What a week of College basketball and especially in the SEC, with the amount of great games and upsets this week.

South Carolina goes into Knoxville and beats Tennessee, Florida wins at Rupp, and that’s just in the SEC. No one is safe this year and this is just the regular season. With the amount of parity in College Basketball, can you imagine what the NCAA Tournament is going to be like?

This margin for error in this league is small and one off night will cost you. 

There has been a lot of talk with regards to the transfer portal and NIL. I will be the first to say that there needs to be some changes to both, but what it has done is create parody. It has allowed teams to overhaul their roster and also keep players in the school for longer. Teams now can change their roster overnight through the portal, which allows teams to compete quicker.

On the other hand, players that normally would turn pro are staying in college because of NIL. These are all great things for college basketball 

Take South Carolina for example, this team was one of the worst teams in the SEC last year. Now they have beaten two top ten teams on the road and should have been ranked last week. They added a couple of experienced transfers and it has changed their season.

Think of all the super seniors in the SEC that before NIL would have already gone pro, but now because of NIL are staying in school. Santiago Vescovi, Josiah Jordan-James, Johni Broome, Justin HIll, Allen Flannigan, and many others. All of these guys chose to stay in college largely due to NIL. To me this is a great thing for College Basketball and is the reason we are seeing such great games this year. 

First quad one win for Todd Golden’s squad

What a huge win for the Florida Gators and Todd Golden. This team has been so close to getting a quad one win and they finally got it.

Walter Clayton Jr. was fantastic in this game, as he hit 6 threes and the game tying three in regulation. I thought Florida’s veteran guards, who are both transfers, really gave the young guards for Kentucky trouble. I have been saying for weeks now that Kentucky has to guard the ball better and they continually let the Gators get into the paint.

Most of the three’s Florida made were just catch and shoot. Anyone at this level is going to be able to make stand still threes, especially kick outs from the paint. 

I thought Florida really battled in this game and they just kept hanging around in the game. They made a couple of big shots and were able to capitalize on Kentucky mistakes. For Kentucky, this is a bad loss and there is no other way to put it. I know they were without Justin Edwards and DJ Wagner, but you still can’t lose this game. The inability to guard is why this team stil has question marks. In particular, the way other teams are able to drive and get into the paint and the lapses in defensive positioning is troubling. This team seems to be out of position constantly defensively. 

After all of this if the Wildcats had better end game execution they would have won the game. I’m still confused as to why Kentucky did not foul when they were up three. In this situation, you foul the Gators and force them to make the first free throw and miss the next on purpose and try to get the offensive rebound. Really odd game management from John Calipari.

I have been very complimentary of Reed Sheppard all year, but when you are up three there is one thing that you can’t give up. On the Walter Clayton three, Reed Sheppard helped off of him and I’m still not sure why. I will be interested to see how the young Wildcats respond. 

Upset in Knoxville 

Let’s just state the obvious and that it's a travesty South Carolina is not a ranked team.

Lamont Paris is my SEC coach of the year and now they have the most impressive win of the season. I have said all year that South Carolina drags you into their style of play. It’s a slow paced offense and they play through their bigs. Defensively, they are very physical and force you to execute in the half court. I thought South Carolina’s game plan was fantastic, which involved posting up Zakai Ziegler and setting up corner threes.

The way Tennessee guards will result in giving up corner threes. South Carolina would overload a side with one shooter in the opposite corner. The Gamecocks would attack for Tennessee to help from the single side and kick out for a wide open three. 

I don’t want to take anything away from South Carolina, but this was an awful performance from the Vols. I have watched just about every second of this season of the Vols and I didn’t recognize the team I saw on Tuesday. The amount of wide open shots around the rim that were missed in the first half is something that can’t happen. Between missed layups and free throws this was a game to forget.

We have all talked about Dalton Knecht, but he can’t do it all. I felt the Vols went into the Knecht save us offense and there was no moment or anything. The fact that the Vols played that bad and still had a shot to win is incredible.

