Official Site of the Southeastern Conference

SEC COMMUNITY SERVICE TEAM PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Lee Humphrey, Florida

Florida senior guard Lee Humphrey will be featured this week as the SEC Community Service Team Player of the Week on Lincoln Financial's telecasts of the Georgia at Florida, Alabama at Arkansas and Mississippi State at Tennessee games.

The Maryville, Tennessee native has been extremely active in the Gainesville community, speaking to elementary school children, working as a camp counselor at basketball camps and visiting local pediatric wards. Humphrey spent two of the last three Thanksgivings serving food to the homeless at a local shelter in Gainesville. Extremely active in his hometown of Maryville, Tenn., Humphrey speaks to local youth groups when he returns home. He also has traveled to China and Brazil with Sports Reach each of the past two summers and in addition to playing an exhibition tour, has worked with the group to give basketball clinics and teach English to various groups in both countries.

A player will be highlighted on the LFS broadcasts and in the SEC release each week as the SEC Community Service Team "Player of the Week" for his accomplishments in the community and in the classroom. This will mark the ninth year for the SEC Community Service Team for men's basketball as well as for women's basketball. The SEC began this concept with a football Community Service Team in 1994.

SEC Men's Basketball on SIRIUS Satellite Radio

Schedule subject to change.

TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES

ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE
The Crimson Tide, 12-1, plays its final regular season non-conference game Monday, New Year's Day when Alabama hosts Oklahoma, 8-3, at 1:30 p.m. CT in a game televised by ESPN. Jermareo Davidson leads Alabama in rebounding at 9.8 boards a game but Richard Hendrix is right there with him at 9.2 rebounds a game. Hendrix is also shooting 61.4% (78-127) from the field. The sophomore forward from Athens, Ala., has had six double-doubles this season, including three straight in his last three games. Alabama's offense is averaging 80.3 points a game (to opponents' 62.4). If you break it down to Alabama's offensive performance in its last five games, it jumps to 86.0 points a game (vs. NC State, Southern Miss, Alabama State, Coppin State and Lipscomb). JUCO transfer Mykal Riley continues to make his presence known on the Alabama team. He scored 21 points to lead Alabama's win against Lipscomb on Friday night and is averaging 12.5 points and 5.8 rebounds. Riley has scored in double digits in nine of Alabama's 13 games. The junior from Pine Bluff, Ark., will get to make his SEC debut in his home state of Arkansas as Alabama opens league play at Arkansas on Saturday.

ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS
In the 80-50 victory over Louisiana Tech, Arkansas ran its non-conference home winning streak to 24. UA closes its regular season non-conference schedule on Tuesday with the 7:05 p.m. game against Tulsa. Against Louisiana Tech, Arkansas had 19 assists and 11 turnovers for its best assist-to-turnover ratio of the season. The 11 turnovers tie for the fewest in a game this year, all in the last three contests. UA head coach Stan Heath recorded the 100th victory of his career with the 68-56 win over Oral Roberts on Dec. 22. Freshman Patrick Beverley leads the team in scoring (14.2), steals (2.2) and three-point shooting (.441), and is second in rebounding (4.5), assists (3.4) and free throw percentage (.800), and is third in field goal percentage (.513) and blocked shots (0.77). With the win over Oral Roberts, Arkansas improved to 3-1 against NCAA Tournament teams from last year. The Razorbacks have wins over tourney teams ORU, Southern Illinois and West Virginia, and a loss at Texas. Heath is 71-60 at Arkansas after going 30-6 in one season at Kent State in 2002. Arkansas has had more assists than turnovers in six of its last seven games.

AUBURN TIGERS
Quan Prowell had a game-high 19 points and eight rebounds to lead Auburn (10-4) to a 69-53 win over Charleston Southern (5-9) at Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum Saturday. Rasheem Barrett had 10 points and Josh Dollard added 10 points, seven boards and four steals. Korvotney Barber and Frank Tolbert chipped-in eight points apiece, while Quantez Robertson dished out five dimes with no turnovers. The Tigers stretched their lead to 50-33 on a three by Prowell with 11:34 to go in the game, but Charleston Southern worked it back to single digits, 57-48 on a three at the 5:01 mark. The Buccaneers would get no closer than eight the rest of the way, as two late three-pointers by Prowell gave the Tigers a 69-53 win. Auburn closed the half on a 7-2 run to take a 33-22 lead at halftime. The Tigers had eight first half steals and forced the Buccaneers into 15 turnovers. Charleston Southern managed just 17 made field goals on the day, a season-low for an Auburn opponent, with six coming from behind the arc. The Buccaneers 53 points was also a season-low for an Auburn opponent. Auburn will next be in action as it hits the road to face Southern Miss (9-2) on Jan. 2 for its final game of the non-conference schedule at 6 p.m.

