As Arkansas fans turn to basketball, they will find less impressive SEC

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas fans have done their best to keep up with what's going on in college sports, but they have to be forgiven if they are about to formally turn toward basketball season with little idea as to what's been going on in SEC play.

They have been focused on a football coaching search while keeping one side eye on Arkansas athletics director Hunter Yurachek and anything he might say while talking about the College Football Playoff and also another side eye capturing glimpses of the Razorbacks basketball season as it unfolds with a few more impact games than normal this time of year.

There definitely hasn't been much time to take note of what's been happening in arenas across the SEC following the greatest year in conference basketball history. There's a good chance there are Hogs fans out there who don't even realize Bruce Pearl isn't the Coach Pearl calling the shots down at Auburn anymore.

So, now that most people have their Christmas trees up and Ryan Silverfield has had a full week to settle in as head football coach, it's time to catch Arkansas fans on what they may have missed so far as we set the table for the upcoming basketball season.

Kentucky making best case for "SEC Shorts" to do basketball episodes

There's not enough support for the group over at "SEC Shorts" to dedicate resources to regular weekly episodes for basketball season, but what's going on right now in Lexington is more than enough to warrant at least a cameo in an upcoming episode.

The Wildcats made it a point to make sure everyone understood they were swinging around big bags of cash while trying to construct an even better machine for head coach Mark Pope to run in Year 2 of replacing John Calipari at Kentucky.

However, while they were being booed by every Kentucky fan who got shut out of season tickets and had to resort to making a special trip to Nashville this past week to see what turned out to be a historic blowout at the hands of Gonzaga, 94-59, as the once mighty Wildcats fell to 5-4 Friday night.

Kentucky is now 0-4 against ranked teams with Indiana, No. 22 St. John's and No. 12 Alabama filling up three of the next five schedule slots. Unless Pope can pull together what can best be described as a disjointed mess with his roster, the Wildcats will enter the second week of SEC play 7-7 while facing the pressure of early elimination from NCAA Tournament contention.

Vandy #1 in SEC

It was a toss-up between Vanderbilt being No. 1 in the SEC or Georgia being No. 2 as to which is more surprising.

Now, it should be noted that Central Florida and SMU top a list of "Who's Not" on the Commodores' schedule so far, although the Mustangs were undefeated before getting bounced by about 20 a few days ago. The team is led by buard Duke Miles, who is killing it from 3-point land at 43% while putting up 18 points per game.

Vanderbilt has Central Arkansas and Memphis next, so it won't be a surprise to see this designation stand for a while as the Commodores pad the win column prior to SEC play.

SEC only has one undefeated team

There was little question as to which conference dominated last season, but barely a week into December, that role in the college basketball world is deeply in question. Only Vanderbilt at 9-0 against its cupcake schedule is undefeated.

It seems every time an SEC team runs up against a ranked opponent, it loses. While Arkansas fans might be a little miffed the Hogs are 1-2 against the Top 25 with losses on the road at No. 9 Michigan State and in Chicago against No. 3 Duke, the conference as a whole is 6-20.

Sure, four of those losses belong to Kentucky, but with only Alabama not having a losing record against ranked teams at 2-2 with No. 1 Arizona next on the schedule this Saturday, the SEC is in real danger of not having a single team with at least a .500 record against the Top 25.

That's not a good sign for March as it will surely lessen the number of SEC teams getting into the tournament. Plus, it greatly reduces the amount of potential Quad 1 games available during conference play.

Right now, only Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, Auburn and Texas have Top 25 wins.

Fland not exactly appreciated in Florida

For those who thought former Arkansas freshman guard Boogie Fland disappeared into the NBA abyss, he withdrew from the draft and made big headlines by signing with defending national champion Florida for what is reported as at least $2 million.

He and Princeton transfer Xavian Lee were supposed to keep the Gators in the upper echelon of college basketball, but only a few weeks into the season, Florida fans have soured quite heavily on the pair. Gators fans aren't big on what they regularly describe as hero ball and inconsistent play from Fland that struggles to mesh with Lee in any way.

Other than a short few seconds after the former Razorback sank a three to go up on Duke with less than a minute to go last week, it's hard to find anything positive from Gators fans. They often accuse him of being bribed by gamblers because it's the only way they can rationalize his play.

However, for a fleeting moment, he was Gainesville's forgotten son. He was going to deliver a signature win over Duke. Then, after the Blue Devils regained the lead, Fland threw all that praise away just seconds later whe he inexplicably dribbled the ball off his legs with 6.7 seconds left, ensuring Duke would hold on in Cameron Indoor Arena.

Fland currently averages just over 12 points per game while playing over 30 minutes per contest. He also produces an average of two assists per game.

Kentucky making best case for "SEC Shorts" to do basketball episodes

Vandy #1 in SEC

SEC only has one undefeated team

Fland not exactly appreciated in Florida

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