SEC Basketball Week 1 Review

TEAM OF THE WEEK: Arkansas

With Florida having fallen off farther than expected, the conference really needed another squad to run with Kentucky to not appear to be a one-team league. The Razorbacks answered the bell in becoming the only other ranked team, and they got as solid a pair of wins as anyone did this week in winning at Georgia 79-75 and against Vanderbilt 82-70. The team still lacks a true signature win and could stand to shore up its defense some, but it got off to a great start in conference play.

NOT TEAM OF THE WEEK: South Carolina

After rough sledding in November, the Gamecocks ripped off seven wins in a row. That streak included nice victories over Oklahoma State and Iowa State, too. Well, South Carolina couldn't keep the momentum going and began 0-2 in the SEC. They missed a great opportunity to beat Florida at home in a 72-68 loss, and then they lost decisively in Oxford 65-49 yesterday. It was a disappointing week for one of the conference's up-and-comers.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Bobby Portis, Arkansas

The Razorback forward continued his brilliant season, leading the way in both of his team's victories. He had 21 points in Arkansas's comeback victory over Georgia, and then he had that many in the second half alone against Vandy on Saturday. In the latter game, he finished with 32 points and 11 rebounds, nine of which were offensive. Anyone who plans to beat the Hogs must account for Portis, and few teams have handled him well yet.

Honorable mention goes to Jarvis Summers of Ole Miss, who scored 23 points in the Rebels' overtime loss to Kentucky and 20 more in their weekend win over South Carolina. He and Stefan Moody are real trouble to deal with now that they've learned to work together.

KENTUCKY UNDEFEATED WATCH: Life Support

Wildcat opponents in SEC play are undefeated in regulation, and that's a troubling sign. A team this young was always likely to be inconsistent, but needing three total overtime periods to knock off Ole Miss and Texas A&M is beyond what anyone was expecting.

This UK team still has probably the single most impressive win of anyone in the country after beating Kansas 72-40, so we know its ceiling is considerably higher than what we saw this week. Still though, UK can't keep playing this way and expect to make it through the SEC unscathed.

LOOKING AHEAD

Want to see some fireworks? Look no further than the Saturday special when Ole Miss travels to Arkansas. The late night 9:30 contest will see the Rebels' dynamic Moody-Summers duo going against Portis and the high scoring Hogs. I hope you have ESPNU so you can tune into that one. It should be a lot of fun.