Nine weeks into the college basketball season and with conference play just getting under way, the battle for the best conference has heated up.
The Kansas Jayhawks, ranked No. 1 last Sunday, went into the Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn. to play a Volunteers team that just dismissed its best player Tyler Smith after he and three other players were pulled over and police discovered guns and marijuana in their car.
The three remaining players are currently serving an indefinite suspension, leaving Tennessee with six scholarship players and three walk-ons to battle the best team in the country.
Using the crowd and inspired team play, the Volunteers pulled out a gritty 76–68 win. The hero, Skylar McBee, was a seldom-used walk-on whose dream was to play for the University of Tennessee.
With the Volunteers up three points, McBee found himself with the ball and a shot clock about to expire. He threw up an off-balance 3-pointer that swished in with 36 seconds remaining in the game, giving Tennessee a six-point lead.
The stunner in Knoxville suddenly thrust Tennessee and the Southeastern Conference back into the best conference in America discussion.
The Jayhawks, who were ranked No. 1 in both the AP and Coaches polls for nine straight weeks, including preseason, now find themselves without an identity after a week of struggling against Cornell in a 71–66 victory at home and then losing to the undermanned Vols.
Kansas coach Bill Self said, “I don’t know if Kansas is a team yet.”
The dethroning of the former No. 1 team from the Big 12 conference allowed fellow Big 12 foe, Texas, to step into the No. 1 spot this week with a 15–0 record.
Also undefeated is Kentucky from the SEC with a 16–0 record and No. 2 ranking.
Ranking the Conferences
However, Jeff Sagarin, famous for his formulated computer rankings, currently ranks the Atlantic Coast Conference as the top conference, followed by the Big 12, Big East, Southeastern, Big Ten, and Pacific-10.
