After 2 weeks of SEC basketball, there’s a 5-team logjam at the top of the SEC standings.
Texas upset No. 10 Vanderbilt 80-64 on Wednesday night, meaning just 4 games into conference play, no team has a perfect conference record. The parity extends beyond the standings. Four SEC players are averaging 20 points or more per game, through Wednesday’s action. Eleven different SEC players have scored 30 points or more in a game this season. Five SEC programs rank in the top 10 nationally in points per game. You get the idea, right?
With offense aplenty, competition in the conference remains fierce, and the upcoming 7 weeks of league games promise to be chaotic and memorable.
With that framing in mind, here are 10 things I’m absolutely overreacting to after Week 2 of SEC league play.
Opening Tip: This is Still the Best League in America
A common refrain among the national rank and file is that the Big 12 or the B1G are the best leagues in America in 2025-26.
I understand the temptation of making that argument. Three of the country’s top 5 KenPom teams (and 3 of the top 6 in Bart Torvik’s model, which is also NCAA Tournament Selection Committee approved) hail from the B1G. Meanwhile, 3 of the nation’s top 7 KenPom squads (and top 8 Torvik) reside in the Big 12. The SEC has just 1 KenPom top 10 outfit (Florida, at 10) and 1 Torvik (Vanderbilt, at 7). The SEC lacks the elite teams it featured last year, when Auburn and Florida were 2 of the best 10 KenPom teams in the history of the database and Tennessee and Alabama lingered in or around the top 10 all season.
But the question of “Which league is the best?” is really a depth question. In the last decade, only a handful of at-large qualifiers for the NCAA Tournament have ranked outside the top 50 in KenPom—most recently, Utah State, who received an invitation despite a KenPom ranking of 54 on Selection Sunday. Since the 2021 NCAA Tournament, the lowest rated KenPom SEC team to receive an at-large berth is Mizzou in 2021, who was invited despite a KenPom ranking of 50 on Selection Sunday. In other words, you better be a top 50 KenPom team to go dancing.
This season, the SEC features 10 teams currently ranked in the top 50 of KenPom. That’s 1 more than the B1G and 2 more than the Big 12. Yes, the B1G and Big 12 appear better at the top, but only the Big 12 (6) has more KenPom top 25 teams than the SEC (5), and the SEC has 7 teams inside the top 32, the most of any power conference.
Bottom line? The SEC’s strength lies in its depth and parity. That’s not as sexy as last season, when the SEC had the cream of the crop at the top and depth, but the SEC’s drop-off has not yet reached the point where the B1G and Big 12 can accurately be called better leagues. Computers agree, too, with both KenPom and Torvik’s models ranking the SEC as the nation’s best basketball conference in 2025-26.
Wednesday Night Buzzer Beaters, Part I: Did Kentucky save its season?
Kentucky trailed by as many as 18 at LSU before rallying for a much-needed 75-74 road win.
Denzel Aberdeen played like the national champion he is, scoring 17 second half points and willing Kentucky back into the game to help put the Wildcats in position to win late.
The victory prevented Kentucky from falling to 10-7 and 1-3 in the SEC and likely, for whatever it’s worth in mid-January, on the wrong side of the NCAA Tournament bubble. Instead, Kentucky has back-to-back SEC wins and a jolt of confidence heading into Saturday’s visit to the Food City Center to play No. 24 Tennessee.
MALACHI MORENO FOR THE WIN pic.twitter.com/6fXGVwMNBA
— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) January 15, 2026It wasn’t just that Kentucky won that suggests perhaps it salvaged its season on Wednesday night, either.
It’s the way the Wildcats won the game. The Christian Laettner in reverse parallels are obvious on the Malachi Moreno game-winner. What’s wild, though, is that LSU missed 2 free throws with 1.9 seconds remaining, giving Kentucky a chance to win after Otega Oweh missed a free throw to tie with 4.5 seconds remaining. Kentucky also committed a shot clock violation with under a minute to go when Oweh’s midrange jumper was ruled a millisecond late (a recurring SEC theme!) by the officials.
If Kentucky gets a Quad 1A win on Saturday, even as Jaland Lowe and Jayden Quaintance continue to battle injuries, the narrative on this Kentucky team will flip yet again. Whatever happens in Knoxville, Mark Pope’s $21 million dollar team showed grit and resiliency, perhaps for the first time all year, on Wednesday night in Baton Rouge.
Wednesday Night Buzzer Beaters, Part 2: Have AJ Storr and Patton Pinkins changed the narrative on Ole Miss?
Ole Miss looked dead to rights a week ago, following a 0-2 start to SEC play that left the Rebels 8-7 on the season without a single Quadrant 1 or 2 win to their name. Counting out a Chris Beard coached team is risky for a reason, and the emergence of Patton Pinkins, a Top 100 recruit and son of assistant coach Al Pinkins, has helped flip the script.
