Tag: MeatGrinder

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Remember when the annual trip to face perennial Southeastern Conference heavyweight Kentucky was the most – depending on your point of view – anticipated, dreaded or difficult date on the schedule? 
 
That question, by the way, could be posed to a fan of any SEC team. 
 

Well, don’t look now, but this is not your grandfather, father or older brother’s SEC. In fact, the league in 2025 is not like any league any fan of this sport has ever seen. 
 
“It’s the deepest, most talented, most competitive conference in the history of college basketball,” Florida coach Todd Golden said. 
 
Some ACC or Big Ten blue bloods would argue that very bold statement … and they’d lose. If the current won-loss records of the league’s 16 teams aren’t proof the analytics heading into the first weekend of the conference season overwhelmingly support the premise. The next 10 weeks of SEC play will be an outright back-alley brawl and it all starts Saturday at 11 a.m. when the sixth-ranked Gators (13-0) put their unblemished record on the line against 10^th-ranked Kentucky (11-2) and first-year coach Mark Pope at sold-out Rupp Arena.  
 
The Wildcats, from their accustomed place in the Top 10, will enter SEC play looking up at four other conference teams: No. 1 and undefeated Tennessee, No. 2 Auburn, No. 5 Alabama and Florida, with another five teams on their heels in the Top 25, including 12th-ranked Oklahoma, the third SEC team without a loss after being picked to finish next-to-last in the league.

Starting to get the picture? 

 

[Read senior writer Chris Harry’s “Pregame Stuff” setup here]

 

“The SEC is loaded,” UF senior guard Will Richard said. “It’s gonna be fun.” 

 

That’s one way of looking at, especially for Richard, whose team, after debuting its league slate at Rupp, gets the top-ranked Volunteers at home Tuesday night, then goes to 23^rd-ranked Arkansas next weekend. 

 

And that’s just the beginning of what looms as an 18-game rock fight. For all 16 teams. 

The below SEC “primer” includes numbers and data that represent a snapshot of not only how good the league is right now, but also how much higher it is towering over the other major conferences. Also provided is an inventory of some of the old and new faces that figure to be talked about — maybe — all the way to the Final Four. 

Give it a once-over, starting with the standings, then buckle up. 

Expanded SEC standings 

Team (AP rank)	Record	Home	Away	Neutral	Streak	NET	SEC opener (Saturday, ET)
Tennessee (1)	13-0	8-0	2-0	3-0	W13	2	Arkansas, 1 pm
Florida (6)	13-0	7-0	1-0	5-0	W13	4	at Kentucky, 11 am
Oklahoma (12)	13-0	8-0	0-0	5-0	W13	44	at Alabama, 6 pm
Auburn (2)	12-1	6-0	0-1	6-0	W5	1	Missouri, 4 pm
Mississippi State (17)	12-1	6-0	2-0	4-1	W6	18	South Carolina, 2 pm
Georgia	12-1	9-0	1-0	2-1	W7	27	at Ole Miss, noon
Vanderbilt	12-1	8-0	1-0	3-1	W6	31	at LSU, 4:40 pm
Alabama (5)	11-2	6-0	2-1	3-1	W5	9	Oklahoma, 6 pm
Kentucky (10)	11-2	9-0	0-1	2-1	W1	19	Florida, 11 am
Texas A&M (13)	11-2	7-0	0-1	4-1	W7	21	Texas, 8 pm
Arkansas (23)	11-2	8-0	1-0	2-2	W6	40	at Tennessee, 1 pm
Ole Miss (24)	11-2	7-0	1-1	2-1	L1	39	Georgia, noon
LSU	11-2	9-0	1-0	1-2	W3	51	Vanderbilt, 4:30 pm
Missouri	11-2	11-0	0-1	0-1	W1	50	at Auburn, 4 pm
Texas	11-2	8-1	1-0	2-1	W4	34	at Texas A&M, 8 pm
South Carolina	10-3	8-1	1-1	1-1	W7	86	at Mississippi State, 2 pm

The Top Teams 

To put the strength and depth of the SEC in perspective, understand that Auburn, though ranked second in the Associated Press poll, is looking like and putting up offensive numbers of a generational team; unbeaten and top-ranked Tennessee finally appears to have an efficient offense to match it’s always-elite defense under Rick Barnes; Alabama, despite two losses, is ranked in the top five following the first Final Four appearance in program history; Florida and Oklahoma have yet to lose. 
 
