If there were still any doubts, SEC women’s basketball proved it’s the dominant conference this season.
The SEC won the SEC/ACC Challenge 10-6 last week, and the event was full of great games, including both Texas and LSU going to overtime. Texas was one of the six teams to lose, although dropping an overtime game on the road to a team like Notre Dame isn’t anything to be ashamed of. Ole Miss, Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi State and Georgia were the other teams to lose in the challenge.
Rankings based on games as of Dec. 10.
Last week: 2
This week: South Florida, Charleston Southern
What to know: The Gamecocks‘ loss to UCLA that snapped a 43-game winning streak made them ascend to the Avatar State or something. Good luck everyone else.
Last week: 1
This week: Southern University, Richmond, La Salle
What to know: If I was playing Notre Dame and Hannah Hidalgo threw a perfect assist after chucking the ball over her head while sitting on the ground with her back to the basket, I’d take that as a sign there are greater forces at play and feel less bad about the overtime loss.
Last week: 3
This week: Louisiana, Seton Hall, UIC
What to know: The Tigers sure do love to tempt fate. I’m not so sure they’ll survive the next close call – but I also said that last time, and the time before that, and the time before…
Last week: 6
This week: Oral Roberts, Michigan
What to know: It’s not easy to go on the road to face your old team, but Payton Verhulst dropped 21 points to lead the Sooners to a gutsy 17-point comeback win against Louisville.
Last week: 8
This week: North Carolina Central, Memphis
What to know: Talaysia Cooper reintroduced herself to the country with two 20-plus point performances against Florida State and Iowa. If she’s not in the SEC Player of the Year conversation in a couple months, I’ll be surprised.
Last week: 9
This week: Evansville, Dayton
What to know: I would have picked Vanderbilt to beat Miami, but an 18-point win on the road is impressive. Some SEC teams should be very scared of the Commodores.
Last week: 4
This week: South Alabama
What to know: You can earn my respect by scheduling tough, but at some point, you have to win the ranked matchups.
Last week: 5
This week: Purdue
What to know: If you would have told me a month ago that North Carolina would be the team to give Kentucky a good old-fashioned butt whooping, I would have laughed.
Last week: 7
This week: Murray State
What to know: It’s a shame Alabama wasted a 28-point performance from Zaay Green in a loss to Cal, but I can’t say I’m entirely surprised the Crimson Tide dropped the road matchup.
Last week: 10
This week: Belmont, ULM
What to know: Mississippi State went down to the wire against Georgia Tech, but it’s pretty hard to win a game when you allow the other team to shoot 12-for-38 on 3-pointers.
Last week: 11
This week: Louisiana
What to know: Auburn pulled out a great road win without Taliah Scott, but I’m not sure how it’ll fare in conference play if Scott isn’t back from injury soon.
Last week: 13
This week: Lipscomb, Oral Roberts
What to know: None of them was a win to write home about, but Missouri won three games this week, which is more than I can say for some teams.
Last week: 12
This week: Texas Southern, Mississippi Valley
What to know: The Aggies got the SEC a win in the SEC/ACC Challenge, but getting blown out by Kansas State by nearly 40 points is not a great sign for their chances in the SEC.
Last week: 15
This week: Longwood, North Carolina
What to know: The Gators got their revenge on Marshall for last season’s loss – the bad news for them is, they still have to face Kim Caldwell in the SEC.
Last week: 16
This week: Texas Tech, Liberty, Toledo/Troy
What to know: I’ll give Arkansas some credit. It surprised me – you couldn’t have gotten me to bet on it winning an SEC/ACC Challenge game even if you gave me the money.
Last week: 14
This week: UNCG, Colorado State
What to know: We’re playing a really fun game of who can be the worst team in the SEC each week, and Georgia might take the cake for the season with an overtime loss to Hampton on its home court.
