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SEC Starting Five: It’s time to bury Kentucky

Feb 12, 2018 | 12:13 PM

In case you missed it, we now live in a world in which Virginia is considered the best team in college basketball when they do not, in fact, play basketball. I don’t know what to call the thing that they do with basketball on a basketball court but it isn’t what I have come to know as basketball. Anyways, grab your shovels, your bagpipes and dress in black because it’s time that we bury Kentucky. Here’s the SEC Starting Five:

1. Go ahead and start playing the funeral march because whatever hopes and dreams John Calipari and Big Blue Nation had for this team are dead. An 85-74 loss to Texas A&M in College Station on Saturday night is just the latest setback during the Wildcats three-game losing streak, which really should be four if it were not for Vanderbilt doing what bad teams do by missing costly free throws at the end of regulation when they seemed to have the game in hand. Either way, I don’t see how there could be any thought that THIS Kentucky Wildcat team is good enough to ‘turn things around’. Kentucky can’t shoot the three ball, ranking 280th in three-point field goal percentage and dead last in the SEC in three-point makes. Kentucky also isn’t all that great of a passing team, ranking 8th in the SEC. Most importantly, this crop of freshmen doesn’t seem to get ‘it’. I’ve always hated the term ‘it’ because what the hell does it even mean and is ‘it’ quantifiable? I think this quote from Calipari does a pretty good job of explaining ‘it’:

Alrighty. So we know that Cal isn’t quitting but what about his team? It’s possible that I’ve missed similar quotes from the players, but I’ve yet to stumble upon anything reminiscent of those thoughts shared by their head coach. The excuses can be made that this team isn’t the top-tier one-and-done talent that Calipari is used to coaching and that the SEC is improved–both of those things are correct–but even with those ‘facts’ I don’t see the intensity that a Kentucky team needs to bring every night, not to just compete for championships, but to win. I don’t know what’s in each players heart so I won’t sit here and say that they don’t have any heart but I’m gonna need some proof that something is at least faintly beating underneath the blue and white checkboard shirts.

The final six games will determine whether or not this team has a say in mid-March during the NCAA Tournament because right now I’m not sure they get in. Kentucky is currently 20th in the RPI but lacks substance to its resume, posting a 2-5 record against Quadrant 1 opponents. KenPom projects UK to go 3-3 during the final stretch of games but outside of the Ole Miss’ trip to Lexington, of the other five games listed, at Auburn, vs Alabama, at Arkansas, vs Missouri and at Florida I don’t see one where I’m confident that Kentucky will win. A 2-4 finish would likely spell some anxiety heading into the SEC Tournament in St. Louis. Go one and out there and come Selection Sunday, Wildcat fans might be tuning into two selection shows.

2. After starting 0-5 in conference play, Texas A&M has finally fought back to level at 6-6, following their convincing win over Kentucky–their fourth straight. Last week, the Aggies proved that they could win in a hostile environment against a top-notch opponent when they upset No. 8 Auburn on the Plains. Then, they showed that they could outclass an inferior opponent Saturday night, leading Kentucky by as many as 23 in the second half. Sophomore forward Robert Williams has started to peak toward his NBA lottery pick potential, while freshman guard TJ Starks has been sensational off the bench during the winning streak, averaging 16.2 points per game and shooting over 58 percent from three. Starks will need to continue that solid play, particularly at the point guard spot, as starting point guard Duane Wilson appeared to reaggravate his partially torn ACL its out for the rest of the season.

Starks play and the absence of Wilson will be even more important following the dismissal of JJ Caldwell and indefinite suspension of Jay Jay Chandler for a violation of team rules. Injuries and suspensions have been a common theme for Billy Kennedy and A&M this year. Hopefully, now that the team seems to have put things together that the Aggies don’t revert back to the ways of early January.

3. Alabama continues to be the most mercurial team in the SEC. The Crimson Tide lose midweek at Mississippi State, then followed that loss up with 78-50 mauling of a Tennessee team that had won six straight when they arrived in Tuscaloosa. I’ve known all year long that Alabama is a different team in Coleman Coliseum but goodness can these guys put it all together already? Following the game on SEC Network, Avery Johnson acknowledged the up and down nature of his team, saying that he’d be the same come practice on Sunday, but he wasn’t sure which team he’d get after his players had their families and friends pat them on the back following the big win over the Vols.