That’s five teams with no mention of all-time conference king Kentucky, which is ranked 10^th. 
 
One of the most fascinating questions of the SEC ’25 is how many losses the eventual regular-season champion will have, as the league devours itself twice a week. 
 

Back to Auburn and the utterly complete team that master program-builder Bruce Pearl has constructed this season. The Tigers already have an astounding six Quadrant 1 victories, per the NCAA Evaluation tool (NET). They’re led by National Player of the Year favorite Johni Broome and are the clear pick to win the SEC in great part because of a top-rated offense that is scoring at a dizzying 130.4 points per 100 possessions. That’s almost six points better than UConn (124.5), the nation’s No. 2 offense. On the other end, Auburn’s defense is 11^th in efficiency.
 
The last five years, Tennessee’s defense has ranked 2^nd, 3^rd, 1^st, 3^rd and 5^th in efficiency, while the Volunteers offense countered at 28^th, 64^th, 85^th and 96^th, respectively. This year, the Vols are still playing elite defense – they’re a stifling No. 2 at 88.1 points per 100 possessions – but the offense is 21^st. While that might be sixth-best in the conference, UT’s offense has become a frightening complement to its defense, which makes the Vols a bona fide national-championship contender. 
 
Alabama returned its two best players, point guard Mark Sears and forward Grant Nelson, from its historic NCAA semifinalist squad. The Crimson Tide still play their breakneck pace (sixth fastest in the country) and mad 3-point bombing style (more than 50 percent of their field-goal attempts come from deep), but they’ve only converted at 31.7 percent, which is just 249^th nationally. Guess what? That’s OK, because Bama is making 61.1 percent of its 2-point shots. That leads the nation. The Tide also are battle-tested, having played the toughest non-league schedule (more on that below) and will open the SEC slate at home Saturday night with a chance to knock the Sooners from the ranks of the unbeaten. 

The Metrics 

What Auburn just did in 13 games in non-conference play:

• 12 wins

• 6 Q1 wins

• 2 wins vs. AP Top 5

• Only loss to NET No. 3 Duke (away)

• Unbeaten at home

• Unbeaten in neutral court games

• Top 5 scoring margin (+23.5)

• Top 10 strength of schedule

• No. 1 in NET

•…

— Blake Lovell (@theblakelovell) December 31, 2024

There are 16 teams in the SEC and 10 of them are ranked. So-called “bracketologists” are projecting as many as 13 SEC teams could make the NCAA Tournament’s field of 68. That, of course, would be a record. Those same postseason gurus, right now, have Auburn and Tennessee penciled in as 1 seeds, Alabama and Florida as 2 seeds, Kentucky and Texas A&M as 3 seeds, with Mississippi State as a 4. That’s seven of the top 16 seeds. All very much subjects to change, obviously, but sheesh!  
 
Of course, there will be countless SEC skeptics out there – especially in the Big 12, which has been the highest-ranked league each of the last four seasons, but also in the Big Ten, Big East and ACC – quick to cast doubt on the league’s dominance. For them, here are some numbers: 

• The SEC is a combined 185-23 to date. That’s a winning percentage of .889, which blows the doors off the Big Ten (.764), Big 12 (.719), Big East (.656) and ACC (.626). 
• The lone remaining unbeaten teams in D1 (Tennessee, Florida and Oklahoma) are all from the SEC.
• The “worst” team in the league, South Carolina at 10-3, already has a win over state rival Clemson, which reached the Elite Eight last season. 
• The SEC went 14-2 in the ACC/SEC Challenge, is 55-18 against the four other power conferences and 17-9 against AP Top 25 teams. 
• KenPom’s current Net Ratings of all 31 conferences has the SEC far and away at No. 1 with a score of +20.12, followed (distantly) by the Big Ten (+17.73), Big 12 (+17.15), Big East (+14.13) and ACC (+9.91). The league’s current Net Rating is the highest for any league since 2004 and third-highest since KenPom debuted its metrics in 1997. 
• As far as the NET, the metric that seeds the NCAA Tournament, 15 of the league’s 16 teams are ranked in the top 51, meaning, for now, every road game except for South Carolina will be a Quadrant 1 opportunity. That’s sick.

