Mississippi State’s Ben Howland Believes Tennessee is the Team to Beat in the SEC

Photo | UK Athletics

SEC Basketball Media Day was held in Birmingham, Alabama on Wednesday, as all league coaches took the podium to preview the 2018-19 college basketball season.

Senior Reid Travis and Sophomore PJ Washington joined John Calipari to talk about the upcoming season.

While Calipari had plenty to say about his team, the league, and the current state of college basketball, Mississippi State coach Ben Howland didn’t hold back when asked who the best team in the league is.

Kentucky won the 2018 SEC Tournament in St. Louis, but Tennessee and Auburn shared the SEC regular season crown. Tennessee, a team that returns every single player from last season’s team that lost to Loyola in the NCAA second round, is a preseason top five club.

Howland believes that Tennessee is the best team in the league, even though Kentucky is a preseason top two team.

Ben Howland was asked about saying Tennessee is the best team in the league when Kentucky May be preseason No. 1 in the polls: They return everybody from a championship team last season. There’s no doubt in my mind they’re the team to beat.

— @GrantRamey (@GrantRamey) October 17, 2018

Honestly, Tennessee deserves any accolades they get. That’s an experienced team that will present a tough challenge for Kentucky. However, I’ll take Kentucky when the calendar turns to March.