SEC Basketball Power Poll Ballot, Week of 1/17/2012

by Glenn Logan on Jan 17, 2012 8:22 AM EST in College Basketball

It's time for the SEC Power Poll again, which is always published, once it's compiled, over at Garnet and Black Attack. This week's Power Poll features a few changes from last week. The biggest movers on my ballot are Tennessee, Mississippi, Auburn and Georgia.

Here's how the SEC fared against one another last week:

Date	Visiting Team	Score	Home Team	Score	Location	Box	Notes
01/10/12	Georgia	48	Florida	70	O'Connell Center	Boxscore	Blowout
01/10/12	Vanderbilt	67	South Carolina	57	Colonial Life Arena	Boxscore	Closer than expected
01/11/12	Kentucky	68	Auburn	53	Auburn Arena	Boxscore	Closer than the score
01/11/12	Arkansas	63	Ole Miss	71	Tad Smith Coliseum	Boxscore
01/11/12	LSU	53	Alabama	69	Coleman Coliseum	Boxscore
01/12/12	Tennessee	58	Mississippi State	62	Humphrey Coliseum	Boxscore	Closer than expected
01/14/12	Kentucky	65	Tennessee	62	Thompson-Boling Arena	Boxscore	Closer than expected
01/14/12	Ole Miss	68	Auburn	69	Auburn Arena	Boxscore	Mild upset
01/14/12	Alabama	52	Mississippi State	56	Humphrey Coliseum	Boxscore
01/14/12	Georgia	66	Vanderbilt	77	Memorial Gym (TN)	Boxscore	Closer than expected
01/14/12	Florida	79	South Carolina	65	Colonial Life Arena	Boxscore
01/14/12	LSU	60	Arkansas	69	Bud Walton Arena	Boxscore	Mild upset

Join me past the jump for more.

Here's my ballot for this week:

Rank	Last wk.	Delta	Team	Overall	Conf	Proj	Pomeroy	AdjO	AdjD	AdjT	Conf SOS	Comments
1	1	0	Kentucky	17-1	3-0	14-2	0.9535	115.5	86.0	68.8	0.6206	Much the best, but playing below their potential.
2	2	0	Alabama	13-4	2-1	12-4	0.9171	107.6	85.1	63.7	0.7610	Road loss to MSU can be forgiven. Defense keeps them in games, but 3-pt shooting still a glaring problem.
3	4	1	Florida	14-4	2-1	11-5	0.9229	122.7	96.3	67.0	0.6751	Drubbed by Tennessee, but came back strong against Georgia. Front line dept is beginning to take it's toll.
4	3	-1	Vanderbilt	13-4	3-0	10-6	0.8451	109.4	92.7	67.0	0.4944	Very tempted to put them third. The 'Dores are taking care of business, and showing why they were once ranked top ten.
5	5	0	Mississippi St.	15-3	2-1	9-7	0.8018	109.8	95.8	67.4	0.7731	A bad loss to Arkansas makes me wonder about them, but they are taking care of business at home.
6	6	0	Louisiana St.	11-6	1-2	7-9	0.7476	99.8	89.8	67.0	0.8199	The road is taking a toll on the Tigers, and 42% from inside the arc is a real problem.
7	8	1	Arkansas	13-4	2-1	8-8	0.7427	104.0	93.8	72.6	0.6889	Undefeated at home this year. Keep an eye on this team, but their first road game is in Lexington.
8	10	2	Tennessee	8-9	1-2	7-9	0.6959	104.9	96.8	65.0	0.8911	With the addition of Jarnell Stokes, the Vols become a major spoiler.
9	7	-2	Mississippi	11-6	1-2	5-11	0.6166	96.0	91.7	67.9	0.6859	A loathsome shooting team, but a good defensive one. If they don't find some offense, though, a post-season of any kind is very unlikely.
10	12	2	Auburn	11-6	1-2	4-12	0.4131	95.2	98.6	66.3	0.8284	Played Kentucky tough at home, then turned around and beat Ole Miss. But don't look for too many surprises.
11	9	-2	Georgia	9-8	0-3	4-12	0.5903	103.9	100.2	63.3	0.9177	Georgia has had a very tough road so far, playing 3 of the top 4 league teams in their opening three games. Better matchup coming with the Vols at home, but that's a 50/50 proposition at best.
12	11	-1	South Carolina	8-9	0-3	4-12	0.6063	105.7	101.4	62.2	0.8999	Challenged Florida and Vandy at home. Eligible to improve.

Notes:

Florida's drubbing of Georgia caused me to raise them, but honestly, I'm not sure that's wise. They have yet to win on the road, and Vandy has. Vandy is eligible to move up.
The close Alabama loss at MSU did not bother me. Alabama is still the second or third best team in this league, but they have to prove it against Vandy on Thursday.
Is Arkansas about to become a factor?
Auburn won a game this week, and they sure played Kentucky tough. Signs of life?
South Carolina needs to beat somebody. They have young talent, but they have faced nothing but the class of the league so far.
The Dawgs have been disappointing so far, but to be fair, they have only played teams that should be much better than them.

Agree? Disagree? Comment away.

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Comments

I don't know what to think about UT. I knew it would be a tough game in Knoxville, no matter what, simply because of the

hostile environment. However, there were a lot of blue shirts there this time that I didnt expect, and that our comrades over at RTT are plenty upset about, especially in the lower arena. You are right that the road games tell the tale, and with the Cats already having more road wins this year than last year, I am pretty confident in them retaining control.

Mississippi State and Alabama to me represent the step children here. They are tough one minute and soft the next, but again the road is a factor. Florida has issues, but Florida always has issues, and then always somehow seems to deal with them and make it into the NCAAs, and also in making some people’s lives miserable come late in the season.

If Stokes continues his tear this season though for UT, they are going to be a tough group to handle come SEC Tourney time.

I am now and shall forever be the Cat in The Hat, The Artist Formerly Known As ABC!!!

by Greg Alan Edwards on Jan 17, 2012 9:22 AM EST reply actions

Welcome back Greg!

I would have to put Vandy higher myself.

by Grasslands1 on Jan 17, 2012 10:41 AM EST up reply actions

thanks Grasslands......Vandy to me just seems to be Vandy....

pretty good, just not great

I am now and shall forever be the Cat in The Hat, The Artist Formerly Known As ABC!!!

by Greg Alan Edwards on Jan 17, 2012 11:25 AM EST up reply actions

Kentucky fans do not travel and sit in the upper arena

They always find seats in the lower level, because opposing fans will sell them to them.

by jdogblue on Jan 17, 2012 5:50 PM EST up reply actions

I dont know.....I have sat in the upper arena at Knoxville, Nashville, Bloomington,

and The arena at Cincinnati to watch the guys play……and the stands had quite a few UK fans in them…..

I am now and shall forever be the Cat in The Hat, The Artist Formerly Known As ABC!!!

by Greg Alan Edwards on Jan 17, 2012 7:00 PM EST up reply actions

After UK, the next four are hard to rate

I could see having Vandy higher, but they haven’t played any good teams in the conference yet, but neither has Kentucky. I don’t know what to think about Florida. I still think Mississippi State is right up there and Rick Stansbury has to be on the hotseat and must be highly motivated to have a good year. Alabama’s defense is just plain nasty and will win them plenty of games, particularly at home. Tough choices. UK, Vandy, MSU, Florida and then Alabama, etc. etc.

by chicagoblues on Jan 17, 2012 11:30 AM EST reply actions