The Schedules 

A month into the SEC season, don’t be surprised if every league team, due to the eat-their-own nature of the conference, shows up in the top 100 in terms of overall strength of schedule. That could include the handful of conference teams that went super-soft in November and December. Six teams (Georgia, Oklahoma, LSU, Vandy, Texas and Missouri) have schedules currently ranked 323^rd or worse (out of 364) in all of D-1. Mizzou played the easiest schedule (361st), with 11 games on its home floor (won all of them), but the Tigers already have an upset win over then-No. 1 Kansas. It might also be worth noting the Tigers went 0-19 in SEC play last season, so that probably factored into Coach Dennis Gates’ scheduling. 
 
As for the take-on-all-comers mentality, Alabama played – and this is truly astounding – Purdue, Illinois, Houston, Rutgers, Oregon, North Carolina and Creighton in succession and went 5-2. The Tide’s similar non-league approach last year clearly served them well in the run to the Final Four.
 
Auburn (20^th) has wins over Houston, Iowa State, North Carolina, Memphis, Ohio State and Purdue (all in the KenPom top 35, with that lone loss a true road game at Duke in the ACC/SEC Challenge. And then there’s Texas A&M (48^th). Of the Aggies’ 13 games, eight came against high-major opponents. 
 
Of the three unbeatens, Tennessee’s schedule sits at 156th, with a neutral-site win over Baylor and road defeat of 25th-ranked Illinois. Florida, which has played just one true road game, checks in at No. 201, with its best conquest coming against a five-loss North Carolina in Charlotte. Fellow unbeaten Oklahoma, at 323rd, has yet to play a road game, but won the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas (beating Providence, Arizona and Louisville), took an in-state grudge match against Oklahoma State and defeated Michigan on a neutral floor.

The New Coaches 

Last year, Chris Beard was the lone newcomer, with Ole Miss plucking him on the rebound from his firing at Texas following a domestic violence incident. This year, it’s five new guys, including the two conference members, with the most familiar name an inner-league transplant. 
 

Mark Byington (Vanderbilt)
A protégé of Bobby Cremins due to their time together at College of Charleston, Byington had some really solid seasons at Georgia Southern (tough job) that got him to James Madison, where he went 82-36 over five seasons, with a 32-4 record and Sun Belt Conference Tournament title last year, followed by an upset of Wisconsin in first-round tournament play. Now, he’s got Vandy off to its best start in 17 years. The Commodores’ schedule rates among the easiest in the league to date, but their lone loss came on a neutral court against Drake, which until Wednesday was one of four unbeaten teams remaining in Division I.
 
John Calipari (Arkansas) 
When Cal-to-Arkansas rumors hit social media last April the notion seemed ludicrous, but the fact is his P.T. Barnum act – despite an embarrassment of talented riches over 15 seasons – had grown old in Kentucky because the Wildcats had become annual failures in March. No Final Fours since 2015. No second tournament weekends since 2019. Two losses to No. 13 seeds the last two years, including the final-straw first-round exit against Oakland. “Cal,” now 65, is a Hall-of-Famer with 800-plus wins. His schtick isn’t going away, but with the Razorbacks he again has talent (plus resources and a fanbase) to win big in Fayetteville.
 
Mark Pope (Kentucky) 
He wasn’t choices 1, 2 or 3, but luring Pope from Brigham Young, where he went 110-52 and went to two NCAA tournaments, satisfied Big Blue Nation because Pope was one of their own. He played on Rick Pitino’s 1996 national-championship team. Pope, who also won 77 games in four years at Utah Valley State, is known for running creative offense, but had to literally rebuild the UK roster from scratch after nearly every Wildcat either joined Calipari at Arkansas or went elsewhere. He’s already made BBN happy with wins over Duke, Gonzaga and hated Louisville, but also lost by 20 to an Ohio State team that was blasted by 38 against Auburn a few days earlier. 
 
