SEC league play began last week, which has to come as a blessed relief after a disappointing football postseason in all corners of SEC country outside of Oxford, Mississippi.
The return of SEC basketball means the return of Saturday Down South’s weekly review of hoops happenings around the league God’s country, from the bold coaching personalities that stroll the sidelines to the bucket getters going baseline to baseline. Every week, this is the place to be to learn about not just the game, but the student sections animating arenas and the eateries and watering holes that make SEC hoops weekends so special.
1. Opening Tip: The SEC isn’t what it was last year, but it’s still outstanding
Hoopheads like me have been locked in college basketball since early November, and with good reason. Who didn’t want an encore from a conference that produced the best season in college basketball history? With 14 teams in the NCAA Tournament, 7 in the Sweet 16, half the Elite 8 participants, and Auburn and national champion Florida in the Final Four, how could you not be excited about what’s next?
The league isn’t as dominant to date in 2025-26, but it’s still the top-ranked league in KenPom and Bart Torvik’s analytical rankings, with as many as 12 teams seemingly well-positioned to make a run at a NCAA Tournament berth this March.
If you’re just shaking off a football hangover, January is an excellent time to tune in. And if you are Ole Miss, well, at least you have football.
From Vanderbilt’s perfect start to Kentucky’s $22 million roster of role players and mistakes, here are 9 other things we’re absolutely locked in on or overreacting to after 1 week of league play.
2. Yes, Vanderbilt is that good
“Are they computer trickers?”
“They haven’t really played anybody.”
“Wait until they play a high-quality opponent.”
Twitter/X isn’t real life, but the false narrative that Vanderbilt wasn’t as good as its perfect start suggested was pervasive enough that Alabama head coach Nate Oats bought in.
“I mean, they haven’t played any real, real good teams,” Oats said ahead of Wednesday night’s game at Memorial Gym in Nashville. “I mean, the metrics say they’re good.”
After Vanderbilt ran away from the Crimson Tide in a less-close-than-the-final-suggests 96-90 win on Wednesday night, pushing its record to 15-0, Oats was singing a different tune.
“The league championship has to come through here,” Oats said.
And he’s right.
Mark Byington has coached great offenses wherever he’s been, even fielding a top 100 KenPom offensive efficiency unit at Georgia Southern (in 2018-2019). This group is no different. The Commodores are fantastic offensively, ranking among the top 5 offenses in both KenPom and Torvik’s efficiency metrics.
But what stood out to Oats was the way Vanderbilt guards.
“They really fly around. They contest everything,” Oats said.
The result was Alabama — a prolific offensive group in its own right (1st in Bart Torvik offense, 2nd in KenPom) shot a season-low 23% from deep, making just 9 of a staggering 40 3-point attempts.
In fairness to the Tide, big man Aiden Sherrell continues to miss time due to injury. But even without Sherrell, Alabama dominated the glass, out-rebounding the smaller Commodores 49-38.
Byington’s group just does everything else well to compensate.
They rank in the top 20 in the country in effective field goal percentage, fewest turnovers, fewest blocked shots against, 2-point field goal percentage, steal percentage defense and 3-point defense. They don’t beat themselves.
They have beaten everyone in their path.
They are not “computer trickers.”
They are the favorites to win the SEC Championship.
3. It’s time to panic at Kentucky
Perhaps we were all simply awed by the scale of Kentucky’s roster rebuild.
After all, when you spend $22 million on something, you expect rich dividends. Are there rich folks who buy the luxury car only because it looks beautiful in the driveway? Sure. But typically, when you spend extra money, you expect a bigger return on investment. Sparing no expense up front saves you headache later. Or so Kentucky fans and college basketball writers alike believed.
Kentucky fans expected a fully loaded Lamborghini. The team has run like a 1977 fuel tank behind the rear axle Ford Pinto.
Big Blue is 9-6 after Wednesday night’s second half collapse against Missouri, with just a 2-6 mark against teams in Quadrant 1 or 2 of the NET Rankings. SEC preseason player of the year Otega Oweh missed a layup late in last night’s contest that may have saved the Wildcats, and while he’s been solid if not spectacular (15 ppg, 5 rebounds, 3 assists), the supporting cast has not been good enough.
