SEC bit of unexpected, yet strangely respected mess

Arkansas, Missouri, Vanderbilt at top even though history, projections say they shouldn't be

Arkansas Razorbacks Billy Richmond during game against the Jackson State Tigers at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark. | Nilsen Roman-allHOGS Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — It's been a bit of a weird ride for the SEC in basketball so far this season. Everything about it seems to be a bit of an oxymoron.

The conference had a historic run last season by getting nearly the entire roster into the NCAA Tournament and making up half the field for most of the proceedings, including Florida coming away with the national championship. However, this year has been disappointing as the SEC has come up short nearly every time one of its teams has faced a Power Four opponent, especially those who are ranked.

As a result, it was expected that the number of SEC teams slated in prime position to make the postseason would go down significantly. However, according to the most recent bracketology by Joe Lunardi, which has been shockingly accurate over the past few years, the conference is expected to hit double digits once again with the chance that one particular team that is probably surprised to find itself just outside of the field has good odds of squeezing in also.

Right now, Florida, Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, Texas, Auburn, Georgia, Vanderbilt, Texas A&M and Kentucky are in. However, it's the SEC team that's left out that is worthy of headlines.

Top 3 conference leaders unexpected for own reasons

Coming into the season, it's unlikely anyone had Vanderbilt as their SEC favorite. Sure, the Commodores are great at baseball, and after these past couple of years have made a bit of noise in football, but there's no way Vandy could be good in basketball also.

Yet, there they are, tied at the top of the conference standings coming into the weekend with the best overall record. If it weren't for an upset in Austin at the hands of Texas earlier this week, the Commodores would still be undefeated, which is definitely not the Vandy way in basketball.

It's possible the Commodores will suddenly fall apart. After all, their schedule wasn't exactly tough.

However, they have strong guard play from Tyler Tanner and Tyler Nickel who do a good job of forcing turnovers, so that isn't as likely to happen. Duke Miles has evolved into a force at the forward spot as well.

Meanwhile, Arkansas is also tied atop the standings. This too is rather shocking.

It's not because the Razorbacks aren't a strong program with a ton of history that says they can feel comfortable front running. It's also not because of a lack of talent.

Freshman Darius Acuff literally racks up an award per week, while fellow freshman Maleek Thomas and veteran forward Trevon Brazile have lead a strong group of co-stars into runs of untouchable dominance when the Hogs are locked in.

No, the issue causing concern while simultaneously catching SEC fans off guard is when the Razorbacks are running out front.

The world seems a little off with Arkansas playing this strong right out the gate. Typically, the Razorbacks slog through January and early February, winning just enough game to stay in contention for a decent seed before cranking things up in late February and running full speed in March.

It is legitimately becoming a tad worrisome that the Hogs may be peaking a little early, which is a problem John Calipari was notorious for at Kentucky. He wasn't known as the football season champion for nothing.

As for the third team, heading into Saturday that mantle belonged to Missouri. The Tigers come into the weekend at 13-4 with a 3-1 conference record.

They have a non-conference blowout win over Minnesota, but the most important aspect of their resume is the three SEC wins come over Kentucky, Auburn and Florida with the win over the Wildcats coming in Rupp Arena.

Despite these impressive wins, the Tigers are among the first four out in Lundardi's bracket, leaving SEC officials to wonder what needs to be done to help nudge Mizzou into the field as the No. 11 team from the conference.

In addition to Arkansas, Vanderbilt and Missouri, both Florida and Texa A&M feature 3-1 SEC records as well.

The odd aspect of facing Georgia

This afternoon Arkansas will play one of those games that must be the inverse of Georgia playing the Razorbacks on one of the rare occasions the Hogs are good in football.

It just feels weird to be expected to respect the Bulldogs in basketball. It's even harder watching Blue Cain play and realizing his awkward style of play is likely going to result in another big day on the stat sheet.

Yes, Mike White is a great coach, so it's to be anticipated that Georgia would have a few good years, but it still seems strange. Perhaps no other SEC team potentially feels more wrong being formidable at basketball than the Bulldogs.

These two cap off a day of quality battles that began with a Kentucky 80-78 upset at No. 24 Tennessee and includes a highly anticipated war between No. 10 Vanderbilt and No. 19 Florida.

The Hogs and Dogs lock up at 3 p.m. on ESPN 2.