Porter Mosher (Oklahoma) 
He was one of the most in-demand coaches on the circuit after going 99-36 his last five years at Loyola-Chicago, with a 2018 Final Four appearance, followed by an it-was-no-fluke run to the Sweet 16 in 2019. OU came calling in 2021 and after an NIT in his first year and losing record in the second, the Sooners are one of the surprise teams in the country at 13-0 after being picked to finish – get this – 15^th in the 16-team league. They have a tremendous mix of transfers and one of the best freshman (read on) in the country. Moser is one of six SEC coaches to reach a Final Four.
 
Rodney Terry (Texas) 
When the aforementioned Beard was sacked in December ’22, his top assistant, Terry, was elevated to interim head coach and promptly guided the Longhorns to the Elite Eight, before losing to Miami a game shy of the Final Four. Terry, who had previous head jobs at Fresno State and Texas El Paso, got UT back to the tournament last season and lost in the second round. The Longhorns started the season ranked No. 17, but dropped both games against top 30 foes (Ohio State and Connecticut).

They’re Back

Here’s a look at eight of the SEC’s best returning players not named Walter Clayton Jr. 
 
Tamar Bates (Missouri) 
He is not among the league leaders in points (12.9 per game), but check back in a month. The 6-5, 193-pound guard is a professional scorer, as the Gators found out last year when he hung a career-high 38 on them in the Gators’ win at Columbia. Bates is shooting 51.8 percent from the floor – 63.1 from inside the arc, 36.2 beyond it – and leads the league in free-throw percentage (94.6). He had 29 points and five steals in the Tigers’ win over Kansas. Mizzou isn’t going winless against the SEC this season.
 
Johni Broome (Auburn)
The No. 1-rated player by KenPom, after finishing No. 3 in 2024. Broome is brute force inside and walking double-double in the box score, averaging 18.2 points (4^th in the SEC) and 11.6 rebounds (1^st). In the blowout win over Ohio State, he scored 21 points and grabbed 20 boards. Broome shows up in the top 100 in a bevy of marquee metrics, including eighth in defensive rebounding at 31.2 percent. 
 
Josh Hubbard (Mississippi State)
He has never met an (even semi) open 3 he didn’t like. Why not? Hubbard has logo range and proved it as a freshman last season when he led the SEC in 3s attempted (304) and made (108). This season, Hubbard is the SEC’s ninth-leading scorer at 17.5 points per, has hit double figures every game, is banging 3s at 38 percent (with a league-high 108 tries) and also tops the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio. In fact, he only has 10 turnovers on the season and had none through the team’s first six games despite averaging 32 minutes.
 

Collin Murray-Boyles (South Carolina)
He was one of the best freshman in the conference last season and did it by being a blue-collar, glue-guy in the paint. Murray-Boyles can be found almost exclusively inside the arc, where he’s just shy of 68 percent on his shots, already has four double-doubles and is an excellent rebounder. In a win over East Carolina, Murray-Boyles scored 20 points on 10-for-10 shooting. In a win over Clemson, he had 22 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two blocks.
 
Grant Nelson (Alabama)
What a find the 6-11, 230-pound Nelson, by way of North Dakota State, turned out to be for the Tide last season, keyed by his epic 24-point, 12-rebound, five-block performance in a Sweet 16 upset of 1-seed North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament. So far this season, Nelson is scoring at 13.2 points on nearly 73 percent shooting (29^th nationally) from the 2-point area and is fourth in the league in rebounding at 8.6 per. 
 
Mark Sears (Alabama) 
He was KenPom’s 10^th-ranked player last season when he became the first Division I player in 31 years to tally at least 795 points, 150 rebounds, 145 assists and 95 3-pointers. His 797 points were a single-season Alabama record. He averaged 24.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists in Bama’s five NCAA Tournament games. Sears, though, has gotten off to something of a slow start, with his scoring down nearly three points per game (21.5 to 18.0) and 3-point shooting down nearly 10 percent (43.6 to 34.4). He’s still one of the best shot-makers in the country, at just 6-1, no less.
 
