2. Auburn Tigers (7-1)
Auburn was the other SEC team that failed to win its matchup in the SEC/ACC Challenge. The Tigers traveled to Duke for its first true road game of the season and fell to the Blue Devils 85-78. Before the Duke game, Auburn rattled off three consecutive wins over Iowa State, North Carolina, and Memphis. Easily one of the toughest stretches of games in the country. And an early season win over Houston gave the Tigers three ranked wins before conference play. Memphis wasn’t ranked at the time but is now ranked in the top 20.
The Tigers have put together a non-conference slate that few teams in the country could hold up against. So, Auburn’s 7-1 record at this point isn’t a disappointment at all. Auburn has a couple of chances this upcoming week to pick up a couple more wins. First, it has Richmond, before taking on Ohio State. Through eight games, Johni Broome is the clear favorite to win National Player of the Year. Broome has scored in double figures every game this season and has recorded a double-double in six straight games. Only Tennessee has looked as good as Auburn this year, which is why the Tigers dropped a spot following the loss at Duke.
1. Tennessee Volunteers (8-0)
Tennessee has a case to be the top team in the country after Kansas and Auburn dropped games this past week. The Volunteers have won every game this season by at least 15 points with 22-point wins at Louisville and against Virginia, a 15-point win over ranked Baylor, and most recently a 26-point win over Syracuse in the SEC/ACC Challenge. Tennessee takes on Miami and Illinois this week, so chances are the Volunteers will add a couple more solid wins to its resume.
The Volunteers have been one of the best defensive teams in the country through the first few weeks. Tennessee has allowed 56.6 points per game and has only given up 70 or more points once. That was against Syracuse last week, the Orange managed to reach 70 points in the loss to Tennessee.
I can’t help but be impressed with what Tennessee has done so far this season. It’s incredibly rare that teams dominate on both ends of the court. The Volunteers have one of the best defenses in recent years, allowing only four teams to score more than 60 points. I don’t think that Tennessee could have possibly done more this season to prove that it is the top team in the country.