Dalton Knecht had another 30 point game and this guy is just incredible. He scored 13 points in like a three minute span. I am a little worried about the Vols because Knecht needs some help. Jonas Aidoo has been inconsistent and Zakai Ziegler had his worst game as a Vol.

I think Ziegler will be fine, but the play of Josiah Jordan-James has to be better. He is a fifth year guy, who has zero confidence right now. He is shooting five percent from three in conference play. This is so strange because he was playing the best basketball of his career. The massive drop off has me wondering if he is 100% healthy. 

Tide steal one in Athens

Georgia has to be kicking themselves, as this was the second top tier SEC team that they let come back and beat them.

These are things that will come back to hurt you come selection Sunday. Georgia had this game in control, until it started to turn the ball over and let Alabama get into transition. Once the Tide gained the momentum you could feel it coming. Grant Nelson had his best game in the Crimson Tide jersey as he hit two clutch threes to put the game away. Nelson was a highly rated transfer and hasn’t found his groove until this game. Marc Sears continued his great play and made some big plays as well. 

I thought the Georgia guards really struggled in the second half and over dribbled, which allowed for Bama to come back. I would have liked to see them play through Melendez, who was only 5-8 from the field. Melendez was coming off of a 30 point game and would have liked for him to be more involved. Good things happened when he touched the ball, he just didn’t touch it enough.

This is a big win for the Tide, as they are in sole position of first place. 

Best of the rest in the SEC

Let’s all welcome to Egg Bowl to college basketball. It was so cool to see the turnout for this game in Oxford. I think this is one of most underrated rivalries in sports and to see it matter in basketball was really cool to see.

Jaylen Murray led the way with 21 points and you can’t help but love the way he plays. Back to back games that Murray has came up huge late in games. If you are a small guard watch Murray. If you can make shots you can make it anywhere.

Arkansas picked up a much needed win in Columbia as Tramon Mark continues to play All SEC ball. I wonder if Mark is having second thoughts about transferring from Houston. This Razorback team has played a lot harder the past two games. Seems the Devo Davis story is something and I will leave it at that.

Missouri still does not have a conference win and I think it begs the question is Dennis Gates job in jeopardy. Auburn stopped its two losing streak, but I’m not taking anything from it. Jerry Stakehouse looks out at Vandy. 

Looking ahead to the weekend

The game of the week is easy and is probably the game of the year.

It will take place in Lexington as Tennessee travels to Kentucky. Two top ten teams looking to avoid back to back losses. This is the best rivalry in SEC college basketball and is getting to be one of the best in basketball. These fan bases can’t stand each other and make for great games. I think Tennessee will be able to get good looks on the Wildcats and this is an opportunity for Dalton Knecht to make his case for the Wooden award.

For Kentucky, this will be the best defense that they have faced and I’m interested to see if they can get transition looks. Also, how and who will guard Dalton Knecht because I’m not sure that’s a great matchup for the Wildcats. I do think the Wildcats can really hurt the Vols on the offensive glass. 

I will also be keeping an eye on Auburn-Ole Miss as Auburn tries to win its first quad won game. Auburn is a different team away from and Ole MIss is riding off of two big wins.

South Carolina looks to avoid a let down and get revenge on the Georgia Bulldogs. Athens has turned into a pretty good environment and I think the Bulldogs could upset the Gamecocks.

Florida goes to College Station in what is a must win for Buzz Williams. Florida has a chance to get back to back quad one wins. Mississippi State goes to Alabama and I will keep saying this, but the Bulldogs can beat anyone so the Tide better come ready to play.

Arkansas will go to LSU in what I think has the potential to be a very close and fun game. It might not be two great teams, but has the making of being a good one.

Missouri goes to Vanderbilt as someone will pick up its first conference win of the year.

Enjoy this weekend of College Basketball, as this might be the best set of games all year.