A week ago, Missouri sat alone in second place in the SEC standings, and the talk around the Tigers was whether they could unseat first-place Alabama for a regular-season league title. Now, after consecutive losses against Mississippi and Arkansas, the Tigers sit sixth in the league, out of position to get a double-bye in the conference tournament if the season ended today.
Here's our weekly recap of what's happening around the league, where Arkansas, LSU and Ole Miss are on the rise, Mizzou and Mississippi State have taken a step back, and Florida and Texas A&M haven't taken the court in more than 10 days.
Risers and Fallers
Four SEC teams went 2-0 last week, and three of them now sit either in first place or tied for second in the conference standings. Alabama got back to its winning ways by surviving South Carolina on Wednesday, then rediscovered its overwhelming offense in a 115-82 beatdown of Georgia. The Crimson Tide have all but locked up the SEC regular-season crown and were revealed to be a two-seed by the NCAA Tournament selection committee during Saturday's tournament preview.
LSU might have had the best week in the league. Will Wade's team had lost four out of five games entering the week, but it easily handled Mississippi State on the road on Wednesday then cruised to a 13-point win over No. 16 Tennessee on Saturday. LSU's backcourt duo of Cameron Thomas and Javonte Smart combined to score 47 points against the Bulldogs and 45 against the Volunteers. LSU is now tied for second in the SEC standings, a position it shares with Arkansas, which also went 2-0 last week. The Razorbacks narrowly survived both Kentucky, winning 81-80, and then a Jeremiah Tilmon-less Missouri, which it beat in overtime. Even if it hasn't always been pretty, Arkansas has now won six consecutive SEC games and appears to have played itself pretty comfortably into the NCAA Tournament field.
The other team that has dramatically improved its postseason resume over the past couple weeks is Ole Miss. The Rebels thrashed Missouri 80-59 on Wednesday then held on to beat South Carolina on Saturday. They have now won four straight games, with two of those being Quadrant I games. Ole Miss has boosted its NET ranking 20 spots from two weeks ago today and will likely be squarely on the bubble to make the Big Dance during the stretch run.
On the other end of the spectrum, we find Missouri and Mississippi State. The Tigers had a tough week after rising into the top 10 of both the AP and Coaches' polls for the first time since 2012. The team couldn't match Ole Miss' effort on Wednesday and then couldn't overcome the absence of Tilmon and an injury to Kobe Brown on Saturday. Winning the league is now well outside the realm of possibility; the question now will be whether Missouri can do enough down the stretch to earn a top four finish and a double-bye in the conference tournament, as well as a top four seed for the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers were the No. 16 overall seed in the selection committee's preview as of Saturday.
No one had as bad a week as Mississippi State, however. The Bulldogs lost to LSU at home on Wednesday, which is excusable. But then they not only lost to Vanderbilt, which had won just one league game, on Saturday — they lost by 21. At home. Mississippi State probably didn't have much hope left of earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament at the start of the week, but now it has zero.
Mizzou opponent tracker
The good news for Missouri after a tough week is that the schedule gets a bit easier. Missouri will travel to Georgia on Tuesday and South Carolina on Saturday. Georgia had won three straight games entering this week but crashed back down to earth with losses to Tennessee and Alabama. The Bulldogs gave up an average of 102 points in the two losses. South Carolina continues to struggle, having now lost three straight games. The Gamecocks did at least make their matchups against Alabama and Ole Miss competitive, however, as it was within five points in the final minute of both games. Missouri led nearly wire-to-wire in an 81-70 win over South Carolina earlier this season.
This week's schedule
Tuesday, Feb. 9
Missouri at Georgia: 5:30 p.m., SEC Network
Florida at Arkansas: 6 p.m., ESPN 2
South Carolina at Tennessee: 7:30 p.m., SEC Network
Mississippi State at Auburn: 8 p.m., ESPN U
Wednesday, Feb. 10
Kentucky at Vanderbilt: 6 p.m, SEC Network
Alabama at Texas A&M: 8 p.m., SEC Network
LSU at Ole Miss: 8 p.m. ESPN U
Saturday, Feb. 13
Vanderbilt at Alabama: 12 p.m., SEC Network
Kentucky at Tennessee: 12 p.m., CBS
Missouri at South Carolina, 1 p.m., ESPN2
Georgia at Florida: 2:30 p.m., SEC Network
Auburn at LSU: 3 p.m., ESPN/ESPN2
Mississippi State at Ole Miss: 5 p.m., SEC Network
Arkansas at Texas A&M: 7:30 p.m., SEC Network
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