Kentucky’s offense ranks 47th in KenPom efficiency and struggles mightily against quality competition, shooting 5% lower from 2 and 10.7% lower from 3 against Quad 1 and 2.
In hindsight, perhaps the flaws were more obvious than most media folks (the media, including this SDS writer, picked Kentucky 2nd in the SEC) thought.
Jaland Lowe is a quality player but has never been a good shooter. Denzel Aberdeen is a terrific perimeter defender but was a role player at Florida prone to poor shot selection and over-dribbling. The roster lacked a dominant rebounder outside of Jayden Quaintance, who was coming off an ACL injury.
There were plenty of questions on an expensive roster filled largely with role players, as opposed to budding stars. When a team filled with role players had chemistry issues early in the season, it seemed to compound Kentucky’s warts.
Mark Pope, prideful and hard-working, has yet to deliver answers. At 0-2 in SEC play for the first time in 20 seasons, it’s fair to wonder how many answers this roster truly has.
4. Bucky Ball is fun. But the Aggies have a long way to go.
Considering Bucky McMillan had to build an entire roster from scratch after landing the Texas A&M job this April, the Aggies 2-0 SEC start is dreamland stuff. And while Auburn is certainly still finding itself without Bruce Pearl and Johni Broome, Tuesday night’s thrilling, controversial, 90-88 comeback win in the hostile Jungle also handed the Aggies their first Quad 1 victory.
Was KeShawn Murphy’s game-winning 3 milliseconds late? You decide.
What’s not debatable is that the Aggies play a fun style, ranking 10th in offensive tempo and attempting nearly half of their shots (46.7%) from deep. It’s a fun basketball team already and as McMillan builds his program and has more time to bring in preferred personnel, they’ll become a joy to watch.
But is making jokes about winning games by a “millisecond” truly the move?
Bucky is a talented young coach. The Aggies got the hire right. And winning should be fun, especially on the road at one of the nation’s toughest away venues like Auburn.
But Aggies fans better not get too loud just yet.
A&M doesn’t guard well, turns the ball over too frequently (17% of possessions), and is decent, but certainly vulnerable, on the glass, where they rank 98th in America and middle of the pack in the SEC in defensive rebounding. They also will play without star forward Mackenzie Mgbako, who will sadly miss the remainder of the 2025-26 season due to a foot injury.
Is a NCAA Tournament bid possible? Sure, thanks to outstanding play from USC transfer Rashaun Agee, who has been better than advertised despite a shooting slump and Spanish sniper Ruben Dominguez, who is shooting 47% from 3 on absurd volume (nearly 9 3-point attempts per game).
But the Aggies will need to figure out a way to defend better if Bucky wants to make a NCAA Tournament ahead of schedule in Year 1.
5. Should we buy low on Arkansas?
Arkansas is currently +650 to win the SEC. Is that too low? Maybe not, but it’s good bang for the buck betting value.
The Hogs are 12-3, and while the advanced analytics still aren’t convinced, I see a team that has 2 electric freshman guards who can go off on any given night in Darius Acuff Jr. (averaging 27.5 ppg in 2 SEC games) and Meleek Thomas (50% 3P FG% in 2 SEC games), a leader who has embraced a role in DJ Wagner, and enough frontcourt pieces in Malique Ewin, veteran SEC journeyman Nick Pringle, and the occasionally dynamic Trevon Brazile to maintain scoring balance.
Do they need to guard better? Absolutely. But we’ve seen Brazile, Wagner, Karter Knox, and Billy Richmond, among other players, guard before.
And close games are won by playmaking guards, which the Razorbacks have in spades.
I don’t know if this is a second weekend team or a legitimate Final Four contender, but with wins over Louisville, Texas Tech, and Tennessee, the résumé is already stronger than much of the league and there isn’t a bad loss in sight.
SDS picked Arkansas third in our preseason ballot and some scoffed. I don’t think anyone is laughing now.
6. Team of the Week: Missouri
Finally healthy, Mizzou rattled off 2 potentially season-turning wins to open conference action.
