SEC fans, are you feeling bummed about how the football season played out? Don’t worry, because the league has decided to completely take over men’s college basketball.
It was an historic non-conference slate for the SEC with every team emerging with three losses or fewer and nearly every team stacking up plenty of Quad 1 wins that will come in handy if in the mix for the NCAA men’s tournament. The success in the first two months set the stage for the conference that expanded to 16 members to have the opportunity to set a record with 12 teams in the field.
Now that conference play has arrived this weekend, the carnage of teams knocking off each has begun.
It’s going to be a wild next two months of conference play as teams fight for their tournament spots and potential high seedings in March. The chaos already kicked off this weekend with two undefeated teams going down − Florida losing to Kentucky and Alabama dominating Oklahoma.
That’s just the beginning of what’s going to be the SEC cannibalizing itself. Unlike what happened in the race for the College Football Playoff, losses in the league aren’t going to be damaging. No game is going to be easy. How bad will it be? Look at Auburn’s schedule as an example: The Tigers already have a Division I-high six Quad 1 wins, and 13 of their remaining 17 games would fall in the Quad 1 category.
With so many strong contenders, going 13-5 or 12-6 may be enough to win the SEC, and an 8-10 conference record should be good enough to make the tournament. By the time we get to March, there will be no need for those hypothetical scenarios.
What are the other storylines coming out of the weekend? We take a look.
The Big Ten mystery
While the SEC is overflowing with tournament and title contenders, the other mega conference can’t say the same.
No real threat has emerged from the Big Ten quite yet, and while they should be near the top of conference with the most tournament teams, there’s a possibility no team will earn a top-three seed. Entering the week, it was the newcomers Oregon and UCLA leading the pack, but the Ducks gave up 109 points to Illinois in a 32-point loss and the Bruins couldn’t buy a bucket in a defeat at Nebraska. At the moment, it’s Michigan and Michigan State standing as the long unbeatens in conference play..
It’s a troubling sign for a conference that hasn’t won a national championship since 2000,.
Cooper Flagg looking like a No. 1 pick
There was plenty of hype with the arrival of Cooper Flagg, and so far he has delivered.
Duke is riding an eight-game win streak, and Flagg has played a big part of that, showing that he has settled in the college game. During this run, he has scored at least 20 points in six of those games, including an impressive start to ACC play.
Flagg’s productivity can be seen all over the court, and it appears he can just pick and choose how he attacks. He’s scoring at an elite rate, dishing the ball out and helping set the tempo defensively. He played a huge role in the blowout wins against Georgia Tech and SMU, finishing the week with 48 points, 14 rebounds, nine assists, five steals, and three blocks. Not so bad for the projected No. 1 pick in next year’s NBA draft.
UConn continues win streak without Liam McNeeley
The two-time defending champions had to play their first game without their star freshman, and they did it in dramatic fashion.
Liam McNeeley is expected to be out for some weeks due to an ankle injury, and early against Providence, it was evident Connecticut was missing its second-leading scorer. The Huskies were down by 14 points in the second half, and showed resilience with a 17-2 run as the game headed toward the home stretch to beat the Friars 87-84.
Now 4-0 in Big East play, Dan Hurley’s squad is in prime position to continue its hold on the conference.
The turnaround at West Virginia
Darian DeVries continues to completely change the trajectory of West Virginia with the Mountaineers winners of seven in a row, including a big road victory over Kansas earlier in the week. That win snapped the Jayhawks’ streak of 33 consecutive home wins in conference home openers and was West Virginia’s first in Allen Fieldhouse.
Javon Small has taken the scoring load in the absence of Jared DeVries to become a star for West Virginia. He leads the Big 12 with 19.5 points per game while the Mountaineers continue stopping opposing offenses, ranking in the top 20 in several defensive categories.
Conference play has just started, and West Virginia has already surpassed last season’s win total of nine, generating plenty of optimism in Morgantown.
Teams to watch out for: Washington State and Georgetown
Opportunity awaits for a pair of teams that are flying under the radar.
Last season was a dream for Washington State as the Cougars reached the second round of the tournament. Then nearly everyone left when the Pac-12 was disintegrated, including Washington State coach Kyle Smith. But incoming coach David Riley came into Pullman and brought some of his players from Eastern Washington to provide a solid foundation. Playing as a member of the West Coast Conference this season, the Cougars have started off with a 3-0 start in the league after a defeat of San Francisco. Awaiting Washington State on Saturday is a trip to Spokane to face Gonzaga, a test that could determine if the Cougars are legit enough to contend in the WCC and make a run at the tournament field.
Georgetown has been spending the past decade trying to maintain relevance in the sport, and the Hoyas have a big opportunity to do so. The Hoyas at 12-2 and 3-0 in conference play, but don’t have any impressive wins so far. This week, they travel to Marquette and host Connecticut in a pivotal stretch for second-year Ed Cooley. One victory would do wonders for the resume, and two would boost them into the tournament conversion.
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