We’re only days away from the start of SEC play, but a few teams still have non-conference games on the schedule.
Arkansas and South Carolina will hit the court today, while LSU, Kentucky, Auburn, and Mississippi State will also face non-SEC competition this week.
As always, my predictions are based on team analysis and who I think will. Score projections are for my own amusement.
Let’s get to the picks.
Season Predictions Record (straight up): 132-30
Limestone at South Carolina – 3 PM EST, SEC Network+ (Game Preview)
There’s little doubt about the outcome of this game, but as I mentioned in the preview, it would be nice to see the Gamecocks find some confidence on the offensive end of the floor.
South Carolina is coming off a 48-point performance in a loss to Clemson, and finding consistency beyond Chris Silva will be crucial to being a top half team in the SEC this season.
But this game won’t be close, and perhaps it will give the Gamecocks some momentum ahead of Saturday’s conference opener against Ole Miss.
Prediction: South Carolina 78, Limestone 54
CSU Bakersfield at Arkansas – 8 PM EST, SEC Network (Game Preview)
We get an interesting clash of styles here, as one team wants to play fast and one teams want to play slow.
I’ll let you figure out which label applies to which team.
If this was last year’s Bakersfield team that made run to the NIT final four, I would give the Roadrunners a much better chance in this spot.
But with the Razorbacks playing excellent basketball right now and looking nearly flawless at home at times, this should allow Arkansas to add another one to the win column before hosting Tennessee on Saturday.
Prediction: Arkansas 83, CSU Bakersfield 65
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