SEC Basketball Preview

Here is how "The Sports Network" -- the same source we used for the OVC and Sun Belt previews -- sees mens' basketball in the Southeastern Conference:

East
1. Florida
2. Kentucky
3. Tennessee
4. Vanderbilt
5. Georgia
6. S. Carolina

West
1. Mississippi State
2. Mississippi
3. Arkansas
4. Alabama
5. Louisiana State
6. Auburn

Conference Champion: Florida

Here are my thoughts:

First, I have thought for some time that Florida is the most under-reported story in college basketball. There are only two living coaches who have won back-to-back NCAA championships: Mike Krzayzewski and Billy Donovan. And Donovan's championships were no fluke -- he went to the NCAA final with a completely different team in 2000. But Florida has done almost nothing since winning back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007. One explanation is that Donovan (who was a famously hard worker back in the day) has simply decided he ain't working that hard anymore. We've seen this before, with coaches like Nolan Richardson and Denny Crum reaching a level of success and putting the program on cruise control. But Donovan's not very old (he's only 45), and I can see how he might relish the challenge of taking on Calipari and reminding the world that only one current SEC coach actually has a national title ring. I will be very interested to see how the Gators do.

Second, it is virtually impossible to make any realistic prediction about Kentucky. The Wildcats will, for all intents and purposes, be a totally different team from last year. They lost five major players to the NBA, and are trying to re-load with freshmen -- at least one of whom may never actually play for the Big Blue. This type of transition is not easy -- as UNC learned last year -- and it will be several weeks before we know what we have in Lexington.

Third, it is difficult to know how all the investigation and controversy surrounding Bruce Pearl will affect UT. Will the Vols rally around their coach? Or will they be even more difficult to discipline than ever?

Fourth, Georgia and Alabama are entering the second seasons of coaches who, in my opinion, show a great deal of potential. If those guys are really going to shake things up, we should start to see some results this year.

Fifth, isn't somebody in the West ever going to rise up and build a great team? If Mississippi State -- a team that only plays hard against UK or in the SEC tournament -- comes in first, that is a sure sign that the rest of the division isn't very good. Like I said, look out for Alabama.

I'll have a lot more to say about all of this once I've watched some games. But I'm very happy to have made it back to another basketball season.