FLORIDA GATORS
Florida rallied from an 11-point second half deficit, its largest comeback since Nov. 25, 2005, and the Gators won their seventh straight Orange Bowl Classic, 75-70, over UAB. With the win, Florida reached 12 wins before New Year's for only the second time in school history (12 in 2005-06). Corey Brewer and Joakim Noah shared MVP honors, as the Gators rallied from a 40-33 halftime deficit. Brewer had 19 points on 6-of-13 shooting, while Noah had his third double-double of the season with 13 points, 13 rebounds and four blocked shots. Not lost in the shuffle was an 18-point showing by Taurean Green, who also had three steals and went 6-of-6 from the line. Green has now connected on 25 straight free throws. Green's free throws with 1:32 remaining gave the Gators a 70-69 lead they would not relinquish. UF hit 47.1 percent from the floor, only the third time this year they've hit under 50 percent. The Gators continue to lead the nation in field goal percentage at 54.3 percent. Florida can finish non-conference play with a 13-2 mark if they can defeat Liberty on Tuesday which would be the second most non-conference regular season wins by a Gator team behind only last year's club which finished 14-0.

GEORGIA BULLDOGS
Takais Brown picked up his first double-double at Georgia with 20 points and 13 rebounds in the Bulldogs' loss to No. 4 Wisconsin Sunday afternoon at Stegeman Coliseum. Wisconsin took advantage of the Bulldogs' 0-for-6 early shooting effort as the Badgers pulled ahead securing a 10-point lead over the first 5:19 of action. Four steals in four minutes helped Georgia to come within one point at 12-11. Brown finished the first half with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Sundiata Gaines buried a three-pointer just before the half giving the Bulldogs the 32-31 edge going into the locker room. Brown scored the first points of the second stanza at 18:29 giving Georgia a three-point lead - its largest of the game. Wisconsin's Alando Tucker had two dunks putting the Badgers back on top at 16:29. Despite pulling to within one point on three occasions, Georgia could not find their way past the Badgers for the remainder of the contest. For the game the Bulldogs out-rebounded Wisconsin 42-34, including 19-10 on the offensive boards. Georgia will open its' SEC schedule Saturday, January 6, when it travels to take on the Florida Gators in Gainesville. Tip off is set for Noon (ET).

KENTUCKY WILDCATS
Randolph Morris matched a career high with 25 points and Ramel Bradley had 20 as Kentucky pushed its winning streak to six with a 78-65 victory over Eastern Kentucky Saturday afternoon. It was Morris' fourth double-double of the season and sixth of his career. Bradley added a career-high five steals. Kentucky returns to action Wed. Jan. 3 at home against Houston. The game will be at 7 p.m. and televised on the FSN. The Wildcats won the points in the paint battle with a season high 45 points compared to EKU's 28 points inside. Kentucky won the rebounding 38-26. UK's +12 margin was the largest of the season. Kentucky shot 51.8 percent, the second consecutive game that UK has hit at least half of its field goal attempts. The Wildcats are 108-2 under Coach Tubby Smith when shooting at least 50 percent from the field. Kentucky tied two season lows with 11 turnovers and only eight personal fouls. UK made 12 of its last 13 free throws of the game. EKU shot 43.9 percent from the field today, ending UK's streak of seven consecutive opponents held under 40 percent. Kentucky has made a three-pointer in 623 consecutive games, the third-longest streak in the nation. Bradley, the SEC free-throw percentage leader, sank all four attempts today to improve to 88.9 percent.

