SEC Hoops Power Poll Ballot - Week of February 19th

1. Kentucky - A conference loss might help the Wildcats, or their coach, going into the NCAAs.
2. Florida - Are we to the point of buying Florida's ability to make a tourney run? At least they won't face the Vols there.
3. Vanderbilt - Kevin Stallings re-ups his hair club for men subscription after getting the road monkey off his back this week.
4. Alabama - Not sure why, but I think the suspensions might actually help Grant's team.
5. Mississippi State - I have them too high, but no one below them has me convinced they are better.
6. Mississippi - Did not compete, at all, last week. Seriously, did they send anyone to those games?
7. LSU - Might go 10-6, might go 8-8, might go 6-10. Hard to tell with this group.
8. Tennessee - They might be the best .500 team in the nation.
9. Arkansas - I've got nothing, much like Arkansas does on the road.
10. Auburn - Auburn might actually make the NIT, which is change I can believe in.
11. Georgia - Youth + no inside offense=SEC fail.
12. South Carolina - I know they beat Georgia. I know they beat Georgia. I know they beat Georgia. They are still worse. (See RPI, bad losses, no good wins).

I took all the 6-6 teams and went straight by the RPI. I am sure I saved plenty of brain cells and my reasoning is as sound as any. Also, I know South Carolina beat Georgia. I just couldn't find myself putting Georgia back at the bottom (I did so two weeks ago), considering the body of work between the two. I had Georgia last until I looked at the RPI and the wins vs. losses.

TD

SEC Hoops Power Poll - Week of February 12th

Georgia gets out of the basement. Kentucky is unanimous number 1. South Carolina is unanimous number 12. Besides that Vandy and Florida are close and 5-9 are close.  Looks like everyone else had the same issues ranking the four of them that I did. Oh, and Tennessee at 6. Interesting.


1. Kentucky Wildcats 96
2. Florida Gators 84
3. Vanderbilt Commodores 82
4. Mississippi St. Bulldogs 73
5. Alabama Crimson Tide 53
6. Tennessee Volunteers 52
7. Arkansas Razorbacks 50
8. Mississippi Rebels 46
9. LSU Tigers 37
10. Georgia Bulldogs 25
11. Auburn Tigers 18
12. South Carolina Gamecocks 8

The full poll and comments are here.

TD

SEC Hoops Power Poll Ballot - Week of February 12th

Honestly, I don't know how to do this anymore. Beside clearly moving Georgia up from the bottom and leaving Kentucky at the top, it is a very jumbled group.

1. Kentucky - It is hard to imagine this team losing a contest in the league now.
2. Vandy - Second by default after the turds Florida and Mississippi State laid this week.
3. Florida - Glad to see the Curse of Pearl lives on, at least for the Gators.
4. Mississippi State - Sidney showed he is the biggest drama queen not on reality TV and lost the Georgia game for State, but luckily Bama lost to LSU, so they are still 4th.
5. Alabama - Really didn't want to put them this high, and I expect them to fall with the suspensions, but the others just keep doing enough to stay below them.
6. Mississippi - Just don't see the Rebels doing anything more to make it into the NCAA tournament.
7. Arkansas - 40 minutes of hell, my ass.
8. LSU - Nice little season the Tigers are putting together. It isn't a stretch to say they are the feel good story of the conference.
9. Tennessee - Vols always seem ready to face the Gators. Too bad they don't play Florida every game.
10. Georgia - First winning streak of the conference slate for the Bulldogs. Can they keep the rebounding up enough to make a post season run?
11. Auburn - Auburn is back to being Auburn after putting up big offensive numbers for a couple of games.
12. South Carolina - The Gamecocks are literally hoping for a first round loss in the SEC tournament so they can get back to Columbia for the Princeton baseball games.\

TD

SEC Hoops Power Poll - Week of February 5th

1. Kentucky Wildcats 96
2. Florida Gators 88
3. Mississippi St. Bulldogs 76
4. Vanderbilt Commodores 75
5. Alabama Crimson Tide 62
6. Arkansas Razorbacks 55
7. Mississippi Rebels 49
8. LSU Tigers 37
9. Tennessee Volunteers 37
10. Auburn Tigers 24
11. South Carolina Gamecocks 13
12. Georgia Bulldogs 11

No surprise Georgia is at the bottom (we voted Monday night before last night's pwning of Arkansas).

TD

SEC Hoops Power Poll Ballot - Week of February 5th

Yeah, we have a new bottom team.

