Tennessee

Chris Lofton & Brandis Raley-Ross Win SEC Weekly Honors.

Joe CrawfordWith the ever-growing pressure on coaches and players to win now, teams must be able to reload from year to year faster than ever. This year, the SEC welcomes back all five starters from the defending national champion Florida Gators, a Final Four team in LSU, and a lot of question marks everywhere else. Here’s some players who will have to step up or expand their games in order to take their teams to the next level.

Much of the nation knows the SEC as a football conference. And why not, with teams like Florida, Georgia, LSU, Auburn, and Alabama stealing the national limelight? Still others see the SEC as the leading conference in baseball. Which, with 9 out of the 12 SEC schools ranked in the Top 25 at one point last season, it is. However, many overlook the heritage-rich Southeastern Conference in terms of basketball. That is, until last season. In what pre-season analysts called a “down year” for the SEC, the conference sent 6 teams to the NCAA – two of them to the Final Four, produced the national champion, and finished just behind the ACC in RPI standings.

5 Programs on the Rise, 5 on the Decline, and 5 In-between.

An in-depth look at incoming SEC talent by Ken Cross.