J. Washington, Reid Travis and Nick Richards form such an impressive frontcourt that five-star recruit E.J. Montgomery might not crack the starting rotation. Calipari has the depth to make another Final Four run.
3. Can Tennessee or Auburn or both defend their co-regular season titles? If not, who stops them?
Borzello: While I think both teams deserve to be given top-10 recognition heading into the season, they’re both going to be chasing after Kentucky for the SEC championship. Auburn gets a nice boost with the return of Danjel Purifoy and Austin Wiley, and Jared Harper and Bryce Brown will both start again in the backcourt. The Tigers might be deeper and more versatile than they were last season. Tennessee brings back all five starters and the SEC Sixth Man of the Year — and it’s a nightmare to go up against Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield on a nightly basis. With all that said, as mentioned above, Kentucky is the favorite heading into the season — and could be considered the national championship favorite as well.
Gasaway: Can they defend their titles? You bet. Both the Tigers and, especially, the Volunteers are bringing back most of the key pieces that got the job done last season, up to and including SEC Player of the Year Grant Williams in Knoxville. Now, will they? It won’t be easy. Last season marked the first time in eight years that the SEC didn’t produce a top-10 KenPom team. This season, however, a solid portion of the league that didn’t win the title in 2017-18 will be upping its game (see question No. 1). Auburn and Tennessee will need to do the same.
Medcalf: They have to hold off Kentucky to keep their crowns. And they’re capable of doing that. Tennessee is the same team that hit 3-pointers and defended at a top-10 level last year. Danjel Purifoy and Austin Wiley are back for an Auburn team that can win the SEC again, too. But Florida, LSU, Mississippi State or Alabama could make a surprising run and finish at the top of the league the way the Vols did last season. The schedule should play a role with Tennessee and Auburn playing just once during the regular season and both teams facing Kentucky.
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