The depth of SEC basketball

The SEC has consistently been one of the top conferences in the entire country when it comes to college basketball. However, this season the conference has taken a huge step forward and has solidified itself as the top conference in all of college basketball.

Not only is the conference very top-heavy, but it also has depth like no other conference in the entire country.

The SEC currently has eight teams ranked in the AP Top 25, which means that half the conference is ranked.

This includes No. 2 Auburn, No. 3 Tennessee and No. 4 Kentucky all in the top-5. Three out of the top five teams in the country coming from one conference shouldn’t happen, but with the SEC this season, it is warranted for how well these teams have performed.

Auburn looks to be one of the best teams in the entire country so far this season and could very well be the No. 1 team in the country if it wasn’t for Kansas’ incredible start, as well as the preseason hype from the Jayhawks.

Tennessee might be even better than last year when it had one of the best players in the entire country in Dalton Knecht and Kentucky has completely reloaded with Mark Pope, and Pope’s style of coaching and style of play seems to fit this era of college basketball more than John Calipari’s did over the past couple of years.

Then there’s the next group of teams in the conference with No. 10 Alabama and No. 13 Florida.

Alabama is another team that is a threat to win the national championship and despite some early season falls, the Crimson Tide will likely be right back up with the first group in the SEC.

On the other hand, Florida is more of an unknown team because of the struggles the Gators have gone through over the past couple of years. It may not even be considered a struggle because of the consistent berths into the NCAA Tournament, but for being the No. 13 team in the country, they have flown under the radar, so far.

The final tier of ranked teams and teams just outside the rankings is a bigger grouping of teams. But the fact that there are so many teams is what made this conference so deep.

The tier consists of No. 21 Oklahoma, No. 22 Texas A&M, No. 23 Ole Miss, Arkansas and Texas.

Oklahoma is another team that seems like it will fly under the radar the whole season and could pose a threat to those top teams. Texas A&M has one of the best guards in the country in Wade Taylor IV and on any given night he can take over a game. Ole Miss is similar to Oklahoma in that they don’t have that big-name player right now, but a couple of guys will become more known for the production they produce for the Rebels.

Arkansas and Texas will consistently be in and out of the rankings throughout the year and both teams at any given time could go on a run to rise in the rankings.

The rest of the SEC isn’t terrible, either and the expectation for even the top teams is for those higher-ranked teams to enter March Madness with no less than five losses.

It may not initially look good, record-wise, but when you look at the depth of the SEC, there could be some serious cannibalizing within its own conference.

Andrew Deal is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email asd5765@psu.edu.