The typical thought around the college basketball world going into conference play was that the SEC was the nation’s best conference with 10 teams ranked in the AP Top 25 going into the week.
Saturday’s conference slate didn’t do much to slow that thought down.
All 16 SEC teams were in action on Saturday as the conference officially welcomed Texas and Oklahoma into league play. The unranked Longhorns fell to No. 13 Texas A&M in rivalry action while No. 12 Oklahoma suffered a big defeat against No. 5 Alabama in Tuscaloosa.
The first big takeaway when looking at the scores around the conference on Saturday was just the sheer number of ranked teams in action. Out of the eight games being played over the weekend, only one featured a battle of unranked opponents while three games featured two ranked teams going head-to-head.
The second thing that stands out is just how impactful home-court advantage could be this year – just ask Florida. The sixth-ranked Gators went into Lexington and put up 100 points in the game but fell to Kentucky by six points on Saturday behind a loud crowd in Rupp Arena. Florida showed how good they are in the loss but the home-court advantage from Kentucky was tough to crack.
No. 23 Arkansas and former Vol Jonas Aidoo couldn’t get Tennessee fans out of their ears on Saturday while Alabama fed off of its crowd en route to 107 points against a Top 15-ranked team.
Tennessee and Auburn, the two top-ranked teams in the nation, handled business in their home arenas to kick off the conference slate. But the first day of SEC play showed that the SEC’s top teams are as good as advertised from the non-conference slate.
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Here’s a look at the scores from the opening day of SEC action on Saturday:
No. 23 Arkansas (52) at No. 1 Tennessee (76)
- UT: Igor Milicic Jr. – 13 points, 18 rebounds
- ARK: DJ Wagner – 17 points
Missouri (68) at No. 2 Auburn (84)
- AUB: Johni Broome – 24 points, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks
- MIZ: Marques Warrick – 19 points
No. 12 Oklahoma (79) at No. 5 Alabama (107)
- OU: Jalon Moore – 20 points, 7 rebounds
- BAMA: Mark Sears – 22 points, 10 assists, 3 steals
No. 6 Florida (100) at No. 10 Kentucky (106)
- FLA: Walter Clayton Jr. – 33 points
- UK: Lamont Butler – 19 points, 8 assists, 3 steals
Texas (60) at No. 13 Texas A&M (80)
- TEX: Arthur Kaluma – 13 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals
- A&M: Zhuric Phelps – 18 points, 7 rebounds
South Carolina (50) at No. 17 Mississippi State (85)
- USC: Zachary Davis – 22 points
- MSST: Keshawn Murphy – 12 points, 8 rebounds, 4 blocks
Georgia (51) at No. 24 Ole Miss (63)
- UGA: Asa Newell – 13 points, 13 rebounds
- MISS: Matthew Murrell – 15 points, 6 rebounds
Vanderbilt (80) at LSU (72)
- VAN: Jaylen Carey – 14 points, 8 rebounds
- LSU: Cam Carter – 22 points, 3 steals