LSU TIGERS
The Tigers won three games in three nights in the Hispanic College Funds Classic in Baton Rouge, defeating Wright State, 71-45; Mississippi Valley, 92-58; and, Samford, 60-45. Glen Davis was named the MVP of the round-robin event, averaging 21.3 points per game and 11.3 rebounds, hitting 64.9 percent from the floor and 5-of-9 from the three line including a career high three treys against Wright State. Davis continues to rank second in the SEC in scoring (19.7 ppg) and first in the SEC in rebounding (10.7 ppg). LSU in the three games shot 56.0 percent against Wright State, 56.5 percent against Mississippi Valley and 55.8 percent against Samford. Dameon Mason (12.7 ppg in the three games) and Tasmin Mitchell (12.0 ppg) were also named to the HCF All-Tournament team. LSU plays its first game in 2007 Saturday night at 8 p.m. against the Connecticut. College Gameday makes its first basketball appearance at the Maravich Assembly Center. Last year, Connecticut was a 67-66 winner at the Hartford Civic Center. LSU is 0-2 all-time against Connecticut, also falling to the Huskies in the first round of the 1991 NCAA Tournament.

OLE MISS REBELS
The Rebels are beginning SEC play at home for only the third time in the last 12 years, and will be doing so against Kentucky for the first time since the 1983-84 season. UK holds a 26-8 series advantage in games played in Oxford but is only 5-4 in the last nine encounters in Tad Smith Coliseum. Ole Miss saw its four-game win streak snapped Saturday at Saint Louis 59-56. The Rebels lost a 16-point lead in dropping their final non-conference game of the regular season. Bam Doyne notched his sixth 20-point outing of the year with 22 and topped the team in scoring for the seventh time. Clarence Sanders hit 3 3-pointers in scoring 13, and he is averaging 18.0 points and 53.3 percent 3-point shooting (16-of-30) over the last four games. Todd Abernethy tallied 11 points and 5 assists, and is posting 7.3 assists over the last four games. Ole Miss turned in a season low in points and free throws attempted (3-for-4) against the Billikens. With Friday's win over Alabama A&M, Ole Miss finished unbeaten at home in non-conference play at 7-0. The Rebels have won 20 of their last 21 non-SEC games in Oxford, including 11 straight.

MISSISSIPPI STATE BULLDOGS
The 9-3 Bulldogs ring in the new year by heading to Columbia, Mo., to take on the Missouri Tigers Tuesday evening. While having their seven-game winning streak snapped with Saturday's 63-59 road loss to George Mason, the Bulldogs were held to single-game season lows for points scored (59) and field-goal percentage (36.4%). MState is bidding to reach double figures in wins prior to the start of conference play for the sixth consecutive season. For the season, the Bulldogs are now 9-0 when leading at halftime and 0-3 when trailing at the intermission. MSU will tip off conference play at Tennessee Sunday afternoon to mark just the second time (2004 at Ole Miss was the other) during the Rick Stansbury era (since 1998-99) that the Bulldogs have started league action on the road. MState is 7-1 in SEC season openers under Stansbury's guidance, losing only at home to Florida in 2003. State owns a slight 9-8 series edge over Tennessee since the SEC began divisional play in 1991-92. Eleven of the last 14 MSU-UT overall meetings have been decided by 10 points or less, including four one-point decisions. The last six Knoxville meetings have been decided by an average margin of just over five points per game, including UT's 64-63 home win over State two years ago.

SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS
Tre Kelley scored 20 points and Brandon Wallace added 17 points and 11 rebounds to help South Carolina hang on for an 80-73 win over Jacksonville on Friday night. Kelley scored 11 of the Gamecocks' 14 unanswered points late in the first half as South Carolina (9-2) took a 39-25 lead at the break. The Gamecocks led 74-56 with 6:38 to go when Kelley injured his left knee. South Carolina wouldn't score for nearly the next six minutes, and the Dolphins (4-8) were down just 76-70 with a minute to go. Bryce Sheldon and Dominique Archie combined for four straight free throws and Jacksonville's only other points came on a 3-pointer by Jesse Kimbrough at the buzzer. Archie added 12 points and Sheldon and Dwayne Day each had 10 points as South Carolina used just eight players. Tre' Kelley has scored 20-plus points in three of the last four games. Brandon Wallace recorded his first double-double of the year and the seventh of his career. Wallace has eight or more boards in 10 of 11 games this season. All five South Carolina starters scored in double figures for the first time since Feb. 4, 2004. South Carolina next hosts Western Carolina on January 3rd at 7:30 p.m.

TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS
Tennessee will open the defense of its 2006 SEC Eastern Division championship Sunday, Jan. 7, when the Vols play host to Mississippi State. The Mississippi State game will conclude a four-game homestand for the Vols. After its meeting with the Bulldogs, Tennessee will play five of six games on the road. The Vols are riding an eight-game winning streak that includes wins over No. 16 Memphis, No. 15 Oklahoma State and Texas. UT hasn't won nine consecutive games since opening the 2000-01 season with a 9-0 record. UT has reached the 100-point mark in two of their last three games and is averaging 101.7 points in its last three games. The Vols scored 100 points in back-to-back games (111 vs. Texas and 101 vs Tennessee Tech) for the just the second time in school history. Chris Lofton is leading the SEC with 22.3 ppg. He is averaging 3.9 3-pointers per game and is connecting on 46.6 percent of his shots from beyond the arc. JaJuan Smith is averaging 21.7 points in his last three games and ranks second on the team with 15.4 ppg. In each of his last two games he has tied his career-high with 23 points. Tennessee's win over East Tennessee State gave the Vols their first undefeated month of December since 1997-98.

VANDERBILT COMMODORES
Derrick Byars had 20 points to lead Vanderbilt to an 86-47 win over cold-shooting Alabama A&M on Friday night. Vanderbilt (9-4) stretched its margin by shooting 11-of-25 from 3-point range, including 3-of-4 from the arc by Dan Cage for 11 points total. Jermaine Beal and Shan Foster each added 12 for the Commodores. Alabama A&M (5-6) was held to 35 percent shooting from the field and hit only 1-of-14 3-point attempts. Trant Simpson led with 17 points. Nine Commodores scored in the first half as Vandy built a 45-24 lead at the break. Simpson did his best to keep A&M in the game with 13 first-half points, but his teammates combined for just 5-of-25 from the field in the period. Vandy scored on its first four possessions of the second half, including two Byars' 3-pointers and another by Cage, to extend the lead to 56-24. The Commodores stretched the lead to as much as 41 on two occasions in the second half, and out-rebounded A&M 46-28. Vanderbilt center Alan Metcalfe played eight minutes and scored four points after missing 10 games with a broken foot he suffered Nov. 21 against Wake Forest.

SEC NOTES

SEC IN THE POLLS

Four SEC teams were ranked in this week's AP poll with Florida at No. 3 followed by Alabama (8), LSU (14) and Tennessee (19). In the USA Today/ESPN poll, Florida is No. 3, Alabama is No. 8, LSU is No. 19 and Tennessee is No. 25.

Here's a week-by-week look at the SEC's ranked teams this season (Listed with AP first and USA Today/ESPN second)

        UA     AR     UF     UG     UK     LS     MS     UT     VU
Pre    11/12  rv/nr   1/1   nr/nr  22/22   5/7   nr/nr  25/24  nr/nr
11/13  10/11  rv/nr   1/1   nr/nr  22/22   7/7   rv/rv  25/24  nr/nr
11/20   8/9   rv/nr   1/1   nr/nr  20/22   6/6   rv/nr  22/21  nr/nr
11/27   6/7   rv/rv   4/4   nr/nr  rv/rv  10/12  nr/nr  rv/rv  nr/nr
12/4    4/5   rv/rv   7/7   nr/nr  rv/nr   9/11  nr/nr  rv/rv  nr/nr
12/11   9/9   rv/nr   5/5   nr/nr  rv/nr  12/15  nr/nr  rv/rv  rv/nr
12/18  10/10  nr/nr   5/4   rv/rv  rv/nr  12/15  nr/rv  rv/rv  nr/nr
12/25   8/8   nr/nr   3/3   nr/rv  rv/nr  13/19  nr/nr  21/rv  nr/nr
1/1     8/8   nr/nr   3/3   nr/nr  rv/nr  14/19  nr/nr  19/25  nr/nr

SEC COACHING RECORDS

Below is a list of won-lost records of coaches across the league for their career and at their present schools.

