SEC Basketball: Way-too-early 2019-20 preseason power rankings
By Dakota Cox
The 2018-19 season finished with the Auburn Tigers making the Final Four. Will they be the best SEC Basketball team the following year?
This season had its fair share of surprises for SEC Basketball. Kentucky struggled early, but managed to turn it around in the season and have a successful year. Tennessee was the best team in the conference for most of the year, but they struggled in the NCAA Tournament. LSU won the regular season championship, but the recent FBI investigation has clouded all of their success.
Obviously, the biggest storyline this year was Auburn. They made a historic run that ended in the Final Four, their first appearance ever. Despite the loss to Virginia, the Tigers have a lot to hang their hat on for this year.
However, the new year will bring new teams. With stars Like Daniel Gafford, Jontay Porter, and Darius Garland leaving for the draft, a lot of teams will have to rely on new faces to carry them into the new year. With coaching vacancies at Alabama, Texas A&M, and Vanderbilt, many teams will be under new regimes.
Alabama’s new coach Nate Oats has the offensive mind to boos the Tide into the NCAA Tournament conversation next year. Jerry Stackhouse will coach for Vanderbilt in the coming year, but he has no college coaching experience. It will be a bit of a gamble for the Commodores.
You still have a lot of returning talent from last year. No team will be completely torn down besides LSU. Depending on who declares for the NBA Draft, there will be some new faces that suddenly become the face of the SEC.
It’s way too early to truly know how these teams will shape up. Heck, some recruits haven’t even declared yet. That being said, here’s my expectations for how the first rankings will look in the SEC.