Pinkins began to emerge in December and has started 3 of 4 games in SEC play, averaging 13.3 points per game, adding energy and hustle and playing much-needed quality defense for the Rebels. On Wednesday night, in a back-and-forth game at Georgia, Pinkins raced in from the perimeter to get a rebound and tip-back winner that helped Ole Miss earn its first Quad 1 win of the season.
More buzzer beaters in the SEC tonight — this time it's Patton Pinkins!pic.twitter.com/p8bEb3IgET
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) January 15, 2026The other key piece in Ole Miss’s 2-game turnaround? AJ Storr, who scored 26 in last weekend’s win over Missouri and followed it with 27 at Georgia on Wednesday night. Storr was miserable in SEC opening losses to Oklahoma and at Arkansas, scoring just 10 points per game and consistently getting blitzed by opposing offenses in mismatches and pick and rolls. While his defense is a work in progress, the Storr who is a big-time shooter and scorer is a refreshing turnaround from the guy who looked lost and lacked confidence earlier this season.
It will take a few more wins for Ole Miss to get back in the at-large discussion, but anyone that wrote this Ole Miss team off already clearly made a mistake.
Is Florida “back”?
The reigning national champions are playing their best basketball of the season, winning 3 consecutive Quad 1 games by an average of 18.7 points.
On Saturday, the Gators chomped past No. 21 Tennessee 91-67, with the big story being the breakout of Boogie Fland, Florida’s biggest transfer portal splash who had struggled mightily shooting the ball through the first 15 games of the campaign.
New haircut, new Boogie Fland pic.twitter.com/UYZkWK3UIE
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) January 10, 2026Fland erupted for 23 points, 5 assists, and 4 steals in the rout of the Volunteers, then backed it up with a 13-point, 7-assist, 5-rebound effort in a 17-point drubbing of Oklahoma in Norman on Tuesday night.
Florida’s frontcourt has been as advertised all season. Thomas Haugh is playing like an All-American, and he’s scored over 20 points in 3 of Florida’s 4 SEC contests to date, including a dominant 21-point, 12-rebound, 5-steal, 4-block effort in Florida’s 92-77 win over then-No. 20 Georgia. Alex Condon, a preseason All-American, is averaging 14 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists per game, production you’d take from essentially any big man in America. Micah Handlogten has played productively off the bench, giving Florida added frontcourt depth.
And all that’s before we discuss Rueben Chinyelu, who may be the most improved frontcourt player in America. Chinyelu is averaging a double-double (11.4 points, 10.7 rebounds) per game, and he’s posted back-to-back double-doubles in the victories over Tennessee (17 points, 16 rebounds) and Oklahoma 19, 12).
Florida’s outstanding frontcourt means the floor for Todd Golden’s team is exceptionally high.
The question is whether Florida gets enough from the guards to cash in on the elite frontcourt play.
If Boogie Fland plays well, it changes the whole dynamic for the Gators. Fland, the more natural point guard between fellow transfer Xaivian Lee, is a more efficient operator of the Gators offense. His ability to score also allows Florida to better deploy Urban Klavžar, the team’s best shooter, off the ball, running him off screens and cashing in on Fland’s ability to command dribble-drive help off Florida’s patented zoom and DHO actions.
A consistent backcourt weapon is all that stands between Florida and another deep run in March.
Two games is a great start, but will it carry over to Saturday’s massive tilt at Memorial Gym? We’ll see.
What’s the margin of error for Alabama?
Until Nate Oats finally has a healthy team, it feels like Alabama’s margin for error is small.
That doesn’t necessarily mean they need Labaron Philon to be as good as he was in Tuesday night’s impressive throttling of Mississippi State in Starkville, when Philon scored 32 points on a stupendously efficient 10-14 from the field (3-5 from 3P) with 4 rebounds and 3 assists.
Labaron Philon Jr. at Mississippi StatePTS: 32AST: 3REB: 4FG: 10-14 (71.4%)3FG: 3-5 (60.0%)FT: 9-10 (90.0%)MIN: 33+18pic.twitter.com/HglEw96Qul
— (@UARoundballGuy) January 15, 2026Perhaps the key stat for Philon was turnovers.
In losses to Vanderbilt and Texas, Philon committed 9 turnovers. For a team that struggles as much as Alabama defensively, the Crimson Tide can’t afford their best player to waste possessions. He didn’t against Mississippi State, turning the ball over just 1 time.
But even when Philon is great, the secret sauce for Bama will be when it elects to guard. Alabama is 111th in defensive efficiency against Quad 1 opponents this season. As usual, the Crimson Tide are so good offensively that they don’t have to be great on the other end. But you can’t give up 1.2 points per possession, which is what the Tide did in the Texas and Vanderbilt losses.
