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5 questions entering the SEC

College basketball season is almost here!

Between now and Nov. 4th, we’ll take an in-depth look at different conferences around the country.

Today’s focus is on the SEC:

1. How many SEC teams will reach the 2025 NCAA Tournament?
10 feels within the realm of possibility. That was not a misprint. 11 teams from the SEC — Alabama, Arkansas, Texas A&M, Auburn, Florida, Tennessee, Texas, Ole Miss, Kentucky, Mississippi State, and Georgia — are all ranked in the ROTHSTEIN 45 and that doesn’t include South Carolina, who advanced to the NCAA Tournament last season under Lamont Paris. There’s a strong change that the SEC has more representation in March Madness in 2025 than any other power conference.

2. How good is Alabama?
Good enough to currently be the number one team in the ROTHSTEIN 45. Months after Nate Oats led the Crimson Tide to the Final Four for the first time in program history, the expectations are higher in Tuscaloosa than they’ve ever been. National Player of the Year candidate Mark Sears headlines a returning nucleus which also features reliable wing Latrell Wrightsell and a pair of forwards — Grant Nelson and Jarin Stevenson — who were both major contributors last season. Former Rutgers big man Cliff Omoruyi headlines a top-flight transfer class which also features last season’s Co-American Conference Player of the Year Chris Youngblood (South Florida), Aden Holloway (Auburn), and Houston Mallette (Pepperdine). A pair of incoming freshmen — Derrion Reid and Aidan Sherell — were rated as five-star prospects. Anything less than a national title will be a disappointment in Tuscaloosa as this looks to be the most anticipated basketball season in the history of Alabama’s program.

3. Who will be the SEC’s top challenger to Alabama?
Arkansas, Texas A&M, Auburn, Florida, and Tennessee are all in the mix. Keep a close eye on the Razorbacks. John Calipari isn’t going to get the same attention in Fayetteville as he did when he was at Kentucky, but that doesn’t mean that he didn’t put together a quality basketball team. Three players from Kentucky — DJ Wagner, Adou Thiero, and Zvonimir Ivisic — followed their head coach while two others — Johnell Davis (Florida Atlantic) and Jonas Aidoo (Tennessee) — also committed as transfers. Calipari also retained veteran forward Trevon Brazile (8.6 points, 5.9 rebounds) and added a troika of top-30 freshmen in Boogie Fland, Karter Knox, and Billy Richmond. Arkansas has a squad.

4. What are reasonable expectations for Kentucky in Year One under Mark Pope?
To make the NCAA Tournament. That may not be what fans of the Wildcats want to hear, but that should the primary goal as Kentucky doesn’t return a single point scored from last season’s team that earned a three seed in the NCAA Tournament. There’s renewed optimism in Lexington because of the addition of Pope — a former Wildcat captain who was part of the 1996 national title team under Rick Pitino — but there’s a lot of things that he still has to prove at blue blood level. Pope’s predecessor — Calipari — had been to multiple Final Fours at UMass and Memphis respectively before he became Kentucky’s head coach in 2009. Pope has never won an NCAA Tournament game as a head coach.

5. Who is the sleeper?
Georgia. The Bulldogs return two key perimeter pieces — Silas Demary and Blue Cain — from last season’s team that won 20 games and advanced to the Postseason NIT while also adding a pair of potential starters — Tyrin Lawrence (Vanderbilt) and RJ Godfrey (Clemson) — via the transfer portal. A pair of top-50 freshmen — five-star forward Asa Newell and former Kentucky commit Somto Cyril — are also expected to have a significant impact. This feels like a bubble team.

Leftovers