FAYETTEVILLE -- SEC coaches have said all season that the conference has arrived as a major power, following up on last year's postseason success with a move to the No. 1 strength of schedule ranking among all conferences.
This week the SEC will get a chance to back up the talk in the fifth annual Big 12/SEC Challenge.
The Big 12 has the nation's best conference RPI and nonconference winning percentage at .863, with a record of 101-16. The SEC fell one spot to fourth in the conference rankings this week and is also fourth in nonconference winning percentage with a 126-40 mark (.759).
The Big 12 won the first three installments in the 10-games-a-year series by a commanding 20-10 edge before the SEC managed a 5-5 split last season.
On Saturday, six matchups in the Challenge will feature ranked teams, with Alabama, South Carolina and Texas A&M having the best chances to improve their postseason credentials. The Crimson Tide will host No. 12 Oklahoma at 1:15 p.m. (ESPN), while the Gamecocks host No. 14 Texas Tech at 11 a.m. (ESPN2).
Texas A&M, which has won two home games in a row after starting 0-5 in the SEC, will travel to No. 5 Kansas for a 3:30 p.m. (ESPN) game.
The biggest spotlight will be on Kentucky, which fell out of the rankings Monday, at No. 7 West Virginia with the ESPN GameDay crew on hand for the 6 p.m. tip. The Wildcats are out of the poll for the first time since March 2014.
The other games involving ranked teams will pit Baylor at No. 20 Florida and No. 22 Tennessee at Iowa State.
The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville will look to avenge last year's 99-71 loss to Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Okla., when it hosts the Cowboys (13-6) at 5 p.m. at sold-out Walton Arena.
"We saw the numbers early on and they were really in the Big 12's favor," Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. "Then last year, I think those numbers came a little closer. Hopefully this will be a year where ... obviously we feel like we have one of the better leagues in the country and it'll be on display."
'Challenge' data
Baylor, the only unbeaten team in the Big 12/SEC Challenge series at 4-0, got one of the hardest draws this year with its 11 a.m. game at No. 20 Florida on Saturday.
Every Big 12 team has at least one victory in the series, and only West Virginia (1-3) has a losing record among the 10 teams in the conference.
In the SEC, the only teams with winning records in the challenge are Florida (3-1), Tennessee (2-1) and Alabama (1-0), while Georgia, Missouri and South Carolina all have 1-1 records.
Ole Miss (0-4) and Mississippi State (0-1) are the only winless teams in the series. Auburn, Kentucky and Vanderbilt have 1-3 records, while Arkansas, LSU and Texas A&M are all 1-2.
The four SEC teams not involved in the series Saturday play each other on the SEC Network, with LSU at No. 19 Auburn at 5 p.m. and Missouri at Mississippi State at 7:30 p.m.
'Cheez' day
On a day deemed National Cheese Lovers Day, Florida guard Chris "Cheez" Chiozza helped the Gators take over the top spot in the SEC with a 66-64 victory at Kentucky on Saturday.
"Every day should be National Cheese Day," Chiozza said. "Except maybe for Kentucky fans."
Chiozza, battling through leg cramps, had 13 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds and 1 turnover as the Gators moved a half-game ahead Auburn in the SEC race and snapped Kentucky's streak of 57 consecutive victories over unranked teams at Rupp Arena.
Chiozza was involved in a steal on Kentucky's inbound pass with less than three seconds remaining, and he alertly looped the ball in the air toward his front court to allow the clock to run out.
The last unranked team to knock off the Wildcats at Rupp? Arkansas, which won 71-67 in overtime on Feb. 27, 2014, behind 16 of 16 free-throw shooting.
Projections
CBSSports.com's Jerry Palm has nine SEC teams in his latest NCAA bracket projection, and he lists South Carolina among his first four teams out of the field.
Palm projects Auburn as a 3 seed, Tennessee as a 4 seed, Florida as a 5 seed, Kentucky as a 7 seed, Alabama and Texas A&M as 9 seeds, and Arkansas, Missouri and Georgia as 10 seeds.
