Conference play begins this week for the SEC. Here are five questions for the start of SEC Basketball league play.
1. Can Quade Green become the point guard the Wildcats need?
It doesn’t matter how much talent Kentucky has if there’s no point guard to orchestrate the offense. Green has been tasked to do and has been inefficient to say the least. His issues really glared in the loss to UCLA, going 1/7 from the field for two points and only a couple of assists.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the sixth man off the bench, has been the top passer for the team. Will Calipari go with him at the point if Green continues to struggle?
2. Will the return of John Egbunu help get Florida back on track?
After becoming a top-5 team very early thanks to an unprecedented amount of three-pointers, the Gators lost four of the next five games. There are a ton of issues — one of which being senior big man Egbunu being absent from an ACL injury. He’s a physical and defensive presence that can be a game-changer for coach Mike White.
That being said, he doesn’t fix the offensive deficiencies the team has, especially the over-reliance on three-point attempts. The Gators are likely a team between top-5 and unranked, and it’ll be interesting to see how Egbunu fits into the equation.
3. How for real are the Auburn Tigers?
One of the most under-reported stories of the non-conference has been the resilience of the Tigers. Despite losing quite possibly the two most talented players on the roster in Daniel Purifoy and Austin Wiley due to the investigation — as well as head coach Bruce Pearl’s own status being in doubt for awhile — Auburn is sitting at 11-1.
The best win of their non-conference schedule was Middle Tennessee, so how good are the Tigers is still a question. This team doesn’t play either Kentucky or Texas A&M in the month of January, so if this team’s seriously a contender, they should rack up some wins.
4. What will Tennessee’s record be after the first nine games?
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The Volunteers are nationally ranked and look to be on the path of making the NCAA tournament. But the first month of SEC play will be incredibly difficult, with the Wildcats and Aggies coming to Knoxville, while four tough road games lurk on the schedule. The back half of the schedule is easier, so a 6-3 record should be a goal, including snagging at least one of the two big home games.
5. Which team makes a surprising run in the first half of conference play?
The teams that have been ranked (Kentucky, Alabama, A&M, and Tennessee) are excluded from this question. It seems that every year, there’s at least one team from the SEC that comes out of nowhere to finish near the top of the standings. So who will it be this year? Auburn has been surprising, so has Missouri after losing their best player, and Arkansas has possibly the best perimeter.
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But don’t forget the Final Four participant from a year ago in South Carolina. The Gamecocks still have a tough defense to deal with, and Frank Martin is one of the top coaches in the country. This doesn’t even include teams like Mississippi State and Georgia, who have stars in their own right. All this means is that it’ll be a bumpy ride starting January.