SEC Basketball: Auburn falls, LSU surges in new power rankings

Tennessee was essentially left for dead when Lamonte Turner announced he would miss the rest of the season with a shoulder injury and, while the Vols certainly hasn’t been the same since, they haven’t exactly fallen off a cliff, either.

After looking listless against Wisconsin and LSU, Tennessee has won four of their last five games. It is worth noting that all wins were against teams at the bottom of the SEC and the loss was to Georgia, but their defense is at least keeping them in the conference’s middle tier.

Their ability to break back into the SEC’s upper tier will depend on freshman guard Santiago Vescovi, who has taken over for Turner. The Uruguay native has been inconsistent, as you’d expect, but his offensive growth is the key to unlocking this team’s potential.

The Bulldogs are an interesting group. They started SEC play 0-3 with blowout losses to Auburn, Alabama, and LSU, the latter two of which came on the road. Since then, however, they’re 3-0 with wins over Mizzou, Georgia, and Arkansas.

The key is that those three wins all came at home, where Mississippi State is considerably better than on the road. That’s because they’re an offensive team that struggles to defend, and the play of those teams tends to not travel as well.

That said, Reggie Perry is the kind of All-SEC caliber performer that can win any game by himself. The next four games for the Bulldogs – at Oklahoma, at Florida, vs. Tennessee, at Kentucky – will determine if Mississippi State can make the NCAA Tournament or not.