Wade Taylor IV (Texas A&M)
Back for his fourth season alongside Coach Buzz Williams, Taylor exited his junior year having averaged 29.5 points in the Aggies’ last four games. He’s at 15.9 this season, but third in the SEC in assists (5.2 pg) and free-throw percentage (89.1), as well as sixth in 3s per game (2.7). He’s reached double figures in all 13 games and last time out had 10 assists in a win over Abilene Christian. 
 
Zakai Zeigler (Tennessee)
The little guy who makes the Volunteers go … on both ends. Zeigler, just 5-9 and 160 pounds, is the reigning SEC Defensive Player of the Year and is on pace to lead the league in assists for a third straight season, currently dishing at at 8.3 per game – and that’s after losing 2024 SEC Player of the Year Dalton Knecht to the NBA. Zeigler doesn’t get a bunch of steals, but his constant on-ball pressure is unforgiving over his 33 minutes per game, which ranks third in the league. UT’s more balanced offense in ’24-25 – and Zeigler’s electric speed in transition – makes its defense all the more lethal. 

Portal Prizes 

Like the previous category, it could include several more names. And like the previous category, this is a get-to-know collection of non-Gators (because, yes, Florida Atlantic transplant Alijah Martin would otherwise be be included).

Koby Brea (Kentucky) 

He leads the SEC in 3-point shooting percentage at 49.4, which is no surprise, because he might be the best pure shooter in the country over the last two seasons. The rangy 6-7, 215-pound wing was basically a designated long-range marksman at Dayton the previous four years, where he converted at 43.8 percent, including a nation-leading 49.8 in ’23-24. He’s attempted nearly three times as many 3s (593) than 2s (219) for his career. 

 

Cam Carter (LSU)

He averaged 2.2 points as a freshman at Mississippi State, then 6.5 as a role-playing backup on a Kansas State team that made a run to the Elite Eight in 2023. Last year, Carter upped his average to 14.6 points with the Wildcats, but this season has found his outside stroke in Baton Rouge. At 16.9 per game, he leads LSU in scoring (11^th in the league), but he’s bombing at 43.4 percent and knocking down free throws at 88.2 (both fourth in SEC). 

 

Jason Edwards (Vanderbilt) 

The 6-1 combo guard was highly coveted out of North Texas, where he scored at 19.1 per game and dropped 39-plus from distance. Guess what? That’s basically where he is now: 18.9 and 39.2 from deep. Edwards has hit double figures in all 13 of the Commodores’ games, including a season-high 30 in a loss to Drake. He scored at least 25 five times as a freshman at NTSU, including back-to-back games of 31. 

 

Chaz Lanier (Tennessee) 

Were it not for Broome, Lanier would be in the mix for 2024 SEC Player of the Year consideration, based on his performance to date for the nation’s top-ranked team. The 6-4, 200-pound Lanier, somehow, got out of the Sunshine State, where he averaged 19.7 and shot 43.4 percent from 3 at North Florida in a breakout junior season. He’s at 19.3 as a SEC first-timer and an ideal wing man to Zeigler, who knows how to find Lanier in transition – 47.4 from the arc, second only to Brea in the league, and his 3.75 is best in the conference – when the Volunteers snuff out yet another possession with their incredible defense.

 

Arthur Kaluma (Texas) 

He’s on his third team in three seasons – freshman and sophomore year at Creighton; junior year at K-State – and is on pace to average double-figure scoring in all four of his collegiate seasons. The 6-7, 225-pound forward is scoring 13.8 points per game, shooting 52.8 percent (that’s fifth-best in the conference) and 48.5 on his limited 3s, and rates third in the league in rebounding at 8.5 per game.

 

Igor Milicic Jr. (Tennessee) 

Another three-teamer. The 6-10, 225-pound Milicic began his career at Virginia, where he rarely saw the floor, played the last two seasons at Charlotte, where a breakout junior year caught the attention of Barnes, who scooped up the Croation for a senior season and slid him into the spot vacated by the portal defection of the Vols’ best “big” (see below). Milicic is at 11.2 point per game (64 percent from 2), is grabbing 8.1 boards, has metrics that rate him as a top-50 defensive rebounder nationally and is a skilled passer.

