2014–15 Southeastern Conference men's basketball season

2014–15 SEC Men's Basketball Season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportBasketball
Number of teams14
TV partner(s)CBS, ESPN, SEC Network
Regular Season
2015 SEC ChampionsKentucky
Season MVPBobby Portis, Arkansas
Tournament
ChampionsKentucky
  Runners-upArkansas
Finals MVPWillie Cauley-Stein, Kentucky
Basketball seasons
2014–15 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 1 Kentucky † 18 – 0   1.000 38 – 1   .974
No. 21 Arkansas 13 – 5   .722 27 – 9   .750
LSU 11 – 7   .611 22 – 11   .667
Georgia 11 – 7   .611 21 – 12   .636
Texas A&M 11 – 7   .611 21 – 12   .636
Ole Miss 11 – 7   .611 21 – 13   .618
Vanderbilt 9 – 9   .500 21 – 14   .600
Alabama 8 – 10   .444 19 – 15   .559
Florida 8 – 10   .444 16 – 17   .485
Tennessee 7 – 11   .389 16 – 16   .500
South Carolina 6 – 12   .333 17 – 16   .515
Mississippi State 6 – 12   .333 13 – 19   .406
Auburn 4 – 14   .222 15 – 20   .429
Missouri 3 – 15   .167 9 – 23   .281
† 2015 SEC tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

The 2014–15 Southeastern Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2014, followed by the start of the 2014–15 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play started in early January 2015 and concluded in March, followed by the 2015 SEC men's basketball tournament at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

Preseason

SEC recruits at the 2014 McDonald's All-American Boys Game
Devin Booker
Trey Lyles
Karl-Anthony Towns
Tyler Ulis
Media[1]
1. Kentucky (20)
2. Florida
3. Arkansas
4. LSU
5. Georgia
6. Ole Miss
7. Missouri
8. Auburn
9. Texas A&M
10. Alabama
11. Vanderbilt
12. South Carolina
13. Tennessee
14. Mississippi State

() first place votes

Preseason All-SEC teams

Media[1]
Bobby Portis ARKANSAS
Michael Frazier FLORIDA
Aaron Harrison KENTUCKY
Jordan Mickey LSU
Jarvis Summers OLE MISS
  • Coaches select 8 players
  • Players in bold are choices for SEC Player of the Year

Rankings

Legend
  Increase in ranking
  Decrease in ranking
  Not ranked previous week
Main article: 2014–15 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings
  Pre Wk
2		 Wk
3		 Wk
4		 Wk
5		 Wk
6		 Wk
7		 Wk
8		 Wk
9		 Wk
10		 Wk
11		 Wk
12		 Wk
13		 Wk
14		 Wk
15		 Wk
16		 Wk
17		 Wk
18		 Wk
19		 Final
Alabama AP
C
Arkansas AP RV RV 25 18 RV RV RV RV 23 19 RV RV RV 24 18 18 18 21 21
C RV RV RV 21 RV RV RV RV 25 19 RV 25 RV 23 17 16 18 20 20 20
Auburn AP
C
Florida AP 7 8 18 RV RV RV
C 7 7 16 24 RV RV RV
Georgia AP RV RV RV
C RV
Kentucky AP 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
C 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 3
LSU AP RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV
C RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV
Mississippi State AP
C
Missouri AP
C
Ole Miss AP RV
C RV RV RV
South Carolina AP RV
C RV
Tennessee AP RV
C
Texas A&M AP RV RV RV RV RV RV
C RV RV RV RV RV RV RV
Vanderbilt AP
C

SEC regular season

Conference matrix

This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play.

  Alabama Arkansas Auburn Florida Georgia Kentucky LSU Mississippi State Missouri Ole Miss South Carolina Tennessee Texas A&M Vanderbilt
vs. Alabama – 1–0 0–2 1–0 1–0 2–0 1–0 0–1 0–1 1–0 1–1 0–1 0–2 2–0
vs. Arkansas 0–1 – 0–1 1–0 0–1 1–0 1–0 0–2 0–2 1–1 0–2 1–1 0–1 0–1
vs. Auburn 2–0 1–0 – 1–0 1–1 1–0 1–1 1–0 1–1 1–0 0–1 1–0 2–0 1–0
vs. Florida 0–1 0–1 0–1 – 1–0 2–0 2–0 0–1 1–0 2–0 0–1 0–1 1–1 1–1
vs. Georgia 0–1 1–0 1–1 0–1 – 2–0 1–0 0–1 0–1 0–2 2–0 0–1 0–1 0–2
vs. Kentucky 0–2 0–1 0–1 0–2 0–2 – 0–1 0–1 0–2 0–1 0–2 0–1 0–1 0–1
vs. LSU 0–1 0–1 1–1 0–2 0–1 1–0 – 1–0 1–0 0–2 0–1 1–1 2–0 0–1
vs. Mississippi State 1–0 2–0 0–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 0–1 – 0–2 1–0 1–0 1–1 1–0 1–1
vs. Missouri 1–0 2–0 1–1 0–1 1–0 2–0 0–1 2–0 – 1–0 1–0 1–0 2–0 1–0
vs. Ole Miss 0–1 1–1 0–1 0–2 2–0 1–0 2–0 0–2 0–1 – 0–1 0–1 0–1 1–0
vs. South Carolina 1–1 2–0 1–0 1–0 0–2 2–0 1–0 0–1 0–1 1–0 – 1–1 1–0 1–0
vs. Tennessee 1–0 1–1 0–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 0–1 1–0 1–1 – 1–0 1–1
vs. Texas A&M 2–0 1–0 0–2 1–1 1–0 1–0 0–2 0–1 0–2 1–0 0–1 0–1 – 0–1
vs. Vanderbilt 0–2 1–0 0–1 1–1 2–0 1–0 1–0 1–1 0–1 0–1 0–1 1–1 1–0 –
Total 8–10 13–5 4–14 8–10 11–7 18–0 11–7 6–12 3–15 11–7 6–12 7–11 11–7 9–9

