Conference preview: SEC

Maybe Kentucky and Alabama can work out a trade.

Kentucky has more than enough guards, but nobody to score in the post. Alabama has more than enough low-post scorers, but not enough guards.

Ah, well. Since a trade is out of the question, the Wildcats and Crimson Tide will have to make do with what they've got, handcuffed as they are by offseason attrition.

• Along with senior power forward Chuck Hayes, Kentucky lost junior small forward Kelenna Azubuike and, perhaps, freshman center Randolph Morris to professional basketball. The NCAA has yet to rule on Morris' eligibility.

• Along with senior shooting guard Earnest Shelton, Alabama lost junior wing Kennedy Winston to the NBA and junior college transfer shooting guard Ray George to academics.

Even with those losses, Kentucky and Alabama figure to be the class of the SEC this season. And, no, that doesn't say a lot for the SEC this season.

Kentucky

Top three: PG Rajon Rondo, SG Patrick Sparks, SF Joe Crawford.

NCAA or bust: Kentucky has all kinds of guards, with the above three likely to provide 40-plus points per game, plus Ramel Bradley and Ravi Moss off the bench. Kentucky also has all kinds of size, but it's not the same thing. None of the Wildcats' three 7-footers -- junior Shagari Alleyne, sophomore Lukasz Obrzut, freshman Jared Carter -- is ready for prime time, and the eligibility of 6-10 sophomore Randolph Morris remains to be seen. That puts the onus on a trio of decent 'tweener forwards -- juco transfer Rekalin Sims and fellow juniors Bobby Perry and Sheray Thomas -- to rebound and defend. Sims has been especially productive in exhibitions.

Alabama

Top three: PF Chuck Davis, PG Ronald Steele, C Jermareo Davidson.

NCAA or bust: Kentucky's polar opposite, the Crimson Tide have an abundance of low-post scorers but just one guard, Steele, whose backcourt mate will have to be a converted small forward like Justin Jonus or Jean Felix. If Alabama can get the ball up the court, it will be difficult to stop. Davis and freshman Richard Hendrix are low-block beasts, while Davidson ought to be good for multiple put-backs per game. Watch for opposing teams to play zone this season, which will put the pressure on Steele to hit 3-pointers. Word out of Tuscaloosa is that Steele is ready for the challenge.

LSU

Top three: C Glen Davis, PF Tasmin Mitchell, PG Tack Minor.

NCAA or bust: One year ago, LSU was pointing toward this season as a potential Final Four year. But then SG Regis Koundjia transferred to George Washington and PF Brandon Bass entered the NBA Draft. And now what could have been a special season in Baton Rouge will be merely good. Nothing wrong with good, mind you. Davis and his freshman sidekick, Mitchell, ought to be good for 30 points and 20 rebounds per game between them, and Minor and SG Darrel Mitchell are an explosive backcourt. If Minor can lead and LSU can defend, the Tigers will go to the NCAA Tournament. But what might have been ...

Vanderbilt

Top three: PG Mario Moore, PF Julian Terrell, SF Derrick Byars.

NCAA or bust: There's a reason Kevin Stallings' name comes up every time a marquee job in the Midwest comes open. And that reason is this: He does more with less. True, he has upgraded the Vanderbilt talent level in his six years there, but last season's team wasn't good enough to win 20 games.

And yet it did. So with the SEC down this year, who's to say Vanderbilt won't step into that vacuum and get to the NCAA Tournament? Not us. And this year, Vanderbilt has more, not less. Moore, SG Alex Gordon, SG Shan Foster and Virginia transfer Byars are formidable and versatile on the perimeter. To complement Terrell in the post, it says here Stallings will prepare someone else (Ted Skuchas? Davis Nwankwo? Byars?) to rebound and defend enough for the Commodores to win another 20.

Arkansas

Top three: PG Ronnie Brewer, C Darian Townes, SF Jonathon Modica.

NCAA or bust: Losing disgruntled sophomore Olu Famutimi to the NBA was addition by subtraction. And with everyone else back from last season's team that just barely missed reaching the NCAA Tournament, it stands to reason that Arkansas will get an NCAA bid. The biggest two reasons are Brewer and Townes, who are as long as any inside-outside combination in the country. If Modica can play up to his All-SEC sophomore season (16.5 ppg), instead of down to his junior season level (9.6 ppg), the Razorbacks will be one tough out in March.

Florida

Top three: SF Corey Brewer, PF Al Horford, PG Taurean Green.

