SOUTH CAROLINA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
SEC play begins Thursday, and Gamecock Central breaks down where all 14 teams stand as the competition heats up.
To recap the preseason projections, the media picked South Carolina to win the SEC, while the coaches picked Texas A&M. Both picked Mississippi State third and Kentucky fourth. Some combination of Florida, Vanderbilt, and Ole Miss were picks to bring up the bottom. Both media and coaches picked Texas A&M’s Chennedy Carter to be player of the year.
As for how each team has done so far, let’s start with...
SOUTH CAROLINA
RECORD - 12-1
AP RANKING - 4
RPI - 6
SOS (strength of schedule. Rankings courtesy of RealTimeRPI.com) - 17
BEST WIN - #6 Baylor (neutral site)
WORST LOSS - #14 Indiana
OUTLOOK - The Gamecocks and their freshmen have exceeded expectations and are the team to beat in the SEC. They lead both the subjective and objective evaluations.
ALABAMA
RECORD - 10-3
AP RANKING - NR
RPI - 87
SOS - 151
BEST WIN - North Carolina
WORST LOSS - Hampton
OUTLOOK - Alabama picked up a bunch of wins against a very weak schedule. They haven’t shown anything to suggest they won’t occupy their customary spot in the bottom four of the SEC. That’s about all I’ve got.
ARKANSAS
RECORD - 12-1
AP RANKING - 20
RPI - 43
SOS - 198
BEST WIN - Wisconsin
WORST LOSS - Cal
OUTLOOK - Another team that has feasted on a weak schedule (hence the big gap between the AP and RPI), but unlike Alabama, there is a lot to like about Arkansas. Arkansas is shooting the three like crazy (37.3 percent on 24 attempts per game) and still has Chelsea Dungee (20.1 points per game). The surprise run to the championship game in last year’s SEC tournament has provided a good springboard for this season,
AUBURN
RECORD - 6-5
AP RANKING - NR
RPI - 115
SOS - 92
BEST WIN - Dayton
WORST LOSS - UAB
OUTLOOK - The best I can say about Auburn is outside of UAB, the four losses were to good teams. Unique Thompson is averaging 18.9 points per game, but Auburn seems like it can never get over the hump in the SEC.
GEORGIA
RECORD - 9-4
AP RANKING - NR
RPI - 53
SOS - 22
BEST WIN - Virginia Tech
WORST LOSS - Georgia Tech
OUTLOOK - Georgia’s problem is offense. It scored just 40 points in a home loss to Georgia Tech, and is next to last in the SEC in points per game, shooting percentage, and three point percentage.
KENTUCKY
RECORD - 11-1
AP RANKING - 13
RPI - 26
SOS - 93
BEST WIN - Virginia or Cal
WORST LOSS - Louisville
OUTLOOK - Another team the voters like more than the RPI because of a fairly weak schedule. Virginia is 21st in the RPI despite having a losing record, and Cal is 59th. I think Kentucky is legit, and I know Rhyne Howard (20.9 points per game) is legit, but the lack of big wins is a little concerning. We’ll see on Thursday.
LSU
RECORD - 10-2
AP RANKING - NR
RPI - 42
SOS - 112
BEST WIN - (then #15) Michigan State
WORST LOSS - Oklahoma
OUTLOOK - LSU is in the same boat as Georgia - they don’t score a lot. LSU is last in the SEC in three point shooting percentage and has made the third fewest three-pointers in the nation. What LSU does well is defend, giving up just 56.4 points per game,
FLORIDA
RECORD - 9-4
AP RANKING - NR
RPI - 174
SOS - 275
BEST WIN - Providence
WORST LOSS - Wake Forest
OUTLOOK - Another team that has trouble scoring. The Gators take - and miss - a lot of threes and don’t get to the foul line. They have taken the third most threes in the SEC but only made 29.3 percent, third worst.
MISSISSIPPI STATE
RECORD - 12-2
AP RANKING - 15
RPI - 18
SOS - 31
BEST WIN - Virginia
WORST LOSS - West Virginia
OUTLOOK - The Bulldogs are going through what the Gamecocks went through last season: when all those players who took your program to new heights leave, it can get a little rocky. Like the Gamecocks last year, they are still good, but it’s a rebuilding year.
MISSOURI
RECORD - 3-10
AP RANKING - NR
RPI - 194
SOS - 21
BEST WIN - Saint Louis
WORST LOSS - Kansas City
OUTLOOK - Missouri, on the other hand, has completely fallen apart. It’s almost like after four years of putting up with Sophie Cunningham’s dirty play, opposing teams are happy to get back at the Tigers.
OLE MISS
RECORD - 7-6
AP RANKING - NR
RPI - 293
SOS - 317
BEST WIN - Signing Day
WORST LOSS - Southern Miss
OUTLOOK - Ole Miss has a better record than Missouri, but that RPI is shockingly bad. The Rebels are bad, but managed the top-ranked recruiting class in the SEC in the early signing period, so wait ‘til next year.
TENNESSEE
RECORD - 10-2
AP RANKING - 22
RPI - 117
SOS - 292
BEST WIN - (then #15) Notre Dame
WORST LOSS - Texas
OUTLOOK - Voters are still rewarding Tennessee for beating Notre Dame, a win that was impressive at the time, but gets less so with each passing week (the Irish are now just 6-8, just lost to Clemson, and only have a win over something called Guelph in the last five games). Tennessee is playing good defense, but doesn’t shoot well and has been inconsistent offensively. Rennia Davis can win some games, though it will be interesting to see how Tennessee performs once the level of competition picks up.
TEXAS A&M
RECORD - 12-1
AP RANKING - 11
RPI - 11
SOS - 39
BEST WIN - Georgia Tech
WORST LOSS - Florida State
OUTLOOK - I’m an admitted Aggie skeptic. The co-favorites with South Carolina, Texas A&M has beaten a bunch of good teams, but lost to its toughest opponent, Florida State. There’s nothing wrong with losing to Florida State, but for a team with Final Four aspirations it would be nice to see a marquee win. Chennedy Carter is a phenomenal scorer who has improved as an all-around player this season (22.8 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 3.8 assists), but I can’t shake the memory of her being neutralized by Te’a Cooper, of all people.
VANDERBILT
RECORD - 10-3
AP RANKING - NR
RPI - 55
SOS - 86
BEST WIN - Saint Louis
WORST LOSS - Seton Hall
OUTLOOK - After back-to-back seven win seasons, just getting to ten wins is an accomplishment. Vanderbilt was picked to finish last in the conference, and that looks unlikely now, although the fast start will be hard to maintain. Second-leading scorer Brinae Alexander will miss the rest of the season due to injury,and several other players have missed time with injuries. Despite missing the last six games, Alexander is still Vanderbilt’s leader in three-pointers, with 12 of the Commodores’ 39 threes. That’s not good.
The most interesting takeaways are the disparity between what voters and computers think of Tennessee. The Lady Vols open against Missouri Thursday, then face Kentucky, which will be a big test. Kentucky, too, has a surprisingly weak strength of schedule, but the Wildcats have dominated their competition and played Louisville as close as possible, losing 67-66.
Georgia is the opposite. The 9-4 record isn’t that impressive until you factor in the strength of schedule. The Bulldogs could make some noise. They open at Ole Miss and then host Mississippi State.