Postseason

SEC tournament

Main article: 2015 SEC men's basketball tournament
First round
Wednesday, March 11
SEC Network		Second round
Thursday, March 12
SEC Network		Quarterfinals
Friday, March 13
SEC Network		Semifinals
Saturday, March 14
ESPN		Championship
Sunday, March 15
ESPN
1#1 Kentucky64
8Florida698Florida49
9Alabama611#1 Kentucky91
13Auburn67
4LSU70
5Texas A&M5913Auburn73OT
12Mississippi State6813Auburn661#1 Kentucky78
13Auburn742#21 Arkansas63
2#21 Arkansas80
7Vanderbilt6110Tennessee72
10Tennessee672#21 Arkansas60
3Georgia49
3Georgia74
6Ole Miss5811South Carolina62
11South Carolina6311South Carolina60
14Missouri54

NCAA tournament

Main article: 2015 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
Seed Region School First Four 2nd Round 3rd Round Sweet 16 Elite Eight Final Four
1 Midwest Kentucky W, 79–56 vs. #16 Hampton – (Louisville) W, 64–51 vs. #8 Cincinnati – (Louisville) W, 78–39 vs. #5 West Virginia – (Cleveland) W, 68–66 vs. #3 Notre Dame – (Cleveland) L, 64–71 vs. #1 Wisconsin – (Indianapolis)
5 West Arkansas W, 56–53 vs. #12 Wofford – (Jacksonville) L, 78–87 vs. #4 North Carolina – (Jacksonville)
9 East LSU L, 65–66 vs. #8 NC State – (Pittsburgh)
10 East Georgia L, 63–70 vs. #7 Michigan State – (Charlotte)
11 West Ole Miss W 94–90 vs. #11 BYU – (Dayton) L, 57–67 vs. #6 Xavier – (Jacksonville)

NIT

Main article: 2015 National Invitation Tournament
Seed Region School First round Second round Quarterfinals
2 Temple Bracket Texas A&M W, 81–64 vs. #7 Montana – (College Station) L, 72–84 vs. #3 Louisiana Tech – (College Station)  
5 Colorado State Bracket Vanderbilt W, 75–64 vs. #4 Saint Mary's – (Moraga) W, 92–77 vs. #8 South Dakota State – (Nashville) L, 75–78 vs. #5 Stanford – (Palo Alto)
6 Richmond Bracket Alabama W, 79–58 vs. #3 Illinois – (Tuscaloosa) L, 66–73 vs. #2 Miami – (Coral Gables)  

Honors and awards

All-Americans

Main article: 2015 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans

Starting on March 6, the 2015 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans were released for 2014–15 season, based upon selections by the four major syndicates. The four syndicates include the Associated Press, USBWA, NABC, and Sporting News.

All-SEC awards and teams

Coaches

2015 SEC Men's Basketball Individual Awards[2]
Award Recipient(s)
Player of the Year Bobby Portis, So., F, ARKANSAS
Coach of the Year John Calipari, KENTUCKY
Defensive Player of the Year Willie Cauley-Stein, Jr., C, KENTUCKY
Freshman of the Year Karl-Anthony Towns, F, KENTUCKY
Scholar-Athlete of the Year Levi Randolph, Sr., F, ALABAMA
Sixth Man Award Devin Booker, Fr., G, KENTUCKY
2015 SEC Men's Basketball All-Conference Teams[2]
First Team Second Team All-Freshman Team All-Defensive Team
Willie Cauley-Stein Jr., C, KENTUCKY
Danuel House Jr., F, TEXAS A&M
Damian Jones So., F, VANDERBILT
Bobby Portis So., F, ARKANSAS
Jarell Martin So., F, LSU
Jordan Mickey So., F, LSU
Stefan Moody Jr., G, OLE MISS
Josh Richardson Sr., G, TENNESSEE
Karl-Anthony Towns Fr., C, KENTUCKY
 Devin Booker Fr., G, KENTUCKY
Dorian Finney-Smith Jr., F, FLORIDA
K. T. Harrell Sr., G, AUBURN
Aaron Harrison So., G, KENTUCKY
Jalen Jones Jr., F, TEXAS A&M
Michael Qualls Jr., G, ARKANSAS
Levi Randolph Sr., F, ALABAMA
Craig Sword Jr., G, MISSISSIPPI STATE
Marcus Thornton Sr., F, GEORGIA
 Wade Baldwin IV Fr., G, VANDERBILT
Anton Beard Fr., G, ARKANSAS
Devin Booker Fr., G, KENTUCKY
Riley LaChance Fr., G, VANDERBILT
Trey Lyles Fr., G, KENTUCKY
Devin Robinson Fr., F, FLORIDA
Karl-Anthony Towns Fr., C, KENTUCKY
Tyler Ulis Fr., G, KENTUCKY
 Willie Cauley-Stein, Jr., C, KENTUCKY
Damian JonesSo., F, VANDERBILT
Jordan Mickey, So., F, LSU
Josh Richardson, Sr., G, TENNESSEE
Marcus Thornton Sr., F, GEORGIA
† - denotes unanimous selection

References

  1. ^ a b "Media picks Kentucky to win 2015 SEC Men's Basketball Championship" (Press release). Southeastern Conference. October 22, 2014. Retrieved October 22, 2014.
  2. ^ a b 2015 SEC Men’s Basketball Awards Announced, accessed March 10, 2015