First, the Tigers came from behind to defeat reigning national champion Florida 74-72 at Mizzou Arena last Saturday night. Anthony Robinson II was marvelous in the victory, frustrating Florida guard Xaivian Lee defensively for much of the evening and scoring 19 points to go along with a tidy 6 rebounds and 5 assists. A little luck helped too: the bank was open for this decisive 3 late.
Missouri followed up their win over the Gators with another comeback win — this time at Rupp Arena. Robinson II (10 assists, 1 turnover) was excellent again, but it was Mark Mitchell’s tough play inside (21 points, 6-14 FG, 6-7 FT) that propelled the Tigers late.
Dennis Gates finally has the depth he anticipated having in the preseason, which allows Mizzou to wear on teams with its physicality and constant changing defenses as games progress.
After a frustrating nonconference slate that included blowout losses to rival Illinois and Kansas, the Tigers finally added quality to their résumé and look like a team that can compete for a high seed come SEC Tournament time.
7. Player of the Week: Josh Hubbard, Mississippi State
The Bulldogs may have turned their season around with a surprising 2-0 start to SEC play and of course, preseason All-SEC guard Josh Hubbard was front and center in both victories.
Hubbard played for 40 minutes and scored 38 — yes, 38 — points in State’s overtime win at Texas last Saturday. For an encore, he dropped 30 on an efficient 10-15 from 2-point range (11-22 FG overall, 7-9 FT) in State’s rout of Oklahoma. Perhaps the most impressive part? Hubbard’s usage rate was 40% for State, but he committed just 2 turnovers in the 2 wins combined.
The Bulldogs have work to do to get back in the at-large discussion, but as has been the case throughout his career in Starkville, Josh Hubbard should be firmly in SEC postseason honors and Player of the Year discussions.
8. Stat of the Week: 7 Georgia games with 100 points or more
Georgia is off to an outstanding 13-2 start in Year 4 under Mike White, thanks to a group of silky playmaking guards who have made this one of the better offensive teams in the country.
Georgia has scored over 100 points in a game on 7 occasions this season, including its SEC opening 104-100 overtime win against Auburn.
Entering the Florida game, Georgia averaged a national best 99 points per game, the highest scoring average for a Power 5 team since 2019.
Florida routed Georgia 92-77 on Tuesday night, holding the Dawgs to their lowest point and point per possession totals on the campaign. But Georgia still enters Saturday’s game at South Carolina ranked No. 1 in America in scoring average (96) and fast break points per game (25).
The Dawgs may be looking at a second consecutive NCAA Tournament, which would be the first back-to-back tournament appearances for the Dawgs since 2001 and 2002.
9. Where to Eat on a SEC hoops weekend in Gainesville, Florida
Florida hosts Tennessee this weekend (12 p.m. ET, ESPN) in star-studded matchup that could have a big impact on the SEC championship race.
The Gators need to hold serve at home to compete for the league title, especially after their SEC-opening defeat at Missouri. The Volunteers, meanwhile, are hoping for their second Quad 1A win (Houston, November 25). The game features 2 of the sport’s best coaches in Todd Golden, the youngest coach to win a national championship since Jim Valvano, and living legend Rick Barnes, along with 2 of the league’s bona fide Player of the Year candidates in Tennessee’s Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Florida’s Thomas Haugh.
If you are in Gainesville for the game, be sure to hit up Embers Wood Gril for some of the best farm to table cuts of meat you’ll get in SEC country. Chosen by the USA Today as one of the Top 15 Restaurants in Florida, Embers features succulent cuts of meat selected by their chefs and hand cut and fully trimmed in house. The Cowboy Cut ribeye is a family favorite, with or without the in-house accompaniments. For sides, try the prosciutto and cheddar grits if you are being truly indulgent, or a fire-roasted beefsteak tomato with caramelized blue cheese, which does not miss. An award-winning wine list and a host of craft beer selections make the evening complete, especially for the locals, who have celebrated plenty of Florida wins at Embers of late.
The SEC’s 10 NCAA Tournament teams will be:
Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, Georgia, Missouri, Auburn, Kentucky, and Texas A&M.
Neil Blackmon covers SEC football and basketball for SaturdayDownSouth.com. An attorney, he is also a member of the Football and Basketball Writers Associations of America. He also coaches basketball.
