The SEC is a basketball convention now.
On Sunday, Missouri (8-1) pulled off a shocking 76-67 win over No. 1 Kansas (7-2) to proceed the convention’s excellent begin to the 2024-25 season.
The Tigers jumped out to a 14-point residence lead and held the Jayhawks to 39.7% on their subject aim makes an attempt. Missouri had an awesome benefit on the free throw line, going 26-of-31 in comparison with 9-of-11 for Kansas.
Whereas SEC commissioner Greg Sankey fumes over his convention receiving three bids within the 12-team School Soccer Playoff, the convention’s basketball domination this season ought to decrease his blood strain.
Missouri’s win caps a whirlwind first month of the lads’s faculty basketball season for the SEC.
The convention has a country-high eight groups ranked in the newest Related Press ballot. It went 14-2 in a dominant SEC/ACC problem exhibiting. NCAA.com’s Mike Lopresti notes that the SEC was 6-2 in street video games within the problem and gained 11 by double digits, together with 5 by no less than 20 factors.
Already this season, No. 2 Auburn (8-1) and No. 10 Alabama (7-2) have wins over No. 17 Houston (5-3) and No. 20 North Carolina (5-4). The Tigers additionally gained 83-81 over No. 6 Iowa State (6-1).
No. 4 Kentucky (8-1) beat No. 9 Duke (6-2) in November and No. 7 Gonzaga (7-2) in time beyond regulation on Saturday evening.
Mississippi State (7-1) notched its largest margin of victory in opposition to a ranked opponent in program historical past with a 90-57 romp over No. 18 Pittsburgh.
Tennessee, the seemingly subsequent No. 1 workforce within the AP rankings, has jumped out to an 8-0 begin with a mean margin of victory of 26.8 factors per sport.
Per Lopresti’s Dec. 5 article, the SEC was 43-15 in opposition to energy convention opponents (ACC, Huge East, Huge Ten and Huge 12) earlier than this weekend.
Per KenPom, Missouri is the third-worst SEC workforce. In the course of the preseason, SEC media members picked it to complete thirteenth (out of 16 groups) within the convention. Its win over Kansas is an additional signal of the SEC’s outstanding 2024-25 depth.
The convention is the clear finest in faculty basketball, a truth insider Jon Rothstein famous on Saturday when pointing to the resumes of Oklahoma and Vanderbilt, groups predicted to complete final within the SEC this season.
Rothstein wrote that the Sooners “gained the Battle 4 Atlantis and [are] undefeated,” whereas the Commodores are “9-1 and 4-0 in opposition to energy convention groups.”
