The All-SEC men's basketball teams were announced on Tuesday as the league prepares for the start of its conference tournament this week in St. Louis.
Typically, the release of all-conference teams come and go without too much conversation or controversy beyond very league-specific debates, but this year's All-SEC teams, in particular the selections from the coaches, raised eyebrows across the country.
We have four questions about the coaches' All-SEC team, starting with Bruce Pearl's announcement that this year's Auburn team had "accomplished" something never before seen in the history of SEC basketball.
1. Where is Auburn?
Bruce Pearl was quick to hop in on the reactions felt by many around college basketball, as regular season champion Auburn was absent from the All-SEC First Team. According to Pearl, the snub of made the Tigers the first champion in the history of SEC league honors (since 1956) without a first-team pick.
And it's not even that the SEC's coaches' consensus had Bryce Brown and Jared Harper outside the top five among their peers, the All-SEC teams have eight players each!
2. Do we really need to supersize all-conference teams?
This is more of a personal gripe, and it should be noted that the SEC is not the only major league to extend the all-conference honors beyond a five-man "team." This "honor roll" approach is also used in the Pac-12, with ten players awarded first-team honors but only five players on the second team.
3. Collin Sexton not among the eight best in the SEC?
Alabama's star freshman has been sensational this year, and named co-Freshman of the Year along with Kentucky's Kevin Knox, a first-team selection. The final record in SEC play (8-10) may have fallen short of expectations, but Sexton has been every bit as advertised averaging more than 18 points per game.
For what it's worth, Sexton does appear on the AP All-SEC first team. And at least he had a place on the second team, unlike Auburn's Mustapha Heron or LSU's Tremont Waters. Heron joined his coach in weighing in.
4. What explains the difference in coaches' picks vs. AP picks?
The coaches' voting doesn't line up very