10. Ole Miss Rebels (8-1)
Ole Miss was one of the teams that blew out its opponent in the SEC/ACC Challenge. The Rebels beat Louisville by 23 points to pick up the team's seventh win of the season. Then Ole Miss followed that up with a 33-point win over Lindenwood. Since losing its first game of the year to Purdue, Ole Miss has scored 86 points in back-to-back games, winning them by an average of 28 points. The defense has also been great over those games, holding both teams to an average of 34.3 percent from the field. Since its early season shooting struggles, Ole Miss has scored at least 78 points in each of the last six games. This has been against some strong competition.
The Rebels have been playing incredibly well over the past few weeks. The wins over BYU and Louisville have been great for Ole Miss’s tournament resume. And losing to Purdue by only two points doesn’t hurt matters either. The Rebels have a light schedule this week, only playing Southern Miss. Giving up 85 points to BYU and 80 to Purdue has me a little worried about the Ole Miss defense against power conference teams, but until it costs the Rebels some games I have to think that Ole Miss is one of the better teams in the very deep SEC.
9. Texas A&M Aggies (7-2)
Texas A&M has won seven games this season but hasn’t looked great in any of those games. The continuing theme for the Aggies has been poor shooting performances. This was on full display against Wake Forest in A&M’s latest game. The Aggies made 38.8 percent from the floor against the Demon Deacons while only scoring 57 points. Texas A&M has shot under 40 percent from the floor in six of nine games this year. The defense has been solid and continues to bail out the offense in tight games.
I said it last week, and it still holds this week, that I don’t trust this Aggies offense. On the season Texas A&M is making 41.7 percent from the floor, 29.1 percent from three, and 69.3 percent from the line. There is simply nowhere on the court that the Aggies score the ball with any regularity. Texas A&M has wins against Ohio State, Creighton, and Rutgers elevating its resume, but I don’t know how much longer the Aggies can shoot this poorly and knock off good SEC teams. As long as the offense keeps rebounding at an elite level Texas A&M should be competitive, but it would be nice to see the Aggies win while having a good shooting night.