 

Otega Oweh (Kentucky) 

He started all but four of his 32 games as a sophomore at Oklahoma last season, but opted not to follow Moser to the SEC. He’s faring quite well as Pope’s most complete scorer (team-high 16.2 ppg). Oweh knows how to draw fouls and makes opponents pay at 80.6 percent at the line. He’s reached double-figure scoring in each of UK’s 13 games, with a solid 15 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals in the Wildcats’ win over Duke. 

 

Adou Thiero (Arkansas) 

He played sparingly as a freshman at Kentucky and was in and out of the rotation as a sophomore last season due to injuries on the way to averaging 7.2 points and 3.4 rebounds. Now a full-time starter for the Calipari Hogs, the 6-8, 220-pound forward has blossomed into one of the league’s best players at 17.8 points (7^th in the league) and 5.8 rebounds. Thiero is not a great 3-point shooter (26 percent this season, 30 for his career), but he’s been outstanding inside the arc at 70.3 percent – his 62.1 overall field-goal percentage ranks second in the SEC – and has six games of at least 20 points. 

Fresh(men) Faces

Seven players who took part in the 20024 McDonald’s All-America game signed with SEC teams, including three of the five below. 
 

Tre Johnson (Texas)
The 6-6, 190-pound Garland, Texas, product was the highest-rated prospect to come into the league, finishing No. 5 overall in his class’s rankings. He hasn’t disappointed. Johnson currently leads the SEC in scoring at 19.9 points per game – he had 28 in his collegiate debut, a loss to Ohio State at Las Vegas – on 48-percent shooting from the floor and 43.3 from deep (4^th in the league). He left the the Longhorns’ Dec. 17 win over New Mexico with a hip injury, did not play in the two games before holiday break, but returned to post 18 points, four rebounds and four assists in a win last weekend over Northwestern State. 
 
Jeremiah Fears (Oklahoma)
Anyone see the OU-Michigan matchup in the Jumpman Invitational? Wow! The Sooners were down three inside 15 seconds remaining when Fears, out of Joliet, Ill., elevated his slender 6-4 body for a NBA-range-plus 3-pointer that dropped as he was fouled. Fears converted the free throw with 11.5 seconds left and OU held on for an 87-86 win that kept them unbeaten and rolling. Fears, a top-75 player in his class, is fifth in the SEC in scoring at 18.8 per game, shooting 49.3 overall (8^th) and 87.6 from the free-throw line (6^th) on a league-high 75 attempts. The “Fears vs. Sears” matchup in Tuscaloosa Saturday night could be appointment viewing.
 
Boogie Fland (Arkansas) 

He originally signed with Kentucky, but followed Calipari to Fayetteville. The 6-2 Fland is a creative scorer (15.3 ppg) who is listed as a combo guard, but at 6.1 assists per game (and fourth-best in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio) he’s running the show for the Hogs. He had 11 assists in a Dec. 21 win against North Carolina A&T. 
 
Asa Newell (Georgia)
He didn’t make the McDonald’s team, but the 6-foot-11, 220-pound Newell, out of Destin, Fla., by way of Montverde Academy, was a consensus five-star, top-20 prospect and is playing like an All-SEC forward. He was a nice get for Coach Mike White, who landed the program’s most acclaimed recruit since Anthony Edwards. Newell is averaging 15.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and already has two double-doubles for the Bulldogs, who have won seven straight.
 
Tahaad Pettiford (Auburn)
He may be the best freshman in the league, but has yet to start a game – which should say something about how good the Tigers are. Out of Jersey City, N.J., Pettiford was rated the No. 2 point guard in the class. He went scoreless in Auburn’s opener against Vermont, then torched No. 4 Houston for 21 the next game. He had 14 against No. 5 Iowa State, 20 in the team’s lone loss at No. 9 Duke and 18 points and five assists over 23 minutes in a over No. 19 Purdue. 

Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu