What is the state of the SEC basketball?
Check out below as we breakdown five offseason storylines in the SEC.
1. Kentucky is on an island by itself
The Wildcats officially have no peer in their own conference.
For a long time, John Calipari and Kentucky would look forward to a pair of regular season tilts against Billy Donovan and Florida that would rival the heavyweight battles that Evander Holyfield and Riddick Bowe had in the 1990's with a third showdown always looming in the SEC Tournament title game.
Those days seem like an eternity ago.
With Donovan now coaching the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA, the Wildcats own the SEC and there's no clear cut challenger on the horizon.
With solid returnees in place like Isaiah Briscoe, Derek Willis, Isaac Humphries, and Dominique Hawkins to go with another fabled recruiting class headlined by five-star prospects De'Aaron Fox, Malik Monk, Wenyen Gabriel, and Bam Adebayo, Kentucky again looks to be a cut above the rest in the SEC heading into next season.
The empire in Lexington always seems to remain at its apex.
And there's nothing that anybody can do right now to stop it.
2. Next season is important for the SEC's perception
The facts are the facts: the SEC only had three teams in the NCAA Tournament last March and one of those teams -- Vanderbilt -- lost by twenty points to Wichita State in the First Four.
Will this conference get that many teams in the field of 68 in 2017?
There's no way to truly tell.
Other than Kentucky, there's no team in the SEC that looks like it's a sure bet to hear its name called on Selection Sunday.
Florida and Texas A&M look like the second and third best teams on paper, but this group of Gators has never collectively played in the NCAA Tournament and the Aggies lost four starters -- Anthony Collins, Alex Caruso, Danuel House, and Jalen Jones -- from last year's team that reached the Sweet 16.
Georgia meanwhile has legitimate star power in J.J. Frazier and Yante Maten, but it remains to be seen how its supporting cast handles higher expectations and the need to produce with consistency on a regular basis.
The SEC is at mini-crossroads; this league is doing all the right things off the court to try to make men's basketball relevant, but it's still not showing up in between the lines.
It doesn't reflect well on this conference when a program like South Carolina goes 24-8 last season with an 11-7 conference record and winds up on the wrong side of the bubble.
3. Quinndary Weatherspoon is a name to look out for
Weatherspoon would have been the elite freshman that people talked about on Mississippi State's roster and not Malik Newman if there were no recruiting rankings and no preconceived notions heading into last season.
The 6-foot-4 guard plays with a maturity beyond his years and boasts an insatiable desire to get better.
Last year as a freshman, Weatherspoon reached double-figures in 14 out of the Bulldogs' final 16 games while averaging an impressive 14.7 points and 5.5 rebounds over Mississippi State's final 10 outings.
This is the player that's at the core of the rebuilding project in Starkville.
4. Auburn and Mississippi State are a year away
The two teams that have recruited at the highest level in the SEC other than Kentucky in the past year boast tons of good young talent in their respective programs, but both seem to be a year away from competing for a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Bruce Pearl has assembled a deep perimeter at Auburn next season featuring a nice blend of veterans (Ronnie Johnson, T.J. Dunans) and youth (Mustapha Heron, Jared Harper), but lacks to type of front court depth it will probably take to have his team reach the field of 68 next March.
Ben Howland meanwhile, has loaded up Mississippi State's roster with talented freshmen like Lamar Peters, Eli Wright, Tyson Carter, Mario Kegler, and Schnider Herard, but still doesn't have the depth or experience it takes to sustain consistency throughout the course of a season.
Both of these programs should have a legitimate chance to compete for NCAA Tournament berths in 2018.
Auburn has currently assembled the top-recruiting class in the country for 2017 according to 247sports. Meanwhile, Mississippi State is eyeing two specific prospects: local point guard Nick Weatherspoon, the brother of Quinndary Weatherspoon and big man Garrison Brooks, the son of Bulldogs' assistant George Brooks.
5. Arkansas looks like a sleeper
Just one year after advancing to the finals of the SEC Tournament and earning a five seed in the field of 68, the Razorbacks finished 16-16 overall and just 9-9 in conference play.
Nevertheless, Mike Anderson looks like he's assembled a sneaky good squad that could get better as next season progresses.
Arkansas returns two All-SEC caliber players in shooting guard Dusty Hannahs and big man Moses Kingsley while lefty point guard Anton Beard is a grizzled veteran that gives this team a seasoned player at the most important spot on the floor.
Anderson is also counting on two junior-college All-Americans -- Jaylen Barford and Daryl Macon -- to play major roles immediately on the perimeter while Colorado transfer Dustin Thomas is a face-up power forward that can give Kingsley room to operate in the low post.
The Razorbacks aren't going to be a team that's talked about a great deal heading into fall practice, but that doesn't mean that they don't have a chance to be better than most anticipate.
Arkansas needs Barford and Macon to live up to their billing and for Beard to play the most consistent basketball of his career.
This and That
- Florida's John Egbunu (thumb) won't be fully cleared for all basketball related activities until September, Mike White told CBS Sports. Egbunu was the Gators' starting center last season and averaged 11.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks in 2015-16.
- During an 18-day stretch in December, Kentucky will play games against UCLA, North Carolina (CBS Sports Classic), and Louisville. That's what you call a non-conference schedule folks. The Wildcats also host Kansas at Rupp Arena in January as part of the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
- Texas A&M's Tyler Davis averaged 11.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks last season as a freshman while shooting a blistering 65.5 percent from the field. This is the best true post player in the SEC. And it's not close.
- If veteran guards win in college basketball then it would be wise to keep an eye on Ole Miss. The Rebels will start two seasoned players on the perimeter in a pair of transfers -- Cullen Neal (New Mexico) and Deandre Burnett (Miami). Expect the shifty Burnett to be one of the top scorers in the SEC next season.
- How will South Carolina replace Michael Carrera, Laimonas Chatkevicius, and Mindaugas Kacinas up front? The smart bet is on sophomore Chris Silva. The 6-9 forward averaged 5.4 points and 4.5 rebounds in 13.3 minutes last season as a freshman.
