Busting Brackets
Fansided

SEC Basketball: Buy or sell Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Florida and Auburn?

By Tristan Freeman

Jan 14, 2023; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks guard Ricky Council IV (1) reacts after a play during the second half against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Memorial Gymnasium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 14, 2023; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks guard Ricky Council IV (1) reacts after a play during the second half against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Memorial Gymnasium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 8
Next
BRacketology
SEC Basketball Alabama Crimson Tide forward Brandon Miller (24) and forward Nick Pringle Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports /

We’re days away from the last annual Big 12/SEC Challenge and between the conferences, SEC Basketball is the one that needs the weekend to go its way. There are two teams that are clearly at the top in Alabama and Tennessee, along with several others that are in the NCAA Tournament mix such as Kentucky, Auburn, Missouri, and Florida.

There are 10 SEC teams participating in this week’s challenge but taking a closer look at the rest of the season, there are around eight programs that currently have a shot to at least make the NCAA Tournament. But which of them is most likely to actually do some damage come March?

Using where the current expectations are, here’s whether I “buy” or “sell” each of the eight contenders.

Alabama Crimson Tide

It was a close call for Alabama last night, trailing Mississippi State at the half before surviving with a 66-63 victory. Guards Jaden Bradley and Mark Sears combined for eight points on 3/14 shooting, while Brandon Miller, favorite to win SEC Basketball Player of the Year, had 13 points on 5/9 from the field.

After dominating the league to this point, does this performance give me pause? Absolutely not. If anything, it shows that the Crimson Tide can win while playing its “C” game. The offense is elite and the guards won’t all have poor games as they did against the Bulldogs.

This is a team with wins over North Carolina, Kentucky, and Houston and is still unbeaten in SEC play. Among the few teams that look like true favorites to win it all, Alabama is one of them. There are always concerns about relying on a freshman to win it all but Miller has consistently been good to this point.

Buy

Home/SEC