The SEC is carrying real weight into this season, and Florida coach Todd Golden isn’t shy about saying it. With his team sitting atop the conference conversation and expected to chase both the league crown and a national title, Golden is just as bullish on the league around him.
“It’s going to be as good as it was two years ago,” he said. “Everybody got better.”
That’s a high bar, but it’s not coming out of nowhere. Two seasons ago, the SEC put 14 teams into the NCAA Tournament, and Florida and Auburn both made the Final Four.
Last year, the league sent 10 teams to the field, though the tournament has expanded from 68 to 76 teams this season. Golden believes that change, along with the overall strength of the conference, will help the SEC send even more teams this time around.
Seven SEC teams are ranked in the preseason AP Top 25.
Georgia coach Mike White echoed that confidence at SEC Media Days.
“This is going to be another historical year in the SEC,” Georgia coach Mike White said at SEC Media Days.
Florida is at the center of the buzz. The No.
1 Gators return four starters, including center Rueben Chinyelu, who was the national defensive player of the year. Forward Thomas Haugh earned first-team All-SEC honors, while Alex Condon made second-team all-SEC.
Golden also brings back point guard Boogie Fland and Urban Klavzar, who was the SEC sixth man of the year.
There’s plenty of respect elsewhere in the league too, and ESPN/SEC Network analyst Jimmy Dykes thinks the conference could stack up with 12 to 14 NCAA Tournament teams.
“I think the SEC will get between 12 and 14 teams in the field this year,” said ESPN/SEC Network analyst Jimmy Dykes. “There are a lot of great teams in the conference this year.”
Kentucky is one of the more intriguing pieces in that picture. The Wildcats have been pegged as a middle-of-the-pack team in a loaded league, but Dykes singled out one of their biggest additions: Iowa State transfer Milan Momcilovic, one of the country’s top 3-point shooters.
“Milan is so big and so skilled. He is an everyday guy who makes everybody better by the way he opens the floor for driving lanes,” Dykes said.
“He can make shots any way you have to make them as a 3-point shooter. He is the real deal.”
Dykes also pointed to Kentucky’s length and the way Mark Pope has targeted last season’s trouble spots and tried to clean them up.
“They just have a lot of good pieces for Mark Pope to work with this year. I like the vibe around this team a lot better than I did at the same time last year,” Dykes said. “They still obviously have work still to do but they have the pieces to be really good.”
And Dykes believes another addition could matter just as much: former Kentucky standout John Pelphrey joining Pope’s staff.
“He is one of my favorite guys that I ever coached at Kentucky. No one has ever understood the importance of that Kentucky jersey as much as John Pelphrey. He brings a ton of value to Kentucky,” Dykes said.
In Other News...
Kentucky Fans Have Every Right To Be Furious After Tennessee Loss
Kentucky left Neyland Stadium with more than a loss on its hands, because the Wildcats also left with a long list of grievances about how the game was called. Two moments in particular stood out: a missed defensive pass interference against Tennessee near halftime and an offsides no-call on Tennessees Qua Moss in the third quarter, both of which had the feel of swings that could matter in a tight road game.
For a Kentucky team still alive with three games left, the frustration is easy to understand. The Wildcats have enough football remaining to keep chasing a College Football Playoff path if they can win out, but a defeat like this one lingers because it invites the question of what might have been had those calls gone the other way. [Read more 🡒]
Kentucky Still Has SEC Attention But The Pressure Just Changed
The latest National Football Foundation Super 16 poll keeps Kentucky in the SEC conversation, even as the leagues hierarchy continues to shift around it. After Week 10, five conference teams made the list, with Georgia holding down the No. 1 spot after its win over Ole Miss and Alabama, Texas and Tennessee all landing ahead of the Wildcats.
Kentucky checking in at No. 13 is still a sign of national relevance, but it also underscores how much tighter the margin has become in the College Football Playoff race. With the SEC crowding the top of the poll, the Wildcats are no longer just trying to stay visible, they are trying to keep pace in a field where every result seems to reshape the picture. [Read more 🡒]
Kentuckys Biggest Concern From The Win Wont Go Away Before Kansas
James Madison kept firing away from deep against Kentucky, launching 45 three-pointers and tying a program record for most attempts by an opponent. The Wildcats still escaped with an 89-80 win by leaning on their interior scoring edge, but the game also exposed a familiar issue for a team trying to build momentum early in the season.
Perimeter defense is the part that will linger now, especially with Kansas next on the schedule. Kentucky can survive a night like this when its size and paint scoring hold up, but the margin gets much thinner if opponents keep getting that many clean looks from outside. [Read more 🡒]