The SEC has been an absolute gauntlet this year in women's college basketball. Currently, the conference has seven nationally ranked teams and 10 that are predicted to make the NCAA Tournament next month. Monday night's standalone game between the Georgia Bulldogs and No. 1 Texas Longhorns helped determine the battle for the league's crown.
Texas ran away with the game in the fourth quarter after an uninspiring first half, winning by a final score of 57-26 in what was a low-scoring grudge match through three quarters. The Longhorns outscored the Bulldogs 37-10 in the final two quarters and leaned heavily on their defense after clinging to just a four-point lead at the half.
Let's take a look at the SEC standings following Monday night's contest.
Updated SEC standings after Texas X Georgia
1. Texas Longhorns (13-1)
2. South Carolina Gamecocks (13-1)
3. LSU Tigers (12-2)
4. Kentucky Wildcats (10-4)
5. Alabama Crimson Tide (9-5)
6. Oklahoma Sooners (9-5)
7. Ole Miss Rebels (9-5)
8. Tennessee Volunteers (8-6)
9. Mississippi State Bulldogs (6-8)
10. Vanderbilt Commodores (6-8)
11. Florida Gators (5-9)
12. Auburn Tigers (3-11)
13. Texas A&M Aggies (3-11)
14. Missouri Tigers (2-12)
15. Georgia Bulldogs (2-12)
16. Arkansas Razorbacks (2-12)
Texas and South Carolina split their season series, so unless one of these two teams drops a contest in the final week of the season, the two may become co-champions and flip a coin for the top seed in the SEC Tournament. They are arguably the top two teams in the nation and may be on a collision course for both an SEC and National Championship within the next month.
LSU and Kentucky have been some of the best teams in the country all season as well but cannot seem to get over the hump and beat the conference's two best programs. Both should still make significant March Madness runs next month, as their experience in the country's best conference will serve them well.
The next crop of teams includes Alabama, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Mississippi State, and Vanderbilt. All of these teams should make the NCAA Tournament, but their ceilings are a bit unknown. It will be interesting to see how some of the "lesser teams" in the country's best conference compare to the good teams in other leagues. Perhaps the SEC is so dominant that any of these programs could make a serious run in the Big Dance.