NCAA Basketball: Questions about Kentucky, Duke, and more takeaways from the week

By Brian Rauf | Dec 9, 2018

NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 08: Myles Powell #13 of the Seton Hall Pirates celebrates after Keldon Johnson #3 of the Kentucky Wildcats misses a shot with time expiring as Seton Hall defeats Kentucky 84-83 in overtime of a college basketball game at Madison Square Garden on December 8, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 04: Head coach Mike White of the Florida Gators directs his players during the first half of the game against the West Virginia Mountaineers at Madison Square Garden on December 04, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /

2) The SEC might be a bit overrated overall

This isn’t being talked about all that much but Kentucky is just one of several SEC teams that have underperformed to this point in the season. The conference was supposed to be as deep and as competitive as any, yet that hasn’t been the case.

Florida is just 5-4 with no good wins and losses to Butler and Oklahoma (projected bubble teams) on their resume. LSU lost a close game to Florida State and then was handily beaten by Oklahoma State. Vanderbilt is no longer considered a threat after five-star point guard Darius Garland suffered a knee injury. Alabama’s three losses have come against Northeastern, UCF, and Georgia State.

Auburn and Tennessee have lived up to expectations with 8-1 and 6-1 records, respectively, but they were supposed to have some competition at the top of the standings. That hasn’t happened.

I still believe Kentucky will turn it around and LSU is going to be much better than they’ve shown by the end of the season. Yet, still, what was supposed to be a banner year for the growth of SEC basketball has not come to fruition.

The conference that was considered a lock to get at least seven teams into the NCAA Tournament field is now in a much murkier situation.

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