STF Conference Reports: SEC 2/6

Word, word. How is everyone? Another good week in the, according to Dick Vitale, apparently down SEC. Whatever, Dick. I see you wasted no time testing out whether or not those surgically-repaired vocals can handle smoke-blowing, aye? Actually, considering just how strong Florida has been and their subsequent personnel losses, yes, the SEC is not where it was last year or the year before.

But, don't let teams like Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi State know that—although, now that I say that, all of the teams mentioned BUT Tennessee have had hit-and-miss games during the first half of their SEC campaign.

Nevertheless, I expect the SEC to field at least six teams (Florida being the sixth) and if Kentucky can continue their resurgence, maybe even seven, although, UK's road is far from easy. Oh well. Enough of that. On with the update:

Team of the Week - Tennessee
While Arkansas deserves some credit here as well, Bruce Pearl's team went 2-0 during two road games last week; at Alabama and at Mississippi State. At the time, MSU was one of the hotter teams in America, going 9-1 before these two back-to-back losses.

Tennessee used good rebounding, a balanced attack and Chris Lofton's excelsior shooting to grab the outright lead in the SEC East with a 6-1 record.

Honorable Mention: South Carolina. The Gamecocks overcame a bad previous week to also go undefeated this past week with victories over Georgia at home and Ole Miss on the road. Perhaps the Gamecocks can make a mid-to-late season surge and send Coach Odom out on a hight note.

Worst Team of the Week - Mississippi State
After grabbing the nation's attention by winning 9 out of 10, the Bulldogs backslid last week with two losses, the aforementioned Tennessee loss in Starkville and getting absolutely pummeled in Fayetteville by John Pelphrey and his suddenly-relevant Arkansas Razorbacks by 20 points.

Deciding the SEC West looks like it's going to be a lot of fun.

Player of the Week - Chris Lofton
You knew he'd show up here sooner or later and if he repeats this kind of week again, it'll be hard to keep him away. Lofton led his Volunteers during their undefeated week with the kind of shooting we've come to expect. In those two victories, Lofton was 9-18 from behind the arc, while shooting 14-25 overall. He was also 6-6 from the foul line during last week and his scoring totals were 20 and 23, respectively.

The SEC presented their weekly award to Sonny Weems and after looking at why, it's hard not to argue... but, Lofton, in my eyes, was the story.

Of course, they both almost lost this distinction to Kentucky's Joe Crawford, who had 26 huge points (5-5 from behind the arc) against Georgia on Saturday. Bonus: he was playing on one good leg as he was struggling with cramps and plantar fasciitis. If Crawford would've had a second game to fall back on (UK only played once this past week), he would have certainly challenged for this award.

Alas, congrats are certainly in order for Lofton (and Weems).

Games to Watch:
Last Night - Florida at Tennessee [ESPN] 9:00
2/6 - Vanderbilt at Georgia
2/6 - Alabama at Mississippi State
2/6 - Kentucky at Auburn
2/9 - Alabama at Kentucky
2/9 - Tennessee at LSU
2/9 - Georgia at Florida
2/9 - Ole Miss at Arkansas
2/9 - Vanderbilt at South Carolina
2/9 - Mississippi State at Auburn