1. Kentucky - Game of the season looming with Florida going to Lexington. 'Cats are going to be challenged in this one.
2. Florida - We are about to see just how big the boys from Gainesville are with the trip to Lexington looming.
3. Vandy - Good news, Vandy gets to play two at home this week. Bad news, Kentucky is one of those two games.
4. Alabama - Strong RPI+bad losses+a winning streak=bubble talk.
5. Mississippi State - I probably penalized Mississippi State too much for the loss to Florida and the uninspired win over Auburn. 
6. Arkansas - The Hogs are winless on the road. Much like was for the Spartans, the trip to Athens will cure that.
7. Ole Miss - The best team you've never heard of or the worse team you keep hearing about?
8. LSU - Can the Tigers make the NIT? Their remaining schedule sets up well for them to make a run at the postseason.
9. Tennessee - Still struggling. The Vols get a break with Georgia-South Carolina back to back at home, which is the metaphorical equivalent of having access to a beach house and a morally casual friend in town.
10. Auburn - Auburn is playing its best basketball of the season right now. Of course, that bar isn't set too high.
11. South Carolina - Movin' on up...by default. They still suck, but Georgia sucks more.
12. Georgia - Not a hard choice after the worse game of basketball played by Georgia in four seasons at Auburn. The Dawgs are a team going the wrong direction fast. Just like their offense.

Vandy, Mississippi State, Alabama and Arkansas are very close right now.  I gave Vandy the nod due to RPI being nearly 30 points higher than Mississippi State's, even though the Bulldogs beat them. Honestly, I spent more time on these four than I have all season on any one ballot.  

TD

SEC Hoops Power Poll Ballot - Week of January 29th

1. Kentucky - Nothing to see here. Move along.
2. Florida - Gators are rolling. They might not lose again until the season finale against Kentucky. 
3. Vandy - Teams are figuring out Vandy. Can Stallings get the Commodores back to playing top 15 basketball?
4. Mississippi State - This team really confuses me. I'm starting to think the coaches take long stretches of games off. Still they are in the discussion for the top of the conference.
5. Ole Miss - We'll find out just how good this team is this week with two tough road games.
6. Alabama - Plays down to the level of the competition too much to be a contender for anything more than an NCAA bubble team.
7. Arkansas - Starting to look like the team is wearing out playing the super up tempo game.
8. LSU - The Tigers are competing, but might not win another game until late February with their schedule. Will Johnson still have his team by then?
9. Tennessee - Reverting to pre-conference schedule form. Still a talented team, but seems to play younger than they are.
10. Georgia - Woo hoo! Dawgs didn't lose this weekend. What's that? They were off? Oh.
11. Auburn - At least they have played South Carolina.
12. South Carolina - I wanted to reward them for their win over 'Bama, so I am not ranking them 13th. This week.

This week, you could put teams 4-7 and 9-12 and just shake them up. It is that close.

TD

SEC Hoops Power Poll - Week of January 22nd

This week's poll:


1. Kentucky Wildcats 96
2. Florida Gators 80
3. Mississippi St. Bulldogs 78
4. Vanderbilt Commodores 77
5. Alabama Crimson Tide 66
6. Mississippi Rebels 59
7. Arkansas Razorbacks 52
8. Tennessee Volunteers 41
9. LSU Tigers 34
10. Georgia Bulldogs 23
11. Auburn Tigers18
12. South Carolina Gamecocks 8

Unanimous agreement at number one and number 12. Near unanimous at 10 and 8. A jumble elsewhere.
TD

SEC Hoops Power Poll Ballot - Week of January 22nd

Another week of games, another week of parity in the middle of the conference.

1. Kentucky - Kentucky will lose a conference game this season. It won't happen this week with trips to Georgia and LSU.
2. Vandy - I am not sure how they lost at home to Mississippi State, but I am sure Stallings will figure a way to right the ship until the second game of the NCAA tournament.
3. Florida - With a trip to Oxford this week, we get to see if Florida's success is a product of the schedule to this point.
4. Mississippi State - The win at Vandy is a sign the Bulldogs are still relevant in the best of the rest discussion. Of course, there are four other teams that can say the same thing.
5. Alabama - It is hard to fault the Tide for a down week with three top 40 RPI teams on the schedule. Unfortunately, it does mean the have to be moved down with how closely matched the teams are.
6. Ole Miss - Col. Akbar's Bears better learn to close the deal or they will be a top seed in the NIT.
7. Arkansas - Youth was on display both with the good (a strong statement win over a tough Michigan team) and the bad (losing their will to live in a way worse than 20 point loss at Kentucky) this week.
8. LSU - Seriously, you could flip a coin on 8th. Georgia, Tennessee, and LSU are all that close right now. I went straight with RPI on these three.
9. Georgia - Too bad the Dawgs can't play the intensity they showed in the last 2 minutes against Mississippi for a full game. Since they don't, they find themselves in the bottom of the conference.
10. Tennessee - Dear Cuozno, that Stokes guy is good.
11. Auburn - Could have ranked them 8th, but conventional wisdom says they will revert to the team that only scored 35 points against Vandy.
12. South Carolina - How did they win 8 games? It's a miracle.

TD

SEC Hoops Power Poll - Week of January 15th

The Power Poll is up.