As far as NCAA Tournament resumes go, the Crimson Tide are in good position for an at-large, sporting a 6-4 record vs Quadrant 1 opponents and an RPI of 33, both fitting right into the standard at-large profile.

4. Mississippi State had one of the greatest comebacks you’ll see in college basketball this season. Trailing 79-67 with 1:27 left, the Bulldogs went on an improbable 12-0 run to force overtime in Columbia. Aric Holman scored the first five points in overtime to cap off MSU’s 17-0 run. Unfortunately, there’s a reason why Ben Howland and his team have only have a single true road win this season and it showed as the Bulldogs went 0-for in the last 2:40 to lose 89-85. The loss is a major missed opportunity the bolster a flimsy resume. The win would’ve given State their second over a Quadrant 1 opponent, instead, the Bulldogs fall to 1-6 vs Q1 teams and still are held back by their 10 wins against those falling in Quadrant 4.

This season, for the first time, selection committee members will find ESPN’s BPI and strength of record metrics, along with the KPI, Sagarin Ratings and KenPom next to the RPI on the team sheets. Not sure this will benefit MSU, as their RPI of 57, is higher than their BPI (64),  KPI (62) and Sagarin (63) ratings, and level with their KenPom rating. The strength of record sitting at 55 is the only positive advanced analytics provides Howland and his team.

In his latest Bracketology, Lunardi has Mississippi State among his Next Four Out, while CBS Sports bracketologist Jerry Palm has the Bulldogs pegged in his First Four Out. Currently, the Bulldogs are a game out of a double-bye in St. Louis. It’s paramount that they land in the top four, not because it’ll help their tournament resume, more so that I don’t envision a scenario where an at-large bid is going to be provided to the boys from Starkville.

5. On Sunday, the NCAA Tournament selection committee provided their current top 16 seeds where Auburn and Tennessee found themselves a part of that 16.

Were the tournament to start today, the Tigers would be the No. 2 seed in the Midwest region alongside top seed Xavier, three seed Clemson and fourth seed Oklahoma.

The Volunteers would take part in the South Regional, with the regional final taking place in Atlanta about 214 miles from campus. Virginia would be the No. 1 seed, while Cincinnati and Michigan State would be slotted in as the second and fourth seeds, respectively.

Both teams are in good shape and Kentucky is in a curious position…

I didn’t view the show live so I have no idea who’s projections these would be, I assume it would be Palm’s doing, going off of the blueprint already set in place by the committee. In this scenario, the Wildcats would be in Nashville, which as anyone who’s been to the SEC tournament in the city knows, would be a major advantage for Kentucky. I’d feel sorry for Cincinnati to be a No. 2 seed and potentially have to play a road game in the second round. Then again, I wouldn’t.

Bonus:

Also…

Tennessee was dismantled by 28 points hours after this tweet was posted. I was never on board with the No. 1 seed talk but we can certainly put that to rest now.

CONFERENCE SLATE

Tuesday

#21 Texas A&M (17-8, 6-6 SEC) at Missouri (17-8, 7-5 SEC) 6:00 PM CT ESPNU

Arkansas (17-8, 6-6 SEC) at Ole Miss (11-14, 4-8 SEC) 6:00 PM CT SEC Network

South Carolina (13-12, 4-8 SEC) at #18 Tennessee (18-6, 8-4 SEC) 8:00 PM CT ESPNU

LSU (14-10, 5-7 SEC) at Alabama (16-9, 7-5 SEC) 8:00 PM SEC Network

Wednesday

Mississippi State (18-7, 6-6 SEC) at Vanderbilt (9-16, 3-9 SEC) 6:00 PM CT SEC Network

Kentucky (17-8, 6-6 SEC) at #10 Auburn (22-3, 10-2 SEC) 8:00 PM CT ESPN2

Georgia (13-11, 4-8 SEC) at Florida (17-8, 8-4 SEC) 8:00 PM CT SEC Network

 

Check back on Friday for the SEC Starting Five as I look back on the week that was in SEC basketball and preview the weekend ahead. For updates throughout the week, follow me on Twitter, @JulianCouncil.

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