1.1? That might work, especially with that explosive offense. But right now, Alabama’s defensive woes suggest the margin for error is thin. In fact, 8 of Alabama’s final 14 league games are projected to be decided by 5 points or less, per Torvik. That’s the most projected close games in the SEC. Can the Tide get enough stops to earn a protected seed come March?
Team of the Week: Texas Longhorns
Texas capped an unbeaten week with a rout of No. 10 Vanderbilt at the Moody Center on Wednesday night. Tramon Mark was magnificent, scoring 16 of his 21 points in the second half, when Texas blew a close game wide open. The Longhorns shot 53% from the field and dominated the smaller Commodores on the glass, outrebounding Vanderbilt 42-24. Texas also held Vanderbilt to under 1 point per possession for just the second time this season (Memphis, December 17).
Typically, beating an unbeaten Vanderbilt team would be the pinnacle for a team in a 2-game stretch, but Texas’s win at then No. 13 Alabama may have been more impressive. Jordan Pope helped Texas shoot 42% from beyond the arc with 28 points in that victory, which also saw Dailyn Swain and Tramon Mark contribute 18 apiece.
Sean Miller’s team searched throughout the nonconference for a formula that would help it win games against quality opposition, playing a difficult schedule but coming up short on multiple occasions. After a rough start to SEC play, including a blowout loss at Tennessee, the Horns have steadied themselves, controlling the offensive glass and allowing their perimeter weapons to make plays and shots.
It’s a winning formula and could make Texas a legitimate NCAA Tournament threat in Miller’s first year on campus.
Stat of the Week: 1.48 points per possession
That’s the number John Calipari’s Arkansas team posted in their 108-74 thrashing of South Carolina on Wednesday night at Bud Walton Arena. It’s also the highest PPP for a Calipari team against a Power 5 opponent this decade. Calipari has faced criticism for running archaic offense in the past several years, but this Razorbacks team is different. Arkansas is running more stuff, especially off the ball, and finding ways to not only space the floor to let talented freshmen Darius Acuff Jr. and Meleek Thomas cook, but also to get good looks inside and outside for talented big men Malique Ewin and Trevon Brazile. The Razorbacks are good enough offensively to win the conference. Will they guard enough?
Player of the Week: Rueben Chinyelu, Florida
It’s hard to overstate what a sensational week Chinyelu had for Florida. The Florida big man averaged 18 points and 14 rebounds in Florida’s 2 Quad 1 wins this week, adding a big block against Oklahoma that immediately led to a Boogie Fland bucket.
defense dunk. just like that. ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/8vVn3zWxRp
— Florida Gators Men’s Basketball (@GatorsMBK) January 14, 2026Chinyelu leads the SEC in double-doubles this season with 9 and is the current frontrunner for SEC Defensive Player of the Year, ranking second (behind teammate Thomas Haugh) in defensive win shares and 5th in defensive box plus-minus in the SEC while ranking first in the SEC in rebounding and rebounding percentage.
Florida expected excellence from Haugh and Condon in 2025-26. They are getting it nightly from Chinyelu, too.
Where to Eat on a SEC Hoops weekend in: Knoxville, TN
Fresh off a big home win over Texas A&M, No. 24 Tennessee welcomes Kentucky to the Food City Center for a noon tip on Saturday afternoon.
There aren’t many better campuses or food scenes in the SEC than Knoxville, but my money will almost always be going to Emilia when I’m in the Marble City. Situated in Market Square, Emilia offers as authentic a taste of Italy as you’ll get in the South, blending farm-to-table cuts of meat and produce with premium Italian ingredients to keep the menu fresh and assure each dish is made with care.
All the pastas are made in house, too, The northern Italian menu has a host of highlights, the best of which are the artichoke fritters, which somehow beckon southern hush puppies, and the Mafalda pasta with zucchini, mushrooms, and pine nuts, which is cooked in a mushroom broth and has a sweetness to it thanks to fresh pine nut. If you are more traditional, the gnocchi amatriciana is a showstopper, with hand made dumplings cooked in an amatriciana sauce that the chef makes from scratch daily.
The SEC’s 10 NCAA Tournament Teams will be:
Vanderbilt, Florida, Arkansas, Alabama, Missouri, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Texas A&M, and Auburn.
10 things I’m absolutely overreacting to after Week 2 of SEC league play Saturday Down South.
Hence then, the article about 10 things i m absolutely overreacting to after week 2 of sec league play was published today ( ) and is available on SATURDAY DOWN SOUTH ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( 10 things I’m absolutely overreacting to after Week 2 of SEC league play )
Also on site :