Taking stock after a STACKED Saturday

Good morning! Saturday certainly counted as an early holiday gift for college basketball fans everywhere. And Sunday had a couple surprises as well.

Let’s dive into what we got, shall we?

1. Vols or Auburn? Who’s No. 1? (In a monster league)

Let’s be clear: Auburn is playing at an absurd level.

After a 91-53 throttling of Ohio State on Saturday, the No. 2 Tigers are 9-1, are atop every advanced metrics site, and are reaching levels of offensive efficiency not seen since 2017-18 Villanova, and overall efficiency that no team has reached this early in the season.

They’ve played against a Top 10 schedule, have five Quad 1 wins (no other team has more than three) and have the frontrunner for NPOY. Johni Broome (21 points, 20 rebounds, six assists vs. the Buckeyes) is logging performances most players take a career to manage.

Auburn’s the scariest team in college basketball. But when the latest AP poll comes out today, it’ll still be No. 2 behind Tennessee. And the thing is, that’s somehow understandable.

The Vols — who won Saturday at Illinois on a coast-to-coast buzzer-beater from Jordan Gainey — are 10-0. They’ve played a Top 75 schedule, feature the game’s best defense (again), and are only behind Auburn in efficiency metrics.

So what’s the argument? Well, on a day when leading scorer Chaz Lanier fouled out and team leader Zakai Zeigler did the same, Tennessee still found a way to win in a hostile road environment against a long, athletic team that might just be the best in the Big Ten. That’s gotta count for something.

"I'm excited about seeing the tape because I'm shocked we were able to get it done with all the foul trouble," Vols coach Rick Barnes said. "These guys found a way to do it."

Besides, it’s Dec. 16. This will be an argument among SEC teams for the next three months. Tennessee, Auburn, Kentucky, Florida and Alabama may all end up as 1 and 2 NCAA Tournament seeds. Texas A&M, Ole Miss and Miss State may be in the mix for top 6 seeds. The league itself will likely land double-digits programs in the NCAAs, and possibly up to 12, which would be a record.

The SEC is in conference territory rarely seen this decade, and probably not since the ACC of the 90s. It went 13-1 on Saturday and is 143-20 overall this season, It’s an elite, dominant conference no matter how you slice it.

Which is my way of saying Tennessee’s going to be No. 1 until it loses. Auburn will be No. 1 at some point, and the two will probably trade spots repeatedly until March. (Maybe Iowa State sneaks in a week at some point.)

Because in a season where multiple teams from one conference are Final Four worthy, being No. 1 is just a placeholder until March.

2. Wait. UConn’s back?

The Maui Invitational was four weeks ago. That’s how long it took UConn to shake off its worst week in years.

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