November is here and so is hoops. Sure that pigskin sport still has its final reckoning forthcoming, but the road to March Madness starts Monday Nov. 7. (Or it’s already started, if you like exhibition games.) As we begin our annual SEC basketball preview series, Joe Cox and Adam Spencer sit down to try to sort it all out in their more or less preseason SEC hoops roundtable.

1. Who are the top 3 teams in the SEC?

Adam: To me, this is fairly easy. While I do think Alabama and Auburn are really good teams, they’re probably a notch below my top 3 of Kentucky, Arkansas and Tennessee.

Joe: I’ll buy in on Kentucky and Tennessee. And I think Arkansas will be there in March. But with so many new players, I’m going to take Buzz Williams’s feisty Texas A&M squad in the mix, too, to begin the season. If you cut out that streak of otherworldly bad luck they hit in the middle of last season … well, you’ll have what I think this season will look like for the Aggies. And it’s pretty darn good.

Adam: Kentucky is the best of the bunch simply because of the experience they return. If you bring back the National Player of the Year (Oscar Tshiebwe), you’re off to a great start. Add in Sahvir Wheeler, Jacob Toppin, CJ Frederick and a couple of super-talented freshmen? Now you’re cooking with fire!

Joe: Antonio Reeves is another significant addition. Just a glue guy and an outside shooter, which is good, because Kentucky has struggled there in recent years.

Adam: Tennessee has somewhat of that same recipe. Santiago Vescovi and Josiah-Jordan James have been on Rocky Top for a while. Zakai Ziegler got a ton of experience last year and played well. Tyreke Key is an interesting transfer. And Julian Phillips has the talent to be the Freshman of the Year.

Joe: They’re the top team right now. Can they keep that up? Very possibly. Every year, Rick Barnes seems to have a better team.

Adam: Arkansas, it’s all about the freshmen. Nick Smith, Anthony Black and Jordan Walsh are going to be huge for this team. Devo Davis needs to get back to the form he showed in 2020-21. Ricky Council IV and Trevon Brazile are the impact transfers. It should be fun to watch this team come together over the course of the year.

Joe: Exactly. Over the course of the year. Which is why they got humbled by 30 by Texas the other day. Sure, it doesn’t count. But it does show how far Muss has to take this team. Meanwhile, A&M returns guys like Henry Coleman and Tyrece Radford. They did a good job in the portal, but are just farther along in mixing returning guys and new guys. At least for now.

2. Which non-top 3 team are you most excited to see?

Adam: This is where I’m going to be a little bit of a homer, if you’ll indulge me. Mizzou is a super-interesting squad this year. I really wanted Todd Golden as the Tigers’ new coach, but honestly, I love the work Dennis Gates has done so far. Keeping Kobe Brown around was a great start. Adding Isiaih Mosley from Missouri State should provide some major scoring punch. Nick Honor from Clemson is an experienced player and the 4 Cleveland State transfers — Tre Gomillion, D’Moi Hodge, Ben Sternberg and Mabor Majak — should all contribute in various ways. Then there’s incoming freshman Aidan Shaw, who I’m also excited to see.

If nothing else, this Missouri team should be interesting, and that’s more than I’ve been able to say for a couple of years.

Joe: Florida could be really interesting. Todd Golden may look like he’s 15 years old– seriously, he might — but the dude can coach. The Kyle Lofton/Colin Castleton combo might be the best inside/outside duo in the SEC. Will Richard from Belmont is another transfer portal instant impact candidate. Florida has to rebound the ball better than they did a year ago, and if they can do that, they could well be the league’s sleeper team.

Another wild card is LSU. Can you take a pretty much entirely new roster and a new coach and build something? KJ Williams and Adam Miller give them a pair of instant-impact guys who could well lead this team into the NCAA Tournament. Or could have a sub-.500 season.

3. What team will come the farthest from now to March?

Joe: Obviously, I’ve made the case above that it’s got to be Arkansas. When you recruit all the good players — and you weren’t exactly struggling before that — the expectation is another level of success.

Adam: I think we’ll see the freshmen from Arkansas grow quickly into the college game. There will be some lumps along the way, but I trust Eric Musselman to get his team humming by conference play. I would like this team as potentially the best in the SEC if Jaylin Williams had returned, but alas, he’s off playing in the NBA now. Still, there’s plenty of room for growth from Nick Smith, Anthony Black and Jordan Walsh, all of whom could be playing in the NBA with Williams this time next year.

Joe: That’s it. And if I had to pick a coach to totally overhaul the roster, and if John Calipari was busy, I’d pick Muss. I may be kidding. Muss might get the call before Cal at this point.

Adam: You talked about them, but I’m also keeping an eye out for Florida. I already mentioned my love of Golden’s coaching abilities. With Colin Castleton to build around, I believe Golden will figure out ways to squeeze the most from the rest of the roster. I’m excited to see the Gators position themselves for a solid NCAA Tournament berth and avoid bubble talk, something they haven’t been able to do under Mike White in recent years.

4. What about genuine exhibitions? Love them? Hate them? Expect more of them? How seriously do we take them, i.e. UT thumping Gonzaga?

