The SEC is 42–2 as a conference over the past 13 days with wins over Kansas, Gonzaga, Purdue, Illinois, North Carolina, Clemson, Ohio State, Louisville, Creighton, Arizona State and Michigan (twice). I know some of you might be tired of hearing it, but we really are watching arguably the most impressive non-league performance by a conference in the history of college basketball.
Current SEC record: 157-20.
Every other power conference has at least twice as many losses. No other power conference is within 11 victories. The SEC's top-ranked KenPom.com rating is up to +20.01, which is 3.20 points higher than the second-best league (Big 12). As longtime researcher Jared Berson noted, the SEC is now an incredible 19-8 in nonconference games against teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 poll.
"I think this non-conference performance is such an outlier," Berson tweeted, "that it will never be matched."
There are 10 SEC schools in Friday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings — including each of the top two (No. 1 Tennessee, No. 2 Auburn), three of the top four (No. 4 Kentucky), four of the top six (No. 6 Alabama), five of the top eight (No. 8 Florida), six of the top 11 (No. 11 Ole Miss), seven of the top 14 (No. 14 Texas A&M), and eight of the top 17 (No. 17 Mississippi State).
Then there's No. 25 Oklahoma and No. 26 Georgia, the latter of which improved to 10-1 Thursday with a 100-49 victory over Buffalo that provided the SEC with its 10th double-digit win of the week. It's an interesting season the Bulldogs are having, almost entirely off of the national radar, mostly because nine of their 11 games have been played against teams ranked outside of the top 100 of the NET. But, again, Georgia is 10-1 with wins over St. John's and Notre Dame; the lone loss is to a Marquette team that's No. 9 in the Top 25 And 1. That's a solid body of work nearly seven weeks into the season.
Am I ready to completely vouch for Georgia?
Not quite. I need to see more.
But 10-1 through 11 games has definitely exceeded expectations, and as long as the Bulldogs can avoid upsets in their final two non-league games against Charleston Southern and South Carolina State, they might not even have to go .500 the rest of the way to secure an at-large bid to the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
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Top 25 And 1 rankings
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Chaz Lanier finished with 19 points and seven rebounds in Tuesday's 84-36 win over Western Carolina. The Vols' next game is Monday against Middle Tennessee. | -- | 21-5 | |
2 | Chaney Johnson finished with 26 points and eight rebounds in Tuesday's 100-59 win over Georgia State. The Tigers' next game is Saturday against Purdue. | -- | 23-2 | |
3 | Keshon Gilbert finished with 16 points and four assists in Sunday's 83-51 win over Omaha. The Cyclones' next game is Sunday against Morgan State. | -- | 20-5 | |
4 | Lamont Butler finished with 33 points and six assists in Saturday's 93-85 win over Louisville. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday against Ohio State. | -- | 17-8 | |
5 | Cooper Flagg finished with 24 points and nine rebounds in Tuesday's 68-47 win over George Mason. The Blue Devils' next game is Saturday against Georgia Tech. | -- | 23-3 | |
6 | Mark Sears finished with 23 points and five assists in Wednesday's 97-90 win at North Dakota. The Crimson Tide's next game is Sunday against Kent State. | -- | 21-4 | |
7 | Hunter Dickinson finished with 21 points and 14 rebounds in Saturday's 75-60 win over NC State. The Jayhawks' next game is Sunday against Brown. | -- | 17-8 | |
8 | Will Richard finished with 22 points and six rebounds in Tuesday's 90-84 win over North Carolina. The Gators' next game is Saturday against North Florida. | -- | 22-3 | |
9 | Kam Jones finished with 23 points and seven rebounds in Wednesday's 80-70 win over Butler. The Golden Eagles' next game is Saturday at Xavier. | -- | 19-6 | |
10 | Xavier Booker finished with 18 points and six rebounds in Tuesday's 77-58 win over Oakland. The Spartans' next game is Saturday against Florida Atlantic. | -- | 20-5 | |
11 | Jaylen Murray finished with 18 points and five assists in Tuesday's 74-61 win over Southern. The Rebels' next game is Saturday against Queens. | -- | 19-7 | |
12 | Dylan Andrews finished with 21 points and six assists in Tuesday's 111-75 win over Prairie View. The Bruins' next game is Saturday against North Carolina. | -- | 19-7 | |
13 | Brandon Angel finished with 15 points and six rebounds in Sunday's 79-61 win over Stephen F. Austin. The Ducks' next game is Saturday against Stanford. | -- | 18-8 | |
14 | Zhuric Phelps finished with 16 points and four assists in Saturday's 70-66 win over Purdue. The Aggies' next game is Friday against Houston Christian. | -- | 20-5 | |
15 | Braden Smith had six turnovers in Saturday's 70-66 loss to Texas A&M. The Boilermakers' next game is Saturday against Auburn. | -- | 19-7 | |
16 | Selton Miguel finished with 24 points and four assists in Tuesday's 111-57 win over St. Francis (PA). The Terrapins' next game is Saturday against Syracuse. | -- | 20-6 | |
17 | Claudell Harris Jr. finished with 19 points and four rebounds in Tuesday's 83-59 win over Central Michigan. The Bulldogs' next game is Saturday at Memphis. | -- | 18-7 | |
18 | Nate Santos finished with 14 points and four rebounds in Tuesday's 66-65 win over UNLV. The Flyers' next game is Friday against Cincinnati. | -- | 18-8 | |
19 | Kasparas Jakucionis was 5 of 15 from the field in Saturday's 66-64 loss to Tennessee. The Illini's next game is Sunday against Missouri. | -- | 17-9 | |
20 | PJ Haggerty finished with 27 points and five assists in Wednesday's 64-62 win at Virginia. The Tigers' next game is Saturday against Mississippi State. | -- | 21-5 | |
21 | Solo Ball finished with 22 points and four steals in Wednesday's 94-89 overtime win over Xavier. The Huskies' next game is Saturday at Butler. | -- | 17-8 | |
22 | Braden Huff finished with 25 points and six rebounds in Wednesday's 102-72 win over Nichols. The Zags' next game is Saturday against Bucknell. | -- | 20-7 | |
23 | Miles Byrd finished with 19 points and two assists in Wednesday's 81-75 win over Cal Baptist. The Aztecs' next game is Saturday against Cal. | -- | 17-6 | |
24 | Terrence Arceneaux finished with 16 points and nine rebounds in Wednesday's 78-49 win over Toledo. The Cougars' next game is Saturday against Texas A&M Corpus Christi. | -- | 21-4 | |
25 | Jeremiah Fears finished with 30 points and four assists in Wednesday's 87-86 win over Michigan. The Sooners' next game is Sunday against Central Arkansas. | -- | 16-9 | |
26 | Asa Newell finished with 16 points and six rebounds in Thursday's 100-49 win over Buffalo. The Bulldogs' next game is Sunday against Charleston Southern. | -- | 16-10 |