After two weeks of Southeastern Conference play, the league’s hierarchy is nearly as muddled as it was on opening day.
The balance so far has been unparalleled, as eight teams are within a game of .500 in conference action.
No team reached 4-0, and only two stumbled to 0-4 starts.
“Every night is very difficult and challenging,” Arkansas coach John Pelphrey said on a conference call. “It seems like everybody in our league is competitive and getting better.”
Said Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury: “It’s one of two things: Either nobody is dominant, or there is a lot of balance.”
So far, it appears to be a combination of the two.
Many of the conference’s most talented teams have also proved to be its most inconsistent.
Stansbury said Georgia and Vanderbilt have been the SEC’s most steady teams to this point, but even they have suffered two conference losses apiece.
Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl also noted that there is a lot of parity in the SEC.
But, he added, every team in the East has the potential to step up and assert itself as the conference’s best.
LSU coach Trent Johnson espoused a similar opinion before adding that the Gators are perhaps the most likely team to make a move.
“If Florida’s healthy, most of the people I’ve talked to think they have a chance to make a lot of noise,” Johnson said.
KENTUCKY FULL OF POTENTIAL: While Florida is Johnson’s pick to potentially win the conference, Kentucky coach John Calipari is still confident in his squad.
Despite his team’s 3-2 SEC start, Calipari feels the Wildcats can be a major factor if they maximize their talent.
“I really like my team,” Calipari said. “There’s no team in America that has the upside of this team.”
Calipari pointed specifically to two of his six freshmen, Brandon Knight and Terrence Jones, who are showing improvement after underperforming at times this season.
Calipari cites Jones’ focus and desire and Knight’s ability to run the offense as areas of their game that are too inconsistent.
“Individual players are playing 50 or 60 percent of what they’re capable of doing, and they’re playing in spurts,” Calipari said. “We have a good group of young men, and we’re excited about that. I just wish they were a little rougher and tougher.”
WEEKLY AWARDS: Knight was named the SEC Freshman of the Week after recording a combined 37 points and 11 rebounds in the team’s two road contests — a loss to Alabama and a win over South Carolina.
Vanderbilt junior Lance Goulbourne was named the SEC Player of the Week. Goulbourne scored 29 points and snatched 26 rebounds as the Commodores scored wins over St. Mary’s and Ole Miss.