Coach, School         Career    At School
Mark Gottfried, UA    241-121    173-97
Stan Heath, AR        101-66      71-60
Jeff Lebo, AU         151-100     36-37
Billy Donovan, UF     273-120    238-100
Dennis Felton, UG     147-107     47-53
Tubby Smith, UK       375-136    251-74
John Brady, LS        266-191    177-114
Andy Kennedy, UM       32-16      11-3
Rick Stansbury, MS    173-93     173-93
Dave Odom, SC         387-246    109-72
Bruce Pearl, UT       351-94      34-10
Kevin Stallings, VU   254-163    131-100

SEC vs. NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS

Here's the SEC's non-conference record since the league expanded to 12 teams in 1991-92.

Year     Record
2006-07  122-34  (.782)
2005-06  133-42  (.760)
2004-05  120-46  (.723)
2003-04  120-31  (.795)
2002-03  114-39  (.745)
2001-02  133-41  (.764)
2000-01  131-38  (.775)
1999-00  132-43  (.754)
1998-99  121-42  (.742)
1997-98  125-35  (.781)
1996-97  107-50  (.682)
1995-96  119-39  (.753)
1994-95  103-41  (.715)
1993-94  102-47  (.685)
1992-93  102-43  (.703)
1991-92  123-58  (.680)

POLL WORTHY

The SEC is the only conference in the nation to have all of its teams ranked at least one week in the Associated Press top 25 (excluding preseason polls) since 1999-00. Simply stated, every SEC team has been a top-25 team nationally at one point in the last seven-plus seasons.

A look at SEC teams in the AP top 25 show the league's diversity since the 2000 season. Every team has been in the top 25.

Alabama             2006-07
Arkansas            2000-01
Auburn              1999-00
Florida             2006-07
Georgia             2002-03
Kentucky            2006-07
LSU                 2006-07
Ole Miss            2000-01
Mississippi State   2004-05
South Carolina      2003-04
Tennessee           2006-07
Vanderbilt          2003-04

Here's a look at the other major basketball conferences and their teams who have not achieved an AP top 25 ranking over that span:

ACC: 10 of 12 Florida State, Va. Tech
Big East: 14 of 16 Rutgers, South Florida
Big Ten: 9 of 11 Northwestern, Penn State
Big 12: 8 of 12 Baylor, Colorado, Kansas State, Nebraska
Pac-10: 7 of 10 Arizona State, Oregon State, Washington State

EVERYBODY DANCE

Every team in the SEC has made at least one NCAA Tournament appearance in the last five editions of the "Big Dance," which shows the balance in the league over the past few seasons.

Here's a quick look at those appearances since the 2002 event.

Team                NCAA Appearances from 2002-2006
Alabama             2002, 03, 04, 05, 06
Arkansas            2006
Auburn              2003
Florida             2002, 03, 04, 05, 06
Georgia             2002
Kentucky            2002, 03, 04, 05, 06
LSU                 2003, 05, 06
Ole Miss            2002
Mississippi State   2002, 03, 04, 05
South Carolina      2004
Tennessee           2006
Vanderbilt          2004

Here's a look at the other major basketball conferences and their teams who have not been to the NCAA Tournament over that span:

ACC: 8 of 12 Clemson, Florida State, Virginia, Virginia Tech
Big 12: 9 of 12 Baylor, Kansas State, Nebraska
Big East: 14 of 16 Rutgers, South Florida
Big Ten: 8 of 11 Michigan, Northwestern, Penn State
Pac-10: 8 of 10 Oregon State, Washington State

AT THE HALF

SEC teams own a 101-7 (.935) record when leading at the half. Here's a look at how each team has fared when leading, tied or trailing at the half.

                   Leading  Tied  Trailing
Alabama             11-0     0-1     1-0
Arkansas             7-0     0-0     3-3
Auburn               7-0     0-0     3-4
Florida             11-0     0-0     1-2
Georgia              7-2     0-0     1-2
Kentucky            10-0     0-0     0-3
LSU                  9-1     0-1     1-1
Ole Miss             7-1     0-0     4-2
Mississippi State    9-0     0-0     0-3
South Carolina       7-0     0-0     2-2
Tennessee           10-1     0-0     2-1
Vanderbilt           6-2     0-0     3-2
TOTALS             101-7     0-2    21-25

CONTROLLING THE BOARDS

Southeastern Conference teams have a 92-10 (.902) record when outrebounding their opponents. Here's a look at how teams have fared when they won, lost or tied in their rebounding battle with their opponents.

