It’s Monday, so you know what that means — another edition of the SEC Basketball RPI Report.
After another compelling week of basketball, a few SEC teams were able to put themselves in a much better position in the RPI while others remained about the same.
One team that helped themselves tremendously: the Auburn Tigers. By defeating then RPI No. 14 Middle Tennessee State, the Tigers were able to move up 25 spots from last week’s position. This win will go a long way come March when the NCAA Tournament Committee starts reviewing team sheets.
As you will see below, Missouri remains atop the league in RPI, while Arkansas has surpassed Texas A&M for the second spot.
LSU was also able to help themselves a bit; although they lost to Stephen F. Austin, the Tigers moved up in RPI due to playing two strong teams in Houston and SFA.
The Georgia Bulldogs did not help their cause last week. Losing to UMass, although on the road, was not an ideal loss for Mark Fox’s team. That loss will be looked at in a negative context on Selection Sunday if the Bulldogs are still vying for a spot.
We will end our conversation with the Florida Gators — a team that you would picture to be much higher in RPI. The Gators’ losses to sub-100 RPI opponents continue to hold them back from reaching a high RPI.
As you can see, Florida has played a very tough schedule (ranked No. 21 in the nation) and this has helped Mike White’s squad; however, they will need to avoid losses like the one they suffered to Loyola Chicago.
And in case you missed the first RPI report last week, here’s a reminder of the changes that have been made to the NCAA Tournament selection process.
Note: If using a mobile device, you will need to turn it sideways to properly view the table below.
SEC RPI Report – Monday, Dec. 11th
| SEC | NCAA | Team | Record | SOS | Quad 1 | Quad 2 | Quad 3 | Quad 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | Missouri | 9-2 | 20 | 3-2 | 1-0 | 2-0 | 2-0 |
| 2 | 8 | Arkansas | 8-2 | 11 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 4-0 | 2-0 |
| 3 | 9 | Texas A&M | 9-1 | 47 | 2-1 | 1-0 | 3-0 | 3-0 |
| 4 | 16 | Tennessee | 7-2 | 8 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 3-0 | 2-0 |
| 5 | 26 | Alabama | 7-3 | 16 | 3-2 | 1-1 | 2-0 | 1-0 |
| 6 | 29 | Kentucky | 9-1 | 92 | 0-1 | 1-0 | 4-0 | 4-0 |
| 7 | 35 | Auburn | 9-1 | 164 | 2-1 | 1-0 | 0-0 | 6-0 |
| 8 | 40 | S. Carolina | 8-2 | 117 | 0-1 | 1-1 | 3-0 | 4-0 |
| 9 | 54 | Miss. State | 9-1 | 233 | 0-1 | 2-0 | 1-0 | 5-0 |
| 10 | 57 | Florida | 6-4 | 21 | 2-2 | 0-1 | 1-1 | 3-0 |
| 11 | 90 | Georgia | 7-2 | 247 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 1-0 | 4-0 |
| 12 | 147 | LSU | 6-3 | 171 | 1-0 | 0-3 | 1-0 | 4-0 |
| 13 | 150 | Vanderbilt | 3-7 | 17 | 0-4 | 0-2 | 1-1 | 2-0 |
| 14 | 194 | Ole Miss | 5-5 | 112 | 0-2 | 0-1 | 1-2 | 4-0 |
** All data presented in this report is courtesy of the NCAA’s Nitty Gritty & Team Sheet Reports **
Now that we have taken a look at the current positioning and figures for each SEC team, let’s take a look at what the next week of basketball holds for each of the 14 squads.
The Week Ahead (Dec. 18 – Dec. 24)
Alabama Crimson Tide
| Date | Opponent (H/N/A) | Record | RPI |
| 12/19/17 | Mercer Bears (N) | 4-5 | #145 |
| 12/22/17 | Texas Longhorns (N) | 7-3 | #65 |
Arkansas Razorbacks
| Date | Opponent (H/N/A) | Record | RPI |
| 12/19/17 | Oral Roberts (H) | 3-8 | #188 |
Auburn Tigers
| Date | Opponent (H/N/A) | Record | RPI |
| 12/19/17 | Murray State Racers (A) | 5-2 | #129 |
| 12/23/17 | UConn Huskies (H) | 7-3 | #111 |
Florida Gators
| Date | Opponent (H/N/A) | Record | RPI |
| 12/20/17 | James Madison Dukes (H) | 3-8 | #343 |
| 12/22/17 | Incarnate Word Cardinals (H) | 5-3 | #256 |
Georgia Bulldogs
| Date | Opponent (H/N/A) | Record | RPI |
| 12/19/17 | Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (H) | 5-4 | #235 |
| 12/22/17 | Temple Owls (H) | 7-3 | #11 |
Kentucky Wildcats
| Date | Opponent (H/N/A) | Record | RPI |
| 12/23/17 | UCLA Bruins (N) | 7-3 | #116 |
LSU Tigers
| Date | Opponent (H/N/A) | Record | RPI |
| 12/19/17 | Sam Houston State (H) | 6-5 | #261 |
| 12/22/17 | North Florida Ospreys (H) | 3-8 | #176 |
Mississippi State Bulldogs
| Date | Opponent (H/N/A) | Record | RPI |
| 12/20/17 | Little Rock Trojans (H) | 2-8 | #320 |
| 12/23/17 | Southern Miss Golden Eagles (N) | 7-4 | #255 |
Missouri Tigers
| Date | Opponent (H/N/A) | Record | RPI |
| 12/19/17 | Stephen F. Austin (H) | 7-1 | #69 |
| 12/23/17 | Illinois Fighting Illini (N) | 7-5 | #200 |
Ole Miss Rebels
| Date | Opponent (H/N/A) | Record | RPI |
| 12/19/17 | Texas A&M – Corpus Christi (H) | 0-6 | #344 |
| 12/22/17 | Bradley Braves (H) | 8-2 | #157 |
South Carolina Gamecocks
| Date | Opponent (H/N/A) | Record | RPI |
| 12/19/17 | Clemson Tigers (H) | 9-1 | #33 |
Tennessee Volunteers
| Date | Opponent (H/N/A) | Record | RPI |
| 12/20/17 | Furman Paladins (H) | 7-3 | #108 |
| 12/23/17 | Wake Forest Demon Deacons (A) | 6-4 | #170 |
Texas A&M Aggies
| Date | Opponent (H/N/A) | Record | RPI |
| 12/19/17 | Northern Kentucky (H) | 5-4 | #173 |
| 12/21/17 | Buffalo Bulls (H) | 6-3 | #63 |
Vanderbilt Commodores
| Date | Opponent (H/N/A) | Record | RPI |
| 12/20/17 | Houston Baptist (H) | 1-7 | #298 |
| 12/22/17 | Alcorn State (H) | 0-8 | #262 |