NIT or bust: Billy Donovan's master plan of peaking this season with senior guards Matt Walsh and Anthony Roberson went into the dumpster when both juniors stayed in the 2005 NBA Draft. So now Donovan must make do with sophomores instead, most notably the three listed above and 6-10 C Joakim Noah. Brewer is a breakout candidate, while Horford could challenge LSU's Glen Davis for the SEC rebounding title. If Green can handle the burden of leadership, the Gators have a shot at the NCAA Tournament. But not a very good shot.

South Carolina

Top three: PG Tre' Kelley, SF Tarence Kinsey, PF Antoine Tisby.

NIT or bust: The Gamecocks lost their top scorer and rebounder last season, Carlos Powell, and didn't appear to replace him with any ready-made SEC starter at power forward. So forgive us for assuming the 2005 NIT championship will not be a springboard into the 2006 NCAA Tournament. However, the Gamecocks do have good guards -- Rocky Trice could have been one of those three names above -- and either of two junior big men, Brandon Wallace or Renaldo Balkman, could have a breakout season. If both have breakout seasons, we've got USC underrated.

Tennessee

Top three: SG Chris Lofton, PG C.J. Watson, PF Andre Patterson.

NIT or bust: The Volunteers might not be a whole lot better -- this season -- under new coach Bruce Pearl, but they'll be a lot more fun to watch. Pearl has brought his manic, faster-than-fast tempo to Tennessee, a style that can win in the SEC. Ask Alabama, which lost to Pearl's UW-Milwaukee program in the 2005 NCAA Tournament. That game helped Pearl get this job, interestingly enough, though Gottfried will probably extract payback on Feb. 18 when the Volunteers travel to Tuscaloosa. Then again, if Lofton and Watson are hitting their 3-pointers -- and we know Lofton will be hitting his -- and Tennessee can stay competitive on the boards, Pearl will upset a few teams. Not enough to get into the NCAA Tournament, but enough to get into the NIT.

Georgia

Top three: SG Levi Stukes, PG Sundiata Gaines, C Dave Bliss.

Bust: Dennis Felton continues to dig out of the hole left by Jim Harrick, adding a better-than-expected freshman class led by PG Mike Mercer. Unfortunately for Felton, Mercer's high school teammate -- SG Louis Williams -- stayed in the NBA Draft rather than playing for the Bulldogs. But Mercer was no package-deal tagalong. He's the real deal himself, and with Stukes, Gaines and SG Channing Toney, he gives the Bulldogs a quartet of guards that can match any in the SEC (other than Kentucky's). Georgia will be bigger this season, too, though not necessarily as big as possible. Its most SEC-ready frontcourt recruit, Kendrick Johnson, might redshirt after October ankle surgery. Felton's biggest recruit, 7-0 Rashaad Singleton, is a shot-blocking project who must play.

Mississippi State

Top three: SG Jamont Gordon, PF Charles Rhodes, PG Jamall Edmondson.

Bust: It's a long way down for the Bulldogs, who lost their entire starting five from last season's 23-victory team. Rick Stansbury often brings an eye-opening amount of talent to Starkville, Miss., and this year is no exception. But it's a reach to expect this freshman-dominated team to win more than it loses in the SEC, even if the SEC is down. However, watch for Gordon to try to do what Auburn's Toney Douglas almost did a year ago -- lead the SEC in scoring. Gordon is that good, and besides, who else is going to score for Mississippi State? I mean, besides Charles Rhodes?

Auburn

Top three: SG Frank Tolbert, C Joey Cameron, PF Korvotney Barber.

Bust: Speaking of Toney Douglas ... with him, Auburn might have been one of the top six teams in the SEC and therefore on the cusp of an NCAA Tournament bid. However, Douglas and his father decided there wasn't nearly enough "I" in the word "team," and so he'll spend the rest of his career at Florida State. FSU, which saw how disruptive one player (Von Wafer) can be, apparently didn't learn a thing from that experience. Shocking. Anyway, Auburn will have better inside-outside balance with frontcourt help from freshmen Cameron and Barber, and the midseason eligibility of Southern California transfer Emanuel Willis. But the Tigers are still a bit away from NCAA Tournament consideration.

Ole Miss

Top three: SF Londrick Nolen, PG Todd Abernethy, C Dwayne Curtis.

Bust: After winning just 13 SEC games in the past three seasons, Rebels coach Rod Barnes needed a talent infusion. He thought he got one with a monster recruiting class, only to find that three of his freshmen -- including centerpiece signee Carl Swanigan -- wouldn't be able to play this season. And so Ole Miss didn't get the talent infusion it needed. And so don't be surprised of Barnes isn't coaching here next season.