The first half of the SEC basketball season concluded Wednesday night. There is a surprise leader at the top, but I promise the order has nothing to do with the alphabet.

Saturday, the second half begins, and soon all attention will turn toward the SEC Tournament in St. Louis and race to Selection Sunday on March 11.

We know you’ve been buried in college football, and we love you for it.

Here’s a quick refresher on the 10 biggest surprises and developments of the first half of the favorite sport in Lexington.

1. Kentucky isn’t the best team in the SEC (yet)

John Calipari’s one-and-done formula is taking longer than usual to come together. The Wildcats already have 3 SEC losses, one more than they suffered all of last season. (They should have suffered their fourth Tuesday night, but, … poor Vandy.) Kentucky hasn’t lost more than 6 SEC games in a season since Calipari arrived for the 2009-10 season.

2. Kentucky fell out of the Top 25

The Wildcats had been ranked in 68 consecutive Top 25 polls before falling out last week. That was the fourth-longest active streak in the country. After losing three games in a five-game stretch, they’ve rebounded, however. They notched their first victory over a ranked team when they took out then-No. 7 West Virginia in Morgantown to help the SEC win the SEC-Big 12 Challenge.

All’s well. The Cats are back in the Top 25 — at No. 21 — this week, ready to start another streak. They’re still the most talented team in the league.

3. Auburn? Yes, Auburn

Auburn hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2003. That’s the longest drought in the league.

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The league-leading Tigers improved to 20-2 on Tuesday night. They hadn’t won 20 games in a season since 2009, when they lost in the third round of the NIT.

This week they’re up to No. 11, matching their best ranking since the Feb. 21, 2000 poll.

How unexpected has this season been? How about, totally?

Media members picked the Tigers to finish 9th in the SEC preseason poll, and let’s not forget the program has been under FBI investigation since the Adidas scandal broke in September.

Say what you want about Bruce Pearl, but he didn’t forget how to coach. He took Tennessee to the NCAA Tournament in all six of his seasons and won three SEC regular season titles before NCAA violations led to his firing in 2011.

4. Auburn shoots 3s better than Duke

Auburn is the highest scoring team in the SEC and one of the best in America, too.

The Tigers are averaging more than 85 points per game — and 30 are coming from behind the arc.

Only four Power 5 teams are averaging more 3-pointers per game than Auburn (10.0).

5. KenPom likes the SEC … but not Alabama

For those not versed in basketball analytics, Ken Pomeroy’s site is the go-to for the advanced stats crowd. (You have to pay for the advanced stuff, but it’s a fun way to spend a lunch break and certainly will help you sound smarter than your friends when you are able to explain that Kentucky’s adjusted offensive rate is the root of its problems.)

KenPom’s methodology rankings are different from a traditional RPI. RPI has many flaws, which is one reason KenPom has grown more popular every year.

KenPom.com had Auburn at No. 9 and Tennessee at No. 10 after Tuesday’s games. (The rankings change daily because teams play daily.)

Both were lower in this week’s AP Top 25. Tennessee was No. 18.

Alabama, which had a huge win over Auburn, was at No. 59 after losing to Missouri on Wednesday night, the ninth SEC team in KenPom’s rankings.

6. Kevin Knox is finding his groove …

Kentucky signed six 5-star players in the 2017 class, which is every bit as greedy as it sounds. The rest of the SEC combined to sign three.

Knox was the No. 2-ranked player in the Cats’ class, a likely one-and-done prospect from Tampa.

Kentucky fans have been waiting for him to take over, and he did against West Virginia. He scored a career-high 34 on an efficient 17 shots. He rediscovered his outside touch, too, hitting a career-high 5 3-pointers. It was a defining game and helped him break out of a funk in which he was held to single digits five times in the previous 12 games.

7. Collin Sexton can play a little bit, too

Sexton, Alabama’s freshman point guard, has been up and down, but he was key in the Crimson Tide’s upset win over then-No. 12 Oklahoma.

He held his own against the Sooners’ heralded freshman, Trae Young, the nation’s leading scorer who is a candidate to win the Naismith College Player of the Year Award.

Both guards are showing up as lottery picks in mock drafts.

8. What might have been for Michael Porter and Missouri

Porter was the No. 2 player in the 2017 class. He chose Missouri, where his father is an assistant on Cuonzo Martin’s staff. His younger brother is a teammate. His two older sisters are on the Missouri women’s team.

Porter played just two minutes in Mizzou’s opener, hitting the only shot he’ll likely take in college, before leaving with an injury. He had back surgery and likely will miss the rest of the season.

NBA scouts aren’t concerned. Porter is listed at or near the top of most major mock drafts.

Jontay, the younger brother, is averaging 7.9 points per game for the Tigers. The Porter family H-O-R-S-E games must be ridiculous.

9. Georgia’s basketball team has a star senior, too

Yante Maten doesn’t get any love from the mock draft crowd, but he’s been a consistent standout in Athens for the past three years.

Maten leads the SEC in scoring at 19.6 points per game, but that’s hardly new or different. Already a two-time all-SEC performer, he finished fourth in scoring at 18.2 as a junior and ninth with 16.5 as a sophomore.

Maten scored 20 points Tuesday to help Georgia upset No. 23 Florida.

He has 1,662 points — just 26 behind Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins, who is fourth on Georgia’s career list.

If Maten maintains his scoring pace, he could move into second all-time.

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10. SEC will have more NCAA Tournament teams this year

Five SEC schools made the NCAA Tournament last season. Three reached the Elite 8. South Carolina, a No. 7 seed, surprised almost everybody, knocking off Florida in the Elite 8 to make the Final Four, and UNC edged Kentucky en route to winning the national title.

This year, more teams could have the opportunity to make some March magic.

Bracketologist Joe Lunardi has seven SEC teams in his most recent field, with Missouri being one of his first four out.