Missouri's upset over Kansas affirms SEC as best college hoops conference

The SEC is a basketball conference now.

On Sunday, Missouri (8-1) pulled off a stunning 76-67 win over No. 1 Kansas (7-2) to continue the conference's outstanding start to the 2024-25 season.

The Tigers jumped out to a 14-point home lead and held the Jayhawks to 39.7% on their field goal attempts. Missouri had an overwhelming advantage at the free throw line, going 26-of-31 compared to 9-of-11 for Kansas.

While SEC commissioner Greg Sankey fumes over his conference receiving three bids in the 12-team College Football Playoff, the conference's basketball domination this season should lower his blood pressure.

Missouri's win caps a whirlwind first month of the men's college basketball season for the SEC.

The conference has a country-high eight teams ranked in the most recent Associated Press poll. It went 14-2 in a dominant SEC/ACC challenge showing. NCAA.com's Mike Lopresti notes that the SEC was 6-2 in road games in the challenge and won 11 by double digits, including five by at least 20 points.

Already this season, No. 2 Auburn (8-1) and No. 10 Alabama (7-2) have wins over No. 17 Houston (5-3) and No. 20 North Carolina (5-4). The Tigers also won 83-81 over No. 6 Iowa State (6-1).

No. 4 Kentucky (8-1) beat No. 9 Duke (6-2) in November and No. 7 Gonzaga (7-2) in overtime on Saturday night.

Mississippi State (7-1) notched its largest margin of victory against a ranked opponent in program history with a 90-57 romp over No. 18 Pittsburgh.

Tennessee, the likely next No. 1 team in the AP rankings, has jumped out to an 8-0 start with an average margin of victory of 26.8 points per game.

Per Lopresti's Dec. 5 article, the SEC was 43-15 against power conference opponents (ACC, Big East, Big Ten and Big 12) before this weekend.

Per KenPom, Missouri is the third-worst SEC team. During the preseason, SEC media members picked it to finish 13th (out of 16 teams) in the conference. Its win over Kansas is a further sign of the SEC's remarkable 2024-25 depth.

The conference is the clear best in college basketball, a fact insider Jon Rothstein noted on Saturday when pointing to the resumes of Oklahoma and Vanderbilt, teams predicted to finish last in the SEC this season.

Rothstein wrote that the Sooners "won the Battle 4 Atlantis and [are] undefeated," while the Commodores are "9-1 and 4-0 against power conference teams."