ESPN.com's Joe Lunardi has eight SEC teams in his Monday projection, with Georgia among his first four out and Missouri among his last four in. Lunardi projects Auburn as a 4 seed, Florida, Kentucky and Tennessee as 5 seeds, Arkansas and Texas A&M as 9 seeds, and Alabama and Missouri as 10 seeds.
Gafford wins
Arkansas forward Daniel Gafford pulled down his second SEC Freshman of the Week award Monday. The 6-11 native of El Dorado averaged 14.5 points and 10.0 rebounds in a loss at Florida and a victory over Ole Miss last week, including his first career double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds against the Gators.
Gafford joined Bobby Portis and Patrick Beverly as the only Arkansas players to win SEC freshman of the week honors twice in the same season.
Florida's Jalen Hudson and Texas A&M's Tyler Davis shared SEC player of the week honors. Hudson averaged 19 points and 7 rebounds in victories over Arkansas and Kentucky. Davis averaged 15.5 points and 13 rebounds in victories over Ole Miss and Missouri.
Round 2
A pair of big rivalry games -- Vanderbilt at Tennessee and Texas A&M at LSU -- will kick off the set of second meetings between SEC teams tonight.
The Aggies will look for revenge at the Maravich Assembly Center after falling 69-68 to LSU on Tremont Waters' long, contested three-point shot Jan. 6.
Tennessee won the first meeting against its in-state rival with a 92-84 decision at Vanderbilt on Jan. 9 behind 37 points from Grant Williams.
In and out
SEC Network analysts Pat Bradley and Daymeon Fishback are high on the at-large prospects for SEC teams in the NCAA Tournament.
Working with host Dari Nowkhah, who began with the assumption that Auburn, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky and Tennessee were safely in the field for now, the analysts deemed Alabama, Georgia, Missouri and Texas A&M all worthy of being in the 68-team field.
Bradley gave his nod of approval to Missouri and Texas A&M, while Fishback argued that Alabama and Georgia deserved to be in the field. Fishback also asked voters in The Associated Press Top 25 poll to look harder at the SEC.
"I think there should be more [SEC] teams, overall, in the top 25," Fishback said.
Tide up
Alabama moved into sole possession of third place in the league after Saturday's 68-62 victory over Mississippi State in which the Bulldogs managed to shoot just 37.5 percent.
The Crimson Tide, which have endured injuries to several key players, will take a three-game winning streak into tonight's game at Ole Miss.
The streak includes a 76-71 victory over Auburn, snapping the Tigers' 14-game winning streak, in which freshman John Petty scored 27 points on 8-of-18 three-point shooting.
"While our freshmen get a lot of publicity, which I'm excited that they're here, guys like Dazon Ingram and Braxton Key and Donte Hall and Daniel Giddens and AJ [Anthony Johnson] Jr., they're the lifeline of our team," Alabama Coach Avery Johnson said on the SEC Network.
We're 'fine'
Kentucky Coach John Calipari never leaves his team or the fans guessing about his thoughts.
After Saturday's 66-64 loss at Rupp Arena to Florida, Calipari was as expressive as ever and not harping on his team's lack of toughness as he's done repeatedly this season.
"We're going to be fine," Calipari said. "I was worried after [a 76-68 loss at] South Carolina. Now, I'm not worried after this. We'll be fine."
Calipari said "fine" six times in his postgame remarks, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader.
"They do this and they stay the course, and this is who we are, we'll be fine," Calipari said.
Kentucky shot 4 of 17 from three-point range, but the Wildcats held the SEC's top three-point shooting team to 6-of-30 shooting beyond the arc.
Calipari sent a message to Kentucky fans who will be anxious about the team's first two-game losing streak.
"I'm good," Calipari said. "I know there's some people out there that will be panicked and all this. Be panicked. I'm glad I'm not sitting with you because I am fine."
