SEC Hoops: It Just Means More Upsets

There were five SEC basketball games on Tuesday night. Three underdogs pulled off outright upsets. Thankfully, Kentucky basketball fans dodged the bullet on a bloody Tuesday around the league.

The Cats took care of business against Texas A&M. Kentucky led by double-digits for a majority of the second half over the No. 11 team in the country. The same could be said about Auburn. Even without Johni Broome, Bruce Pearl’s squad had no problem with Mississippi State, ultimately running away with a 22-point win.

Look around the rest of the league and you’ll find plenty of drama. It was the first time in SEC history that two top-five teams lost at home on the same day. The SEC is unforgiving and unrelenting.

Missouri Takes Down No. 5 Florida

One week ago, the Florida Gators followed up a 106-100 loss to a Top-10 Kentucky team by blowing out the unbeaten, top-ranked team in college basketball. Last night, they were completely dominated by unranked Missouri.

Mizzou jumped out to a 10-point lead by the second media timeout. Florida made a run or two or three, but Missouri answered every challenge by the Gators. Walter Clayton Jr. scored a game-high 28 points and helped Florida cut the deficit to two in the final minute, but Missouri held on to pick up a huge SEC win on the road. The 14-2 Tigers now have a second top-five win on their resume after taking down top-ranked Kansas earlier in the season.

No. 21 Ole Miss Delivers an SEC Stunner at No. 4 Alabama

Ole Miss had never beaten a top-five team on the road until Tuesday night. That Chris Beard might be able to coach some ball.

Alabama was the nation’s top-scoring team entering Tuesday night’s game, averaging 91.1 points per game. The fourth-ranked team in the country scored 64 points at home in a 10-point loss to Ole Miss. The Rebels only made six threes but they got all of the hustle points. They won the battle in points off turnovers (19-10), fast break points (16-8), and second chance points (12-4). Malik Dia led all scorers with 23 in the monumental upset.

Now is a good time to remind you that Alabama will be traveling to Rupp Arena this Saturday after suffering its first SEC loss of the season.

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Daimion Collins Stars in Win over John Calipari

Four SEC games into his new job at Arkansas and John Calipari is still seeking out his first conference win. Tuesday night’s game wasn’t so different than the other losses. This one just came at the hands of one of his former players.

Daimion Collins was not the best player for LSU on Tuesday night. That honor belongs to Cam Carter, who had 27 points for the Tigers. However, he did have arguably the best night of his career against his former coach. Collins had seven points (two from this thunderous dunk), 10 rebounds, and four blocked shots. The last came at the buzzer to secure LSU’s first SEC win of the season.

The loss dropped Arkansas to 0-4 in SEC play and every game has felt a lot like the other. There are portions early on where they look talented enough to win by a comfortable margin. Then the bad shots stack up on top of the silly turnovers and sloppy play. You blink and Arkansas is down by seven points. We’re only four games into league play, but it’s hard to see a successful path forward for John Calipari’s squad in SEC play.

I know that had to feel good for Daimion Collins. pic.twitter.com/lseQvC17jb

— Rare Rookies #BBN (@rarerookies) January 15, 2025

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SEC Standings

Team	CONFERENCE	GAMES BACK	OVERALL
No. 1 Auburn	4-0	–	16-1
No. 21 Ole Miss	4-0	–	15-2
No. 4 Alabama	3-1	1	14-3
No. 8 Kentucky	3-1	1	14-3
Missouri	3-1	1	14-3
No. 6 Tennessee	2-1	1.5	15-1
No. 23 Georgia	2-1	1.5	14-2
No. 5 Florida	2-2	2	15-2
No. 15 Mississippi State	2-2	2	14-3
No. 11 Texas A&M	2-2	2	13-4
Vanderbilt	1-2	2.5	13-3
LSU	1-3	3	12-5
Oklahoma	0-3	3.5	13-3
Texas	0-3	3.5	11-5
South Carolina	0-3	3.5	10-6
Arkansas	0-4	4	11-6