                     Won   Tie   Lost
Alabama             10-1   0-0   2-0
Arkansas             6-2   0-1   3-0
Auburn               7-0   1-0   2-4
Florida             12-1   0-0   0-1
Georgia              8-1   0-0   0-3
Kentucky             7-1   1-0   2-2
LSU                 10-1   0-0   0-2
Ole Miss             7-1   0-0   4-2
Mississippi State    9-1   0-0   0-2
South Carolina       4-0   1-0   4-2
Tennessee            8-1   1-0   3-1
Vanderbilt           5-0   1-0   3-4
TOTALS              92-10  5-1  23-24

SHOOTING THE ROCK

Southeastern Conference teams have a 87-7 (.926) record when shooting 45 percent or better from the field. Here's a look at how each team has fared when they shoot above or below 45 percent.

                   Over 45%   Under 45%
Alabama             10-0         2-1
Arkansas             9-0         1-3
Auburn               7-2         3-2
Florida             11-1         1-1
Georgia              8-0         0-4
Kentucky             6-1         4-2
LSU                  6-0         4-3
Ole Miss             7-0         4-3
Mississippi State    6-1         3-2
South Carolina       5-0         4-2
Tennessee            6-1         6-1
Vanderbilt           6-1         3-3
TOTALS              87-7        33-27

70 IS THE MAGIC NUMBER

SEC teams own a 103-10 (.920) record when scoring 70 or more points in a game. When holding opponents to under 70 points in a game, SEC teams also have a 96-8 (.923) record. Here's a look at how each team has fared when scoring 70 or more and holding opponents to under 70 points

             Off. (70 or more)   Def. (under 70)
Alabama            11-1              11-0
Arkansas            8-1              10-0
Auburn              8-0               7-1
Florida            12-1              11-0
Georgia             8-0               4-1
Kentucky            7-0               9-0
LSU                 6-2              10-1
Ole Miss           10-1               7-1
Mississippi State   8-0               8-2
South Carolina      5-0               7-1
Tennessee          12-1               5-1
Vanderbilt          8-3               7-0
TOTALS            103-10             96-8

HOME SWEET HOME

Southeastern Conference teams had a 144-49 (.746) record at home last season. SEC teams have a 90-9 (.909) record at home this season. Here's a breakdown of SEC home records.

                 Home Record
Alabama              7-0
Arkansas             7-0
Auburn              10-2
Florida              9-0
Georgia              6-2
Kentucky             7-0
LSU                  8-1
Ole Miss             8-0
Mississippi State    7-1
South Carolina       6-1
Tennessee            8-0
Vanderbilt           7-2
TOTALS              90-9

SEC EAST vs. SEC WEST

Since the 1991-92 season, the SEC has been separated into Eastern and Western Divisions. Below is a list of how the divisions have fared against each other over the years in regular season play.

2006   East 19, West 17
2005   East 19, West 17
2004   East 22, West 14
2003   East 26, West 10
2002   East 19, West 17
2001   East 21, West 15
2000   East 22, West 14
1999   West 19, East 17
1998   East 25, West 11
1997   East 26, West 10
1996   East 22, West 14
1995   West 20, East 16
1994   West 19, East 17
1993   East 23, West 13
1992   West 21, East 15

SEC SECOND IN THE NATION IN NON-CONFERENCE WINS

The SEC is ranked second in the nation with 119 non-conference wins versus NCAA Division I opponents, as of January 1.

Conference   Non-Conf. Record
Big East          152-49
SEC               119-34
ACC               115-32
Big Ten           113-38
Big 12            108-37
Atlantic 10        93-75
Pac-10             89-22
Mountain West      81-32
Missouri Valley    74-27
Conference USA     71-53

SEC RANKS 4TH IN OVERALL AND NON-CONF RPI

The SEC ranks fourth in the nation in Overall RPI and Non-Conference RPI, according to CollegeRPI.com, as of January 1.