1. Kentucky Wildcats 132
2. Vanderbilt Commodores 108
3 (t). Florida Gators 104
3 (t). Mississippi St. Bulldogs 104
5. Alabama Crimson Tide 103
6. Arkansas Razorbacks 72
7. Tennessee Volunteers 60
8. LSU Tigers 58
9. Mississippi Rebels 43
10. Georgia Bulldogs 33
11. Auburn Tigers 29
12. South Carolina Gamecocks 13

Overall, we think there are five clear top teams and one clear bottom team.  I wasn't way out of consensus, either, which means either I'm getting better at this, or the other voters are getting worse.  Or both.

TD

SEC Hoops Power Poll Ballot - Week of January 15th

New basement dweller. Same folks at the top. Majic 8ball in the middle and bottom. Road wins are kind of like Big 12 footbal defense: a great theory, but not a reality.

1. Kentucky - The 'Cats will lose a game in the conference at some point. They tried really hard to do so Saturday at Tennessee.
2. Vandy - Just win baby. Bet the Georgia game made Stallings hair fall out some more. 
3. Alabama - If this team learns to play consistent offense, they will be a tough out.
4. Mississppi State - I honestly thought they were over rated. A gutsy win over Alabama made me realize I might have been wrong.
5. Florida - Still not sure wins over the dregs of the conference should mean anything. At least they are beating the dregs of the conference.
6. Arkansas - Anderson will have big success at Arkansas. He has a young team that isn't mentally tough enough to both play his punishing style of basketball and focus on playing to win. They will be very dangerous the later it gets in the conference slate.
7. Mississippi - Not sure what to do with the Bears. On one hand, I think they are a talented basketball team. On the other, they sure don't play like it sometimes. They are 7th by default since I don't think they are in the top 6 or the bottom 5.
8. Tennessee - Starting to show signs of life. Martin has them playing to the top of their potential and that isn't a good thing for the teams that had the Volunteers marked as a sure win.
9. LSU - Rumors of Trent Johnson's demise were both exaggerated and premature. Which is what she said.
10. Georgia - I would like to say something positive about the Dawgs: I love their mascot.
11. Auburn - Well, at least I can use basketball instead of basektball for them.
12. South Carolina - Could have had them 8th. Could have had them 13th. The bottom of the conference is just that bad.

It isn't a stretch to say the SEC could have only 3 teams in the NCAA tournament. It isn't a stretch to say the SEC could have 8 teams in the NCAA tournament. 

SEC Hoops Power Poll - Week of January 8th

You can see the full poll here.


1. Kentucky Wildcats 60
2. Alabama Crimson Tide 51
3. Vanderbilt Commodores 45
4t. Florida Gators 43
4t. Mississippi St. Bulldogs 43
6. Arkansas Razorbacks 37
7. LSU Tigers 33
8. Tennessee Volunteers 23
9. Mississippi Rebels 19
10. Georgia Bulldogs 17
11. South Carolina Gamecocks 12
12. Auburn Tigers 7

I was dead on the top three and bottom three. The middle six, not so much as I had the number four team ranked 9th.
TD

SEC Hoops Power Poll

I'll be participating this season, along with several more worthy bloggers, in the SEC Hoops Power Poll. Since I didn't vote last week, I get the benefit of one SEC match up per team to make some semi-informed decisions. After pondering my ballot, I don't think it helped.

By my view, there is one very, very good team in the conference.  There are two more that offer a strong combination of talent and coaching. Beyond that, at least for now, it is a hot mess. In other words, I'll probably just throw this ballot away and start over next week.

My SEC Hoops Power Poll Ballot for the week ending January 8th:

1. Kentucky - Kentucky's RPI will drop for the next two weeks as they feast upon the bones of the have nots in the conference.
2. Alabama - I'm a believer. Only Kentucky is more athletic. Only Kentucky has more talent. Only Kentucky is better, right now.
3. Vandy - We know Vandy is good, but when will they have that inexplicable loss that just leaves us wondering when Kevin Stallings is going to change hair jells?
4. Arkansas - The loss to Houston seems like it was so long ago. The win over Mississippi State begs the question: Are the Hogs good or the Dogs bad?
5. Mississippi State - It was nice while it lasted, but this looks more like a Stansbury coached team.
6. LSU - OMG, the Tigers won a conference game.
7. Ole Miss - We've been looking for the next team to challenge Auburn for the West's basement. Andy Kenedy's team is on the clock.
8. Florida - Dude, really? Tennessee?
9. Tennessee - Yes, I know they beat Florida. They've got a long, long way to go before I'll believe that was anything more than a fluke.
10. Georgia - Someone has to be king of the dip shits, right?
11. South Carolina - Hello, we are dip shits.
12. Auburn - Bad basektball team. Yeah, I misspelled it intentionally because it isn't fair to the other teams to use the term 'basketball team' when talking about Auburn besektball. 

I'll link it when it is released. Feel free to use big words to explain how badly I messed up.

TD