FAYETTEVILLE -- Kentucky's 90-61 victory over Louisville on Friday in Rupp Arena was the latest statement victory by an SEC basketball team in nonconference play.
The Arkansas Razorbacks and Tennessee Volunteers -- who meet today in Walton Arena -- have provided their share of notable victories to help build a strong resume for the SEC heading into conference play.
The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville beat Oklahoma, Minnesota and Connecticut. Tennessee beat Purdue, North Carolina State, Georgia Tech and Wake Forest.
Texas A&M, ranked No. 5, beat West Virginia, Oklahoma State, Penn State and Southern California. Florida beat Gonzaga and Cincinnati. Georgia beat Saint Mary's and Georgia Tech.
Missouri beat Iowa State and St. John's. LSU -- picked to finish 14th in the SEC in a preseason poll -- beat Michigan and Houston. Auburn beat Dayton and Connecticut.
"Our conference is as good as anybody else in the country, and losing [SEC games] on the road doesn't kill you as much as maybe it has been two or three years ago," Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. "But I thought this started last year, and that's a tribute to our coaches and to the SEC Office for kind of mandating some things."
The SEC sent five teams to the NCAA Tournament last year -- its most since 2012 -- and they combined to go 12-5.
Kentucky, Florida and South Carolina advanced to the Elite Eight while Arkansas took eventual national champion North Carolina to the wire in a second-round game. Vanderbilt lost in the final seconds to Northwestern in a first-round game. South Carolina beat Florida in the East Regional final as the Gamecocks made their first Final Four appearance.
Nine SEC teams are in the NCAA's top 56 Ratings Percentage Index -- a ranking based on victories and strength of schedule -- this week led by Texas A&M (6), Tennessee (8), Arkansas (13) and Missouri (18).
"I think we should get six teams in the NCAA Tournament in what we would consider a down year," Tennessee Coach Rick Barnes said. "But to get seven, eight and possibly nine, we've got to be in this position going into league play, where we've got teams that are ranked up there in RPI.
"You're going to lose league games -- it's just going to happen -- and now it won't hurt you. You don't ever want to have a conference game where they say it's a bad loss. The only way you handle that is by having teams proving outside the league you can win games."
ESPN is projecting seven SEC teams will play in the NCAA Tournament: Arkansas, Texas A&M, Kentucky, Tennessee, Florida, Missouri and Auburn.
"In our league, without a doubt, you're not going to go anywhere and you can count it as a W," Anderson said. "You have to come with it, whether you play at home or on the road.
"That means at the end, when it's all said and done, you'll see probably two or three more teams than we had last year in the NCAA Tournament."
Mike & Rick
Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson and Tennessee Coach Rick Barnes have faced each other in the Big 12 Conference as well as the SEC.
When Anderson was at Missouri, his Tigers were 3-2 against Barnes' Texas Longhorns.
Anderson's Razorbacks are 3-0 against Barnes' Vols the previous two seasons, including 2-0 in Knoxville. In the teams' only meeting last season, Arkansas won 82-78 at Tennessee.
Barnes is 644-351 overall in 31 seasons as a head coach with 22 NCAA Tournament appearances, including 16 at Texas.
"You've got a Hall of Fame coach in Rick Barnes," Anderson said. "His team is always prepared. Most teams are going to mirror their coach, and Rick has been around a long time.
"He's been a lot of different places, and so he knows about basketball, he knows about players, and he knows how to win."
Up and down
Arkansas is averaging 90.0 points per game to lead the SEC in scoring. Tennessee is averaging 77.5 points to rank ninth in the SEC.
"They like to get up and down the floor," Razorbacks Coach Mike Anderson said. "Maybe not to the liking we do, but they've got depth to play."
Tennessee Coach Rick Barnes said playing good transition defense against the Razorbacks will be a key for the Vols.
"I don't want to give up easy baskets," Barnes said. "But they're really good at coming at you hard and aggressive."
Tennessee is holding opponents to an average of 65.8 points and has allowed more than 80 points just once, in an 85-76 loss to No. 1 Villanova.
"I think you have to play the way you play," Barnes said. "You'll have a game plan and how you want to do things, but I think we've got to keep building on what we do and how we do it.
"We've got to be who we are and get better at it."
Going to the boards
Tennessee is averaging 13.2 offensive rebounds to rank second in the SEC behind Auburn's 13.5 average.
"One of the things they do well is attack the offensive glass," Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said." They shoot it and go get it. That means they shoot a lot of free throws, and they shoot those free throws well."
Tennessee is hitting 74.2 percent (173 of 233) of its free throws.
Sports on 12/30/2017