STF Conference Reports: SEC 1/23

We are two weeks into conference play and what have we learned? Tennessee, Florida, Mississippi State and Ole Miss appear to be head-and-shoulders above the conference... at least this week, anyway. We've also learned there are a lot of average teams playing the SEC because after the top four, you see a number of conference records looking like this:

2-2, 1-2, 0-4.

While the 2-2 teams are not out of it yet (Yes, this includes you, Vanderbilt. Hot starts don't mean a damn thing if you can't sustain them.), they need to start stringing together some quality wins before we get much further along on the schedule. Remember folks, March is only a few weeks away.

As for Kentucky, well, tonight will tell us a lot more about them (editor's note: they beat #5 Tennessee between the time Chris sent this and when we got it posted). After two grueling road losses last week, they host Bruce Pearl and his talented Volunteers on ESPN (9pm EST) tonight. If UK spits the bit again, it's time to start planning for next season.

Now admittedly, 1-3 starts in conference play can be salvaged, but the team in question would need confidence and talent. UK is kinda short on both areas. Anyway, I'm digressing. On with the update:

Team of the Week - Mississippi State Bulldogs
Riding the red-hot play of Jamont Gordon and Jarvis Varnado's sterling shot-blocking skills (are you taking notes, Perry Stevenson?), the Bulldogs find themselves atop the SEC West at 4-0. Rick Stansbury finds his team also riding an 8-game winning streak, making them the hottest team in the SEC not named Tennessee (11-game winning streak). This week, the Bulldogs host Andy Kennedy's surprising Ole Miss Rebels for one of the marquee match-ups in the SEC West.

Worst Team of the Week - Kentucky and LSU
After getting conference play off to a good start with a double-overtime win against Vanderbilt, Kentucky lost their next two to Mississippi State and Florida, both of which were road games. While the Cats never quit in either loss, they could never get over the hump. Word is sophomore Jodie Meeks is close to 100%, but will he be enough to right the Wildcat ship?

In Baton Rogue, Louisiana State looks like the opposite of their championship football counterparts, delivering one of the worst starts in John Brady's tenure at 7-11 (0-4 in the SEC). With convincing losses to Auburn and Vandy last week, the Tigers are bringing up the rear in the SEC.

Player of the Week - Jamont Gordon
I'm going to agree with the folks from the SEC on this, although, Jarvis Varnado deserves a look as well... especially for his triple-double against UK last Tuesday (10 points, 12 rebounds and 10 blocks). Last week, Gordon averaged 24.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists in victories over Alabama and Kentucky. Gordon was also acknowledged as the SEC Player of the Week and with numbers like that, it's pretty easy to see why.

Games to Watch:
1/22 - Tennessee at Kentucky [ESPN] 9:00pm
1/23 - Florida at South Carolina
1/26 - South Carolina at Kentucky
1/26 - Auburn at Alabama
1/26 - Ole Miss at Mississippi State
1/26 - Georgia at Tennessee
1/26 - Arkansas at LSU
1/27 - Vanderbilt at Florida