Is the SEC an extremely tough basketball conference this year?

A bit early in the season to draw any conclusions on the depth of the SEC. I know LSU does not look like an easy out for any team this year coming off a Natty.

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Some teams are really struggling. Missouri for example. They have pretty much found this league too much for them to handle. And this is a proud hoops school with a handful of elite 8s under their belt

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If only we could trade places with Arkansas, then all of our troubles would be cured.

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Is the SEC an extremely tough basketball conference this year?

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This is a tough year?

I think you could make that case, but it's similar to previous years where it's still pretty top-heavy.

Tennessee is obviously really, really good, and has one of the top defenses in the country, along with Auburn.

Alabama is better than expected and has perhaps the best offense nationally, which makes them uniquely dangerous (but frustrating on the defensive side). Kentucky isn't too far behind, and could be one of the more scary teams in the league on any given night.

Florida, much like Alabama is dangerous offensively, especially if they can matchup well and manage to defend. Mississippi State is similar but opposite, with a stout and physical defense.

South Carolina has a great record and has really done well (with a weaker schedule and some luck), but is realistically more of an overachieving middle-of-the-pack team — regardless, they're having a fantastic season. Texas A&M is probably at a similar level, probably having played better competition.

Ole Miss is competitive but abysmal defensively. LSU just doesn't seem to be a consistent team, but has some nice wins and could make a late-season run. Conversely, Georgia started hot and faded. Arkansas vastly underachieved, probably because they've got elite talent that can't figure out how to play as a team.

And Missouri and Vanderbilt are some of the worst teams in the country.

So you've essentially got 4 elite teams, 4 teams that can hang with or beat just about anybody, maybe 4 teams that you can't really seem to figure out, and 2 that just never found any rhythm all season.

Hopefully the elite teams keep their legs and the next-tier guys make the tournament, get hot at the right time, and we can all show how tough our conference is in a few weeks.

Just my two cents.

There are 4 teams that could make the final 4. Yes.

Kentucky is down in relative terms. Arkansas and A&M are have significantly underachieved. Bama has played somewhat of a soft in conference schedule. I would guess some benefit from this, UGA and OM may be examples. FL is actually really good and I think they could make a dark horse run at the E8 and beyond. TN is very strong and should be expected to do just that. SC is a wild card to me as they continue to take care of business in the face of expectations from prognosticators. MS St can play up, there’s visible talent at times that make you think on any given day they could beat anyone. To summarize I would suggest that the conference is not even close to tough compared to more recent seasons. I do think one or TN, KY, and AUB make the FF. There is an argument for FL given the right draw. The SEC is as tough of a conference as any save B12 and probably the Big East too. However compared to prior years applying to the SEC only I would say hard pass on being tough this season.