Season Preview: SEC

The last power conference preview! Today it's the SEC. While this conference was worse than bad last year, the SEC looks to be much improved this year, due to young teams getting a year older and the majority of the top players staying in college. Oh yea, and this guy named John Calipari is coaching at Kentucky. Shall we continue?

The Favorites:

Kentucky: Let me just say that I think the Wildcats are the most intriguing preseason team in college basketball. With one hire the Wildcats went from likely NIT team to National Championship contenders. Calipari was taken away from Memphis after the Billy Gillespie mess, and with him came some of the top recruits in the country, including guard John Wall and 6-11 center DeMarcus Cousins. Both should start alongside Patrick Patterson, and Cousins should allow Patterson to move to the 3 and out on the wing where he should get more freedom to score in a variety of ways. Other freshman coming off the bench include big man and defensive stud Daniel Orton and guard Eric Bledsoe.

Despite all the hype surronding this Wildcats team, let's take a step back for a moment. Yes, they are talented, athletic, and skilled. But when has a team with this many freshman playing so many important minutes ever won the title? The returning players are essentially an NIT team minus Jodie Meeks. Sure, Patterson is very good, and Stevenson is solid at the 5, but the rest of these guys are basically role players. There is very little experienced leadership coming back. Due to that fact, and the number of question marks surrounding the young freshman, I am not going to pick Kentucky to win the SEC this year. That being said, I reserve the right to change my picks at any time (as always!)

Mississippi State: Yes, I am taking the Bulldogs to win the conference. Why? They return the best shotblocker in the country in Jarvis Vernardo, and one of the better point guards in the country in Dee Bost. Add in Ravern Johnson, a 40% shooter from three, and 2nd leading scorer Barry Stewart, and Mississippi State has plenty of backcourt experience returning. There's plenty of other contributors returning to a team that caught fire in last year's SEC tournament and took it all.

There is definitely a question as to where the ceiling lies for this Bulldogs team. Obviously, it's not as big as Kentucky's. Vernardo would do well to improve his game offensively to complement his status as a defensive player. As it stands, this team has a lot of experience returning and looks to be the strongest of the improved SEC West division.

Team that could surprise:

Vanderbilt: The SEC, like other major conferences, is somewhat muddled in the middle and many teams could emerge as tournament contenders. I'm going to take the Commodores, who return one of the few true centers in the league (and the nation) in A. J. Ogilvy. Excellent shooters Jermaine Beal and Brad Tinsley return as well, and incoming freshman John Jenkins has a reputation as a sharp shooter, so the threes will be flying in Nashville. Also, it's never fun to play in Vandy. The Commodore will surprise some people this year.

Team that could disappoint:

Kentucky: This is a no-brainer for me, only because expectations are so high. To some extent, I can't blame them... they got one of the best coaches in the college game and the clear #1 recruiting class in the nation. It's just a lot of pressure to put on youngsters, even if they're guys like John Wall who are ready for it. I think this is definitely a Sweet 16 team. I'm just not sure if they're a championship caliber team yet.

Picks:

SEC East

1. Kentucky: Still the best in this division.
2. Tennessee: They return all five starters, although I question how good this team can be overall.
3. Vanderbilt: Ogilvy and a host of outside shooters are ready to make a significant jump this season.
4. South Carolina: Difficult to pick against Devan Downey and four starters, but they'll have to find a 2nd scorer to replace Zam Fredrick.
5. Florida: Someone needs to take the leadership role Nick Calathes assumed last year, but the talent is there.
6. Georgia: Somewhat overmatched in a difficult division.

SEC West

1. Mississippi State: Some have been predicting Final Four for the Bulldogs. Seems a little optimistic to me, but SEC champ is not unrealistic.
2. Mississippi: The Rebels return three starters who were hurt last year. They will be deep and talented, especially in the backcourt.
3. Arkansas: Young team last year beat Texas and Oklahoma and will be ready for SEC play this season.
4. LSU: Lost their three top producers, but Tasmin Mitchell is back, and that should keep the Tigers from slipping too far.
5. Alabama: Anthony Grant will have this team ready in time, but not this year.
6. Auburn: Too much talent is gone and not enough talent replaces them.

Tournament teams:

Kentucky, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Mississippi State, Mississippi