Conference     Overall RPI   Non-Conf. RPI
Pac-10            1st             2nd
ACC               2nd             1st
Missouri Valley   3rd             3rd
SEC               4th             4th
Big Ten           5th             5th
Big 12            6th             6th
Big East          7th             7th
Mountain West     8th             8th
West Coast        9th             9th

SEC RANKS SECOND WITH FIVE TEAMS IN RPI TOP 30

The Southeastern Conference ranks second with four teams ranked in the CollegeRPI.com's Top 30, as of Jan. 1.

Conference       # in Top 30
ACC                5 Teams
SEC                4 Teams
Big Ten            4 Teams
Pac-10             3 Teams
Big East           2 Teams
Missouri Valley    2 Teams
Mountain West      2 Teams
Southern           2 Teams

SEC TEAMS IN RPI POLL AND SAGARIN RANKINGS

Below are the recent RPI rankings and Sagarin Rankings through games of January 1.

Team             RPI.com   Sagarin
Alabama             18        15
Arkansas            29        37
Auburn             141       105
Florida             49        21
Georgia            107        45
Kentucky             6        22
LSU                 73        46
Ole Miss           104        73
Mississippi State   88        44
South Carolina      58        79
Tennessee           14        14
Vanderbilt         174       114

SEC RANKS FOURTH IN SAGARIN RANKINGS

The SEC ranks second in the Sagarin rankings by central mean and by simple average, as of January 1.

Conference   Central Mean   Simple Average
ACC               1st            1st
SEC               2nd            2nd
Pac 10            3rd            3rd
Big 12            4th            6th
Big Ten           5th            5th
Missouri Valley   6th            4th
Big East          7th            7th
Mountain West     8th            8th

SEC Teams at the House

On the Road in the SEC

DOUBLE DIGITS

As of January 1, eight SEC teams have already reached 10 wins on the season. Alabama, Florida and Tennessee lead the way with 12 wins each. Ole Miss follows with 11 victories. Arkansas, Auburn, Kentucky and LSU are next with 10 wins each.

ROAD WARRIORS

With a 7-5 mark the final week of conference play, road teams' collective conference record finished at 38-58 last season.

Breaking down the record shows the road teams had a 18-25 record in weekday games and a 20-33 record in weekend games.

In 2005, SEC road teams did not fare as well with a 30-66 record. The breakdown was 15-30 in weekday night conference games and 15-36 in weekend conference tilts.

SEC OPENS 75TH SEASON OF CONFERENCE PLAY

Saturday's conference games, the first of the 2006-07 season, will tip off the 75th season of conference play in the SEC.

Since the 1932-33 season, the SEC has had 12 different schools win the SEC title, including former conference member Georgia Tech. Kentucky leads the way with 43 titles (44 including its vacated 1988 title) followed by LSU with nine, Tennessee with eight, Alabama with seven, Mississippi State with six, and both Florida and Vanderbilt with three. Auburn and Arkansas have two each while Georgia, South Carolina and former member Georgia Tech have one each.

LSU looks to defend its 2006 SEC crown and win at least a share of the Western Division title for the third year in a row. The Eastern Division will try to prevent Tennessee from defending their title in 2006.

FILLING THE SEATS

Home attendance numbers show a increase in attendance at 10 of 12 SEC arenas, as of January 1. Last season at this point, six schools showed increases in attendance. Those numbers will soon climb as league teams begin the conference play.

                     2007    2006   Difference
Alabama             10,188   8,737   + 1,451
Arkansas            15,108  12,357   + 2,751
Auburn               3,778   3,319   +   460
Florida             11,571   9,886   + 1,685
Georgia              6,114   6,660   -   546
Kentucky            22,836  21,750   + 1,086
LSU                  9,230   7,852   + 1,378
Ole Miss             2,659   2,402   +   257
Mississippi State    8,644   7,168   + 1,476
South Carolina      12,462   6,184   + 6,278
Tennessee           18,980  15,282   + 3,698
Vanderbilt          10,608  10,863   -   255
SEC                 10,539   9,196   + 1,343

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE

Below are the recent SOS rankings according to CollegeRPI.com through games of January 1.