Taking over
Auburn trailed Georgia by as many as 16 points in the first half at Auburn Arena on Saturday as Georgia forward Yante Maten had 9 points, including 5 of 5 free-throw shooting, and 6 rebounds, and Juwan Parker added 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
The Tigers erased that deficit with a 31-4 run to open the second half.
Auburn Coach Bruce Pearl said his son, Stephen, suggested switching to a full-court zone defense to see how the Bulldogs would adjust.
"I thought if it worked a little bit we could stay with it," Pearl said on the SEC Network. "Well, it was just terrific. They kept the ball in front, they didn't get it inside to Maten. We were able to rebound out of it."
Georgia's starters shot 3 of 17 in the second half.
GameDay go away
ESPN's College GameDay will be on site in Morgantown, W.Va., for coverage of the Kentucky at West Virginia game in the Big 12-SEC Challenge on Saturday. The Wildcats might wish ESPN had gone elsewhere.
Kentucky fell to 5-10 in games covered by the GameDay crew after Saturday's 66-64 home loss to Florida.
The Gators improved to 7-2 with GameDay around, including a 7-1 record in head-to-head games against Kentucky.
FROM TOP TO BOTTOM
RANK;LAST WEEK;RPI;TEAM (RECORDS);COMMENT
1;4;24;Florida (14-5, 6-1);Hosts S. Carolina, Baylor after taking SEC lead
2;1;8;Auburn (17-2, 5-1);At Missouri, home vs. LSU this week
3;3;12;Tennessee (13-5, 4-3);5-3 in road games, including 2 wins in the SEC
4;2;20;Kentucky (14-5, 4-3);First two-game losing streak of the season
5;5;26;Alabama (13-6, 5-2);Four-game win streak on line at Ole Miss tonight
6;8;32;Arkansas (13-6, 3-4);Top shooting team in the SEC at 49.3 percent
7;9;36;Missouri (13-6, 3-3);Has alternated wins, losses past 8 games since Dec. 19
8;6;100;Ole Miss (10-9, 3-4);3-0 at home in SEC with hot Alabama heading in
9;11;53;South Carolina (12-7, 3-4);Two SEC home losses vs. Mizzou, Tennessee
10;7;99;LSU (11-7, 2-4);0-3 since 21-point victory at Arkansas
11;10;33; Texas A&M (13-6, 2-5);Ended 0-5 SEC skid, now faces 2 road games
12;12;51;Georgia (12-6, 3-4);SEC's best in field goal defense at 38.2 percent
13;13;76; Miss. State (14-5, 2-4);Rolls into Rupp against roiled-up Wildcats
14;14;143;Vanderbilt (7-12, 2-5);0-4 in SEC road games, average loss margin of 14 points
The Ratings Percentage Index is a scale used by the NCAA Selection Committee to rank Division I basketball teams by their performance in light of strength of schedule. Low RPI ranking numbers denote strong teams; and high numbers, weaker ones.
Game of the week
Arkansas at Georgia, 5:30 p.m. today (SECN)
The SEC's most accurate shooting team in Arkansas (49.3 percent) tries to break its 0-4 road record against the SEC's top field goal defense in Georgia (38.2 percent) in a game with big implications for SEC Tournament seeding and NCAA Tournament credentials
QUOTEBOOK
"Recruiting has significantly improved, and that's why I'm hopeful we'll get at least eight teams in the tournament." -- Alabama Coach Avery Johnson on the SEC Network
"Let me say this, and start by saying this: We're going to be fine." -- Kentucky Coach John Calipari after Saturday's 66-64 loss to Florida
By the numbers
5
Auburn victories after trailing by 10-plus points this season, including Saturday vs. Georgia
18
Consecutive missed jump shots by Kentucky in Saturday's home loss to Florida
32
Consecutive victories for Arkansas when it holds a halftime lead
57
Consecutive home victories for Kentucky against unranked teams at Rupp Arena snapped by Florida on Saturday
Sports on 01/23/2018