SEC Basketball Power Poll: Week 1

by Arkansas Expats on Jan 8, 2009 9:10 AM CST in Basketball Comment 5 comments

With conference play rapidly approaching, the folks who brought you the SEC Football Power Poll have joined forces once again to bring you the basketball version. We'll be the first to admit that we're not yet experts in the nuances of the Hogs' various SEC foes, so we're keeping this simple for now. If you see anything we got egregiously wrong on our ballot below, let us know and we'll try to incorporate your feedback next week.

Note: We submitted our ballot last night, before Tennessee lost to Gonzaga. We're still not sure we would have ordered the teams differently, though. It will take a couple of weeks for the conference's pecking order to take shape.

1. Tennessee
2. Arkansas
3. Florida
4. Kentucky
5. LSU
6. Vandy
7. South Carolina
8. Alabama
9. Auburn
10. Mississippi State
11. Ole Miss
12. Georgia

(One final note: the Hogs at #2! Amazing!!)

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I’m not at all suprised the Hogs would be listed the #2 team on the list, even though I probably would’ve put them in a tie with Florida for now.

The only one that suprised me just a little was Miss. St.
I haven’t been able to keep up with them at all this season, but I exspected them to at least be around #4 or #5.

I seen them play part of a game earlier in the year, and they looked like a pretty scrappy team, but other than them, really no suprises.

by GonzoHog on Jan 8, 2009 11:56 AM CST reply actions

I’m with you guys in that I haven’t really seen much of the SEC so far, but I saw some of the Kentucky-Lousiville game and I think you’ve got the Wildcats too low. Meeks and Patterson are for real.

And I agree with Gonzohog on Miss State.

Splitting hairs, and without any great justification, I’d probably go:
Tennessee
Kentucky
(tie) Florida-Arkansas-LSU
(tie) South Carolina-Vandy-Miss State
(tie) Alabama-Auburn-Ole Miss-Georgia

We’ll know more in a week or so.

by J Hawg 3 on Jan 8, 2009 1:52 PM CST reply actions

How can you justify ranking a 9-4 Tennessee team that has NO guard play and is coming off of two straight losses over a 12-1 Arkansas team coming off of TWO top 10 victories? Please tell me.

It boggles the mind.

Arkansas is clearly the class of the SEC right now.

by Kilgor on Jan 8, 2009 3:40 PM CST reply actions

Kilgor,

First off, as noted in the intro., we submitted our ballot before the Vols lost last night.

Also, when we submitted our ballot, UT had the conference’s highest RPI ranking by a pretty wide margin, so that was one consideration. And they still have the highest RPI, although the Hogs have closed the gap. And I still think there’s a good chance the Vols will be the best team in the conference by the end of the year.

Having said all that, we’re open to any criticisms you want to make. Personally, I’d rather the first ballot not be due until a week or two – at least – of conference play. It’s hard to compare teams when the quality of their non-conference schedules varies so much.

As for your last statement, I’m not ready to go there yet. Among other considerations, I want to see how the Hogs do on the road.

But all of this is part of the fun – and purpose – of these polls: sparking debate.

Thanks for reading and for your comments.

by Stephen on Jan 8, 2009 3:59 PM CST reply actions