The start of the college basketball season is only about a week away.
To help you get ready for the season the Cats Illustrated staff took turns predicting the SEC's order of finish 1-14.
David Sisk: Like everyone else, I look for a Kentucky and Tennessee battle for league superiority. Both teams have reason to have legitimate hopes of making deep runs in March and both are top ten teams. Tennessee has more experience, and I expect them to have the better squad through much of the season. They will be stronger and more experienced in the low post and they have proven point guard play. Their guards are going to be very good with three five-star players in the backcourt. However, I think as the freshmen grow for Kentucky they will be the team to beat in the conference by the end of the year. Terrence Clarke and B.J. Boston are going to be better than what others have to offer, and Olivier Sarr's eligibility is huge. Not only does he make Kentucky legit inside, he makes them bigger, stronger, and provides proven experience.
I also think the quality of 3-9 is underrated. Florida has an experienced and talented team, and LSU has as many elite players as anyone. But I think Ole Miss is under the radar. They've got talent and Kermit Davis can flat-out coach. South Carolina is my dark-horse though. There have been reports out of Columbia that this team is more talented than the one Frank Martin had that went to the Final Four. It will be an interesting year, and one I can't wait to get started.
Jeff Drummond: I think you'll be hard-pressed to find anyone who doesn't think Kentucky and Tennessee will be battling it out for the SEC championship this season. You could probably make the Cats and Vols 1A and 1B with UK featuring more raw talent on the roster and UT holding the experience edge. Rick Barnes has held the upper hand against John Calipari in head-to-head matchups, but I think the immediate eligibility of 7-footer Olivier Sarr makes the difference for the Cats. Florida and LSU should round out the top four, and both are talented enough to challenge both the Cats and Vols on a given night. From there, I think the league is a collection of teams that are predominantly in the same boat with very little difference between, say, Alabama at No. 5 and Mississippi State at No. 12.
Travis Graf: The 2021 basketball season is starting to look like it might not be a high point for the SEC. Tennessee and Kentucky are the only teams in the conference to start the season ranked in the AP top 25, and there’s only five teams from the conference receiving votes at all.
Kentucky and Tennessee are in the top tier and it was hard to pick one over the other. Rick Barnes has had John Calipari’s number as of late, but after watching the Kentucky pro day last week, there’s just so much talent on the Wildcats roster. They get the nod here, but either pick could be justified. Tennessee returns four of their five top scorers and touts a nice recruiting class as well.
In the second tier are a couple of good but not great teams in LSU and Florida. The Tigers return Javonte Smart, Darius Days and Trendon Watford, while adding Mwani Wilkins, Eric Gaines and Cameron Thomas. The Gators return their leading scorer in Keyontae Johnson as well as sophomores Scottie Lewis and Tre Mann. Both of these teams will have a chance to make some noise in the NCAA Tournament.
Alabama, Auburn, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Arkansas and Missouri should all be together in that third tier. The seasons for these programs could go either way and there wouldn’t be much of a surprise. Don’t expect any of these teams to make a run at the top-10, but you could definitely see one or two pop up in the top-25 during the course of the season. Nate Oats’ Alabama squad is a program that is on the rise, but they’re still probably a year away. They have the fall task of replacing Kira Lewis Jr. this season.As we round out the list, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Georgia and Vanderbilt are in a rebuilding phase of their roster. The talent just isn’t there on paper and it could be a long year for these programs. Vanderbilt will probably be the SEC bottom feeder once again and there’s a big question as to who can replace the production of Aaron Nesmith and Saben Lee.
Justin Rowland: I've got Kentucky and Tennessee sharing the No. 1 spot because I do think it's that close. However, I'm where David is in that I think Tennessee will be the stronger regular season team but Kentucky the bigger threat to make a Final Four run. I guess what makes my prediction unique is I have the Gamecocks number four in the league. My rationale for that is that there's a clear tiered divide between UK, Tennessee, and the rest of the league. I'm going with Frank Martin's track record there. He's had winning conference records in four of the last five years and that consistency leads me to believe the Gamecocks will find ways to gut out more games than a lot of others, and they'll be on the bubble. I'm also a believer in Buzz Williams and nothing that happened last year changed that.
