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MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:
- Kentucky
- Arkansas
- Tennessee
- Auburn
- Alabama
- Texas A&M
- Florida
- LSU
- Ole Miss
- Mississippi State
- Missouri
- Vanderbilt
- Georgia
- South Carolina
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL-SEC 1ST TEAM:
-Nick Smith – FR – Arkansas
-Colin Castleton – SR – Florida
-Oscar Tshiebwe- SR – Kentucky
-Sahvir Wheeler – SR – Kentucky
-Santiago Vescovi – SR – Tennessee
MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL-SEC 2ND TEAM:
-Brandon Miller – FR – Alabama
-Jahvon Quinerly – SR – Alabama
-KJ Williams – SR – LSU
-Josiah-Jordan James – SR – Tennessee
-Zakai Zeigler – SO – Tennessee
COMMENTS FROM DAVID:
-In college basketball, last impressions are the ones that…well…last. Heading into the NCAA Tournament last year, I do not think any team had wins that were as impressive as the ones Kentucky had. Kansas won it all, and Kentucky blew them off the floor in Allen Fieldhouse earlier in the year. The loss to Saint Peter’s is what most people remember, though. I thought they were good enough to win it all last year and I think they are good enough to win it all this year. They have NBA-caliber talent, they tend to gel more and more as the season goes on, and they have a chance to not just win the SEC but to go to the Final Four and win it all.
-Arkansas is a team that many people are in love with, and I get it. Their recruiting class is insanely good and they have some really good-looking transfers as well. There is one thing that gives me pause, though. The roster has basically been completely turned over. Not one starter has returned from last season. I get that they have reloaded. I get that many think they are a top ten team. And, they very well could be. I am just never going to be all-in on someone before the season starts if there has been this much overhaul. Not saying they will not be top-ten: I am just saying I have to actually see a few games first.
-Tennessee is usually an outstanding program for the months of November/December/January/February, but they always seem to exit the NCAA Tournament earlier than expected. Last year they won 27 total games and were as good as anyone in the conference, but only went as far as the Round of 32 in the Tournament. This year four starters return, the expectations are insanely high, and I believe they will once again end up as a protected seed. The question I have is how well will they play in the NCAA Tournament: will they finally go on a deep run?
-Auburn should be very athletic, very tough defensively, really good in the backcourt, and with the addition some quality transfers pretty strong in the frontcourt as well. This team did lose a fantastic player in Jabari Smith from last season, but they have enough coming back to once again be ranked in the Top-25 and contend for a protected seed this year.
-I am a big fan of Nate Oats: he has done well since arriving at Alabama and they once again look to have a top-caliber team. Jaden Shackelford will certainly be missed, but Mark Sears transferred in from Ohio to be the PG, two other starters are also back, and they have added some high-quality transfers, so this should be a good team this year.
-UNCLE BUZZ!! We at Hoops HD love Uncle Buzz! He has done a great job everywhere he has been, he really has Texas A&M moving in the right direction as a program, and they seemed poised to have their best season since he arrived. Four starters are back from a team that made it to the NIT Championship game and finished a modest 9-9 in league play, and this year the expectations are not just that they make the NCAA Tournament but land in the top half of it.
There appears to be a solid top six teams that are all top-25-caliber teams and appear poised to make the NCAA Tournament and be wearing white in the Round of 64. After that, there is a bit of a drop-off.
-Florida has a new coach in Todd Golden, who is an outstanding coach, but he enters what can best be described as a transitional period for the Gators. They do have a couple of solid players returning, and they add some decent looking transfers, and while they may have enough to make it to the NCAA Tournament I do not see them competing with the teams at the top of this league.
-LSU is also in a transitional period. Last season ended under the clouds of NCAA investigations that were announced just before the start of the NCAA Tournament, and now they have a new coach/new roster. It may take them a year or two for them to get back to where they are regularly inside the bubble.
-I really like Kermit Davis as a coach, but Ole Miss had a rough year last year, and when you look at what they have this year they do not exactly scream NCAA Tournament. To be fair, though, this team was plagued by injuries last year, so if they can just stay healthy we should see some improvement.
-Mississippi State welcomes Chris Jans in as head coach, who was successful out at New Mexico State (but then again, it has been a while since NMSU had a coach who was not successful). He has his work cut out for him in Starkville, though, if he wants to get them back to being inside the bubble. I do not see it happening this year. They were an NIT team a year ago and I think that is where they will end up this year.
-Missouri has gotten progressively worse in recent years and it would not shock me at all to see that trend continue. Dennis Gates comes in as head coach after a successful run at Cleveland State but it may be a while before he sees any real success at Mizzou.
-Vanderbilt exceeded all my expectations last year by winning 19 total games and making the NIT. That was a noticeable improvement from where the program had been. They did lose Scotty Pippen Jr., and that is no small loss, but three other starters are back so I am a little surprised they are picked this close to the bottom this year. I do not expect them to finish in the top half of the league but I do think they will finish higher than this.
-Georgia has a new coach in Mike White who comes over from Florida. It was…interesting…how that played out. Mike White has shown that he can win, but can he win at a place that is as bad as Georgia currently is?? Probably not: at least not for a while.
-South Carolina is picked to finish last, and while it would not shock me if they did not finish last, it would shock me if they finished any higher than second-to-last.