Team                 SOS
Alabama              122
Arkansas              51
Auburn               157
Florida              163
Georgia              116
Kentucky               3
LSU                  138
Ole Miss             283
Mississippi State    165
South Carolina       158
Tennessee             31
Vanderbilt           212

CLOSE CALLS

Winning conference games was not easy in 2006 as evidenced by some tight games decided by the slimmest of margins.

Of the 96 conference played last season, 40 were decided by six points or less with three going to overtime. Meaning 30.2 percent of league games, including five in overtime. Meaning 41.7 percent of league games were won in the final minutes.

STREAKS IN SEC REGULAR SEASON PLAY

Four teams have current road win streaks of two or more in SEC play. Four SEC schools have home winning streaks of two or more in conference play. Arkansas, Florida and LSU have overall win streaks of two or more in SEC games.

Team              Overall  Home  Road
Alabama              L1     W7    L3
Arkansas             W5     W7    W2
Auburn               L2     L1    L1
Florida              W2     W1    W1
Georgia              L3     L1    L3
Kentucky             L1     L1    W1
LSU                  W6     W17   W3
Ole Miss             L5     L2    L7
Mississippi State    W1     W4    L8
South Carolina       W1     L3    W1
Tennessee            W1     L2    W2
Vanderbilt           L1     L3    W3

DOUBLE-DOUBLES

LSU's Glen Davis leads the Southeastern Conference with eight double-doubles.

 8   Davis, Glen - LSU
 7   Davidson, Jermareo - Alabama
 6   Hendrix, Richard - Alabama
 5   Horford, Al - Florida
 4   Morris, Randolph - Kentucky
 3   Noah, Joakim - Florida
 3   Curtis, Dwayne - Ole Miss
 3   Barber, Korvotney - Auburn
 2   Williams, Kenny - Ole Miss
 2   Weems, Sonny - Arkansas
 2   Speights, Marreese - Florida
 2   Doyne, Bam - Ole Miss
 2   Dollard, Josh - Auburn

NON-CONFERENCE RECORD
122-34 (.782) * As of 1/1/07

America East             0-0   .000
Atlantic 10              4-1   .800
Atlantic Coast           4-8   .333
Atlantic Sun            12-0  1.000
Big 12                   4-7   .364
Big East                 4-4   .500
Big Sky                  0-0   .000
Big South                2-1   .667
Big Ten                  3-2   .600 
Big West                 0-1   .000
Colonial                 1-1   .500
Conference USA           4-2   .667
Horizon League           2-1   .667
Ivy Group                1-0  1.000
Metro Atlantic           2-0  1.000
Mid-American             3-0  1.000
Mid-Continent            3-0  1.000
Mid-Eastern              5-0  1.000
Missouri Valley          1-1   .500
Mountain West            0-0   .000
Northeast                0-0   .000
Ohio Valley              9-0  1.000
Pacific-10               2-2   .500
Southern                 7-2   .778
Southland               10-0  1.000
Southwestern Athletic   13-0  1.000
Sun Belt                16-1   .941
Patriot                  0-0   .000
West Coast               3-0  1.000
Western Athletic         2-0  1.000
Independents             1-0  1.000
Non-Division I           3-0  1.000

NATIONAL POLLS

Associated Press (January 1, 2006)

Other SEC teams receiving votes: Kentucky 21.

USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll (January 1, 2006)

Other SEC teams receiving votes: None.

SEC VS. RANKED OPPONENTS
As of 1/1/07

                 Associated Press   USA Today/ESPN
Team              Top 25  Top 10    Top 25  Top 10
Alabama             0-0     0-0       0-0     0-0
Arkansas            0-0     0-0       0-0     0-0
Auburn              0-3     0-2       0-3     0-2
Florida             1-1     1-1       1-1     1-1
Georgia             1-2     0-1       1-2     0-1
Kentucky            0-3     0-2       0-3     0-2
LSU                 1-2     1-0       1-1     1-0
Ole Miss            0-2     0-1       0-2     0-1
Mississippi State   0-0     0-0       0-0     0-0
South Carolina      0-0     0-0       0-0     0-0
Tennessee           2-1     0-1       2-1     0-1
Vanderbilt          1-1     0-1       0-1     0-1
TOTAL               6-15    2-9       5-14    2-9
vs. Non-SEC Teams   6-15    2-9       5-14    2-9