SEC BBall Rewind

Looking back at the season now that it is final, it’s remarkable how few quality wins both Auburn and Alabama had in comparison to Tennessee. The Vols finished the season with 9 wins against the KenPom Top 30… that’s 3 more than Bama and Auburn combined. Plus Tennessee was 3-0 in games against Bama and Auburn.

In all honesty, Auburn didn’t get enough experience this season against quality opponents, and we choked when we got to the big stage.

Bama did get a lot of experience against quality opponents, but quite frankly did not perform well in those games (-8.3 on average against the KenPom Top 30). Even in their run to the Final 4, they managed to draw a very easy path, beating the KenPom #101, #52, #9, and #19 teams…. Not a single Top 8 opponent until they ran into #1 UConn and promptly lost by 14.

Now that one can look at the season in totality, neither Auburn or Alabama were elite teams IMO. Neither seemed to perform well overall in big games.

Tennessee on the other hand should have had more to show for this year. An elite 8 is a great accomplishment, IMO. But two inexplicable losses (S Carolina at home and at A&M) cost Tennessee a likely 1-seed in the tournament, and very possibly a Final 4 had they been seeded on that 1-line.

Here is how each team did on the season against KenPom Top 30 opponents:

Alabama:

#1 UConn- lost by 14
#2 Purdue- lost by 6
#4 Auburn- won by 4; lost by 18
#5 Tennessee- lost by 20; lost by 7
#6 Arizona- lost by 13
#9 N Carolina- won by 2
#11 Creighton- lost by 3
#19 Clemson- lost by 8; won by 7
#22 Kentucky- lost by 22
#26 Florida- won by 5; lost by 18; lost by 14

Record: 4-11; average margin -8.33

Auburn:

#5 Tennessee- lost by 8
#13 Alabama- lost by 4; won by 18
#15 Baylor- lost by 6
#22 Kentucky- lost by 11
#26 Florida- lost by 16; won by 19

Record: 2-5; average margin -1.1

Tennessee:

#2 Purdue- lost by 2; lost by 6
#4 Auburn- won by 4
#9 N Carolina- lost by 8
#10 Illinois- won by 7
#11 Creighton- won by 7
#13 Alabama- won by 20; won by 7
#17 Wisconsin- won by 10
#22 Kentucky- won by 11; lost by 4
#25 Texas- won by 4
#26 Florida- won by 19
#27 Kansas- lost by 9

Record: 9-5; average margin +4.3