Another week has passed, with another series of Southeastern Conference games. One trend that seems apparent is that the SEC as a whole, particularly the "middle six", are steadily losing traction in the rankings. Unfortunately, with the exception of Florida, this is notable in the RPI rankings -- which are used directly by the NCAA Tournament committee. There are three clear NCAA Tournament teams right now - Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Tennessee - but, it's not clear who's going to make a statement and join them.
Moreover, the biggest game of the conference season takes place this week, as Kentucky visits Vanderbilt. Kentucky can all but lock up the SEC Championship and a #1 seed with a road win in Nashville. A Vanderbilt win means that the Conference race will come down to the wire, and Vanderbilt will have a legitimate shot at a top 3 seed in the dance. (I'm pretty sure that my dream last night, in which I attended the opening round NCAA tournament game between 1 seed Kentucky and 4 seed Vanderbilt, was not prescient.)
Numbers for your consideration ...
CBS Sportsline* RPI | Rank | SOS | 1wk-trend | 5wk-trend |
Kentucky | 4 | 49 | +2 | +7 |
Vanderbilt | 11 | 21 | 0 | +10 |
Tennessee | 17 | 19 | +5 | +8 |
Ole Miss | 54 | 57 | -15 | -9 |
Florida | 58 | 62 | -2 | +25 |
Mississippi State | 63 | 99 | +9 | -13 |
South Carolina | 77 | 31 | -13 | -8 |
Alabama | 91 | 37 | +7 | -11 |
Georgia | 95 | 9 | +7 | +5 |
Arkansas | 113 | 45 | +1 | ? |
Auburn | 152 | 63 | -9 | ? |
LSU | 216 | 83 | +4 | ? |
* CBS Sportsline used because it is a consistently good approximation of the actual NCAA published weekly RPI. |
Pomeroy | Rank | SOS | 1wk-trend | 5wk-trend |
Kentucky | 8 | 77 | -1 | +3 |
Vanderbilt | 26 | 22 | -6 | -2 |
Tennessee | 29 | 47 | -1 | -17 |
Mississippi State | 40 | 98 | -1 | -3 |
Ole Miss | 43 | 58 | -3 | -26 |
Florida | 54 | 91 | -6 | -7 |
Alabama | 72 | 62 | -2 | +6 |
South Carolina | 79 | 36 | -1 | -10 |
Georgia | 89 | 11 | -1 | -1 |
Arkansas | 90 | 106 | +3 | ? |
Auburn | 106 | 78 | +2 | ? |
LSU | 200 | 63 | +8 | ? |
Sagarin | Rank | SOS | Predictor | 1wk-trend | 5wk-trend |
Kentucky | 4 | 80 | 8 | +2 | +1 |
Vanderbilt | 14 | 35 | 24 | +1 | +7 |
Tennessee | 20 | 51 | 23 | -4 | -7 |
Ole Miss | 43 | 68 | 39 | -7 | -21 |
Florida | 45 | 59 | 51 | -2 | +8 |
Mississippi State | 51 | 99 | 41 | +5 | -25 |
South Carolina | 74 | 22 | 76 | -5 | -1 |
Alabama | 80 | 64 | 70 | +2 | -8 |
Georgia | 93 | 4 | 93 | +2 | +10 |
Arkansas | 104 | 95 | 97 | +2 | ? |
Auburn | 126 | 72 | 107 | -3 | ? |
LSU | 198 | 71 | 186 | -1 | ? |
Basketball State | Rank | 1wk-trend | 2wk-trend |
Kentucky | 4 | +2 | +3 |
Vanderbilt | 11 | +1 | -1 |
Tennessee | 19 | -1 | -2 |
Mississippi State | 51 | +4 | -3 |
Ole Miss | 59 | -10 | -9 |
Florida | 71 | -6 | +3 |
South Carolina | 84 | -5 | -6 |
Alabama | 97 | +8 | -7 |
Georgia | 102 | -4 | +3 |
Arkansas | 113 | +10 | ? |
Auburn | 149 | +8 | ? |
LSU | 218 | +2 | ? |