SEC Basketball: Final 2019-20 power rankings for end of the season

By Dakota Cox | Mar 23, 2020

LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY - NOVEMBER 12: John Calipari the head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats reacts to a mistake by his team in the first half in the game against the Evansville Aces at Rupp Arena on November 12, 2019 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

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GLENDALE, AZ – MARCH 31: Head coach Frank Martin of the South Carolina Gamecocks (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

6. South Carolina Gamecocks

My expectations for South Carolina were low this year, but they certainly exceeded them in conference play. I know that they lost some tough games to Vanderbilt and Alabama, but they also won some tough games both at home and on the road. They also beat Virginia outside of the conference.

What really hurts this team is that they lost too many games that they shouldn’t have. It’s okay to be upset once or twice, but they were embarrassed so many times by low-quality teams. It started with their loss to Boston University. They were later blown out by Wichita State, a game they probably shouldn’t have won but should have at least kept close, and a close loss to UNI. Their worst performance of the year was in their 7-point loss to Stetson, a team that ended up with a losing record.

Honestly, the fact that South Carolina ended up being this close to the top five shows the state of matters in the SEC this season. There were the same number of top-heavy teams, but the second and third tiers of basketball just couldn’t keep up with where they usually are. It’s why so few teams were in NCAA Tournament consideration. It’s hard to imagine the sixth-best team in the SEC at the end of the year being nowhere near the bubble, but here we are.

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