There wasn’t much movement in this week’s SEC women’s basketball power rankings, and the order of the conference is becoming clearer as the SEC schedule approaches.
The SEC is incredibly competitive, though, and nonconference takes on teams don’t always age well. Here’s what I will say, though – South Carolina and Texas are clearly the two best teams in the conference, and everyone else is chasing them down for the SEC title.
Rankings based on games as of Dec. 18.
Last week: 1
This week: Wofford
What to know: The Gamecocks’ interior dominance by committee is coming together just in time for SEC play – but we all knew Dawn Staley would figure it out.
Last week: 2
This week: South Dakota State, UTRGV
What to know: The Longhorns ripped off three straight wins to bounce back from their first loss of the season. Nothing like averaging 91 points to feel better.
Last week: 3
This week: UIC, Albany
What to know: LSU traveled to Uncaseville, Connecticut, to play in the Basketball Hall of Fame Showcase, an event that included UConn, and didn’t play the Huskies. We were robbed.
Last week: 4
This week: Omaha, New Mexico State
What to know: The Sooners won their second ranked matchup of the season, but beating Michigan was necessary, because that Louisville win is aging poorly.
Last week: 5
This week: Richmond, Tulsa, Winthrop
What to know: A win is a win, but if the Lady Vols play like they did against Memphis in SEC play …
Last week: 6
This week: Dayton, West Georgia, Alabama A&M
What to know: The jury is still out on SEC play, but I’m just going to say now I believed in Vanderbilt from the start.
Last week: 7
This week: Missouri Valley State, Alcorn
What to know: It should be smooth sailing for the Rebels until SEC play, and Sira Thienou continues to blossom into a player you should be looking out for in a month.
Last week: 8
This week: Belmont, Western Kentucky
What to know: Georgia Amoore is tied for first in the nation at 7.2 assists per game, and Kentucky is going to need her to keep that pace to keep winning in SEC play.
Last week: 9
This week: Michigan State, Richmond, Jacksonville
What to know: Not to be a pessimist, but I’m not entirely confident Alabama is going to bring home two wins, or even one, from the West Palm Beach Classic.
Last week: 10
This week: Maryland Eastern Shore, South Carolina State
What to know: Mississippi State should be writing a very nice thank you letter to the officials that bailed it out of going to overtime against Belmont.
Last week: 11
This week: Alabama State, Norfolk State
What to know: If you’re searching for good matchups at the end of the nonconference schedules, Auburn vs. Norfolk State on Dec. 29 should be circled on your calendar.
Last week: 12
This week: Jackson State
What to know: As bad as it is to lose to Oral Roberts at home, Missouri still has 10 wins and that’s a lot more than some SEC teams can say.
Last week: 13
This week: Mississippi Valley State
What to know: Congrats to the Aggies – this is the first week I’m writing about them without a loss since the last rankings (ignore the fact they also only played on game).
Last week: 14
This week: North Florida, Alabama State
What to know: The Gators got blown out by North Carolina in the Jumpman Invitational, but that wasn’t a surprise to anyone.
Last week: 16
This week: Clemson, Colorado State, Ohio
What to know: I couldn’t decide if Georgia almost losing to UNC Greensboro at home was worse than Arkansas’ two losses, so I flipped a coin.
Last week: 16
This week: Central Arkansas
What to know: Listen, I didn’t expect Arkansas to beat Texas Tech or Liberty … that’s all.
