It’s a yearly tradition that writers in every sport offer up their preseason predictions.
It’s also a yearly tradition that most of those predictions turn out to be wildly inaccurate.
The SEC basketball preseason media poll was not good. My preseason power rankings? Also not good, my friends.
And while some people make take themselves too seriously and try to justify every preseason pick, I’m not going to do that.
Instead, I’m going to tell you that I was flat out wrong on some of these teams.
But I think we all knew that would be the case. The SEC was as competitive as we thought it would be, and that made for a lot of unpredictable action along the way.
So, let’s have some fun and look at where things went wrong when I put together my 4,854-word preseason masterpiece.
And just as a note, the rankings comparison will be based on SEC Tournament seeds. So, while I know several teams finished tied in certain places, it’s easier to do this with the 1-14 seeding.
This will not be pretty.
1. Auburn (Preseason: 6)
I was higher on Auburn than most people were entering the season, and throughout most of the preseason, had Bruce Pearl’s team slotted at No. 5 in the league.
People certainly underrated this team’s depth and balance, and the Tigers’ ability to navigate through the issues both on and off the court make this outcome even that more incredible.
2. Tennessee (Preseason: 12)
Here it is straight from the horse’s mouth:
Of all the teams in this 7-12 stretch, Tennessee was the most difficult to place. The Vols had the luxury of being ranked at No. 7 for several months, and while I placed them here, I can see Tennessee having enough in place to make the NCAA Tournament.
Actually, you know what? I see what happened here. I accidentally typed a “1” before the “2.”
Simple typing mistake. Happens every day, guys.
3. Florida (Preseason: 2)
Florida looked like the team to beat at the PK80, but things got a little ugly after that. However, after an up and down season, the Gators are back to playing like a second-weekend NCAA Tournament team.
4. Kentucky (Preseason: 1)
I was not confident at all in picking Kentucky at the top and had Florida slotted as my top team for most of the summer. But I decided to go with the safe choice. Remember kids, life is all about taking risks.
5. Missouri (Preseason: 5)
6. Arkansas (Preseason: 7)
I didn’t miss too badly on Arkansas, and Daniel Gafford’s ability to step in right away and make a huge impact was the difference.
7. Mississippi State (Preseason: 10)
This was another one of those teams that I shuffled around in that 7-12 range. The added year of experience certainly helped this team make serious progress in Ben Howland’s third season.
8. Texas A&M (Preseason: 4)
I don’t think anyone could’ve predicted Texas A&M’s downward spiral after such a masterful run in the pre-conference. The injuries and suspensions hurt this team’s ceiling big time, but the Aggies will still be a difficult matchup in postseason play.
9. Alabama (Preseason: 3)
This felt like Alabama’s season in a nutshell:
There were lows (ugly losses to UCF/Texas/UGA/Missouri), there were highs (wins over A&M/Auburn/Oklahoma/Florida/Tennessee), and then came the smack in the face (the five-game losing streak to end the season).
What makes Alabama’s finish so disappointing is that it proved many times that it could beat some of the nation’s top teams, but the Tide could never find the consistency needed to meet preseason expectations.
10. LSU (Preseason: 14)
Give Will Wade and his staff a lot of credit for what happened in Baton Rouge this season. You never know how quickly a program can turn around when faced with a coaching change and a new system, but the Tigers were significantly better than most thought they’d be.
11. South Carolina (Preseason: 13)
South Carolina fans were not pleased with me when I picked this team 13th, but my concerns proved to be legitimate. The Gamecocks lost so much production from last year’s Final Four team, and the offensive inconsistencies limited their ability to stay in the upper half.
12. Georgia (Preseason: 11)
Even in having the best overall player in the SEC, the shooting and depth issues remained a common theme for the Bulldogs. Some publications had this team in the top three in the league, and I just never saw that happening after losing a playmaker like J.J. Frazier.
13. Vanderbilt (Preseason: 8)
Losing Luke Kornet turned out to be a really big deal, as it presented problems for this team on both ends of the floor. On the bright side, the Commodores played much better as the season went along, and Jeff Roberson and Riley LaChance deserve all the credit in the world for their ability to keep this team competitive in most games.
14. Ole Miss (Preseason: 9)
I labeled Ole Miss as one of my sleeper teams entering the season, and well, that didn’t work out too well. Obviously, none of saw Andy Kennedy’s exit coming during the season, and this was a case of a team never being able to put it all together.
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