SEC opening weekend said a lot by almost saying nothing

Razorbacks getting little company at top of SEC mountain in down year

Arkansas guard Darius Acuff Jr (5) reacts to a made three by a teammate during the second half against the Tennessee Volunteers at Bud Walton Arena. | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — After the first weekend of the SEC basketball season, there wasn't a whole lot of stunning news in terms of what was learned about the teams and what should be expected.

It was pretty clear. Here are the key takeaways:
1. It's a top heavy league with a handful of ranked teams fighting for OK seeding in the NCAA Tournament while the rest might enjoy a postseason in a more Tuesday friendly environment.
2. It's going to be a dog fight for the SEC Player of the Year as there is a handful of highly qualified competitors for the title.

Arkansas feels good, looks good

Arkansas guard Darius Acuff Jr (5) celebrates after a foul call against the Tennessee Volunteers during the second half at Bud Walton Arena. | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

Everyone was anxious to see freshman guard Darius Acuff make his SEC debut against Tennessee, which went about as expected with a dominant 29-point performance.

However, what became clear is it's not the potential SEC Player of the Year who is the canary in the coal mine for the Razorbacks.

Instead, as clearly established in the game against the Volunteers, that identity is bestowed upon fellow freshman star Maleek Thomas. That's because for a short while, Thomas disappeared.

That's why he had to come off the bench to get his 18 points and three steals. However, against Texas Tech, Queens and Houston,

Thomas drifted into a slump of terrible shooting where he went a combined 6-of-27, which was salvaged by a 3-of-8 night against Houston, for a three-game stretch where he produced an unusual string of single-digit performances.

🗣️ AND ONE pic.twitter.com/3zj8R34x5B

— Arkansas Razorbacks Men’s Basketball 🐗 (@RazorbackMBB) January 3, 2026

The Hogs managed to find a way against the No. 15 Red Raiders, but couldn't overcome the lack of production from Thomas in a 94-85 loss to No. 8 Houston. That's why it was such a big deal to see him rip off 28 points in 27 minutes against James Madison, which was the tune-up to Tennessee.

If Thomas can keep up this level of scoring in the SEC while continuing to be a nuisance on defense, the Razorbacks will be hard to stop all season, especially in Bud Walton.

Nine wins is not good enough

Alabama forward Amari Allen (5) shoots with Kentucky guard Jaland Lowe (15) defending at Coleman Coliseum. Alabama downed Kentucky 89-74. | Gary Cosby Jr.-Tuscaloosa News / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

One thing that became clear last Saturday is walking into an arena with nine wins plastered across a team's chest was a perfectly good reason to get slapped hard across the face and sent home in humiliation.

Every game that featured a team with nine wins saw a loser with nine wins once it ended. Kentucky set the tone by getting blasted by No. 14 Alabama, 89-74, and the rest followed suit.

Down went South Carolina, Florida, Auburn, and Texas. Just as a necessary note, Ole Miss, the only team with less than nine wins, also took an Oklahoma boot to the face, 86-70, and limped back to Mississippi with its eight wins hoping to catch the playoff game.

Excluding South Carolina, that's quite a list of formerly somewhat elite teams that helped carry the banner for the SEC last year looking incredibly average at best.

When it comes to Selection Sunday, instead of breaking NCAA records, it looks like the league has a good chance to break NIT records by making it a large repeat of the SEC Tournament.

Chalk mattered

Mississippi State guard Josh Hubbard (12) reacts to a basket as Texas guard Chendall Weaver (2) looks on during the second half at Moody Center. | Dustin Safranek-Imagn Images

There weren't a lot of evenly matched games, although they were technically close from a relative perspective. In most cases, a 10-12 win team faced a team with nine wins or less and the outcome was typically a double-digit win for the team coming in with more wins.

The opportunities for close games were few, highlighted by No. 18 Arkansas and No. 19 Tennessee with 10 wins each. The Hogs were playing at home and were slightly higher ranked, so when it concluded as 86-75 win, the only surprise was the Razorbacks pulling so far away late.

Meanwhile, LSU and Texas A&M both met with 11 wins each, but the Aggies had the home court advantage.

As expected, this one was close, with LSU battling back from a 10-point deficit late before Rashaun Agee began dominating the paint and delivered the the Aggies a 75-72 win.

The only game that might be considered an upset this past weekend is an eight-win Mississippi State team wandered into Austin and took over, handing the Longhorns a tough 101-98 overtime loss.

The once certainty coming from this game is the six or seven hardcore Texas basketball fans out there never want to hear the name Josh Hubbard again.

He destroyed the Longhorns, hitting from where he wanted any time he wanted. Hubbard easily edged out the Hogs' Acuff and his 29 points to lead all SEC scorers with 38 points on the night.

"What a dawg ... what an absolute dawg."

Josh Hubbard's 38 PTS are the most by an SEC player in a game this season 🔥 pic.twitter.com/eTxXIuAUhw

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) January 4, 2026