Adam: I think they’re important. Imagine if the LSU football team had a preseason game or 2 this year. Maybe the Tigers would have had a couple more things ironed out and wouldn’t have lost a heartbreaker to Florida State in Week 1.

Joe: They’re not unimportant. But at the same time, that Arkansas loss to Texas means less than a real game in November. Which means less than a real game in any other month. It’s probably more useful for spotting trends (like Tennesse being very, very good) than to pigeonhole the quality of teams. I mean, Louisville lost to Lenoir-Rhyne, which sounds more like a pretentious Southern lady than a college basketball team. It doesn’t mean they’re lost, but it does mean they’re not as far along as they’d like.

Adam: I think the exhibitions serve a similar purpose to other sports’ preseason games. You talked about how Arkansas just got absolutely trounced in an exhibition by Texas. Eric Musselman will use that to lay into his aforementioned trio of freshmen. That’s a valuable teaching experience that you don’t have to wait for. Now, instead of losing a nonconference game in embarrassing fashion, Muss can use this loss to regather his team’s focus and hit the ground running when games start to actually count in a few days.

Joe: Coaches love them, and with good reason. I think it helps the overall quality of the sport, and as you note, would you rather lose now or when the lights come on and the games count?

5. Who are your most anticipated SEC newcomers?

Joe: I’ve got to see GG Jackson. I thought it was interesting at Media Day when Lamont Paris talked about wanting to give Jackson room to fail because he indicated that’s where the best lessons come from. South Carolina probably has the least talent in the SEC, but also perhaps the most talented player in Jackson. There might be some ugly, ugly days here, but this kid is too good to not watch. Those Arkansas guys you talked about are up there, too.

Adam: Well, I’ve already mentioned a few, but for the sake of this discussion, let me name another! Cason Wallace at Kentucky has a chance to fill the TyTy Washington role from last season. It’s any 2-guard’s dream to play alongside Sahvir Wheeler, who should lead the SEC in assists again. If Wallace can play well alongside him, not only will he become a first-round pick in next year’s NBA Draft, he’ll help the Wildcats earn another top seed in the NCAA Tournament (where perhaps they’ll get past the first round this time around). I love the weapons on this year’s Kentucky team, but Wallace has the chance to be the one who shines the brightest.

6. Who’s the best SEC player nobody is talking about yet?

Adam: I’m a big fan of Adam Miller at LSU. Unfortunately, he suffered a season-ending injury shortly after arriving in Baton Rouge last offseason and missed all of last year. I think he could have been a real difference-maker for that squad. As a true freshman at Illinois in 2020-21, Miller averaged 8.3 points and 2.8 rebounds per game while starting all 31 games. He also shot 34% from 3-point range. That’ll play in the SEC, and I think we’ll be talking about him a lot more when all is said and done.

Joe: Perfect mix of skill and opportunity on Miller. How about Johni Broome at Auburn? What did Bruce Pearl need like a dehydrated person needs water? A quality big guy. He nabbed Broome from Morehead State and will plug the 6-10 double-double machine into his frontcourt from Day 1. Broome plus Auburn’s guards will be something to see.

7. Which new SEC coach will have the best season?

Adam: I think it’ll be a 3-way battle between Dennis Gates at Mizzou, Todd Golden at Florida and Matt McMahon at LSU. I’ll rule out McMahon for argument’s sake just because of the NCAA cloud hanging over the Tigers. I’ll stay consistent and go with Golden. I think the Gators are going to be solidly in the top 6 of the SEC this year, with a chance to challenge Auburn and Alabama for the 4 and 5 spots in the league. I’m really excited to see what scheme Golden comes up with around Castleton. I expect him to get the most out of Myreon Jones, Kowacie Reeves, Alex Fudge, Kyle Lofton and other key contributors at Florida.

Joe: Yeah, Golden has to be the early favorite, just because Florida is a few steps ahead of the other programs with new coaches. It’s a process for Lamont Paris at Carolina. Mike White didn’t win enough games at Florida, so good luck at Georgia right away. Chris Jans is a year away from having the players to be competitive. Don’t be surprised if Dennis Gates ends up being that guy, though. His teams will be physical and competitive, and he’s got an odd menagerie of athletes who might put a run together. McMahon is the other good possibility, though. Man, they return almost nothing, though. The NCAA cloud won’t make that job any easier, so I’ll double down on Golden.

8. Who wins the SEC regular-season and tournament titles?

Adam: I’m tempted to pick a clean sweep for Kentucky, but I think the Razorbacks will be ready to roll come tournament time. So, give me the Wildcats to use their experience to win the regular-season crown. Then, I like the Hogs to go on a run in the tournament and cut down the nets before March Madness starts in earnest.

Joe: I’ll take Tennessee in the regular season and Kentucky in the SEC Tournament. But if I was picking today, I’d pick Arkansas to go the deepest in the NCAA Tournament. Jimmys and Joes rule the day, and if I blindfolded you and gave you the Arkansas and Kentucky rosters sight unseen, you’d probably mess up guessing which one was which. Put me on the Muss bus, just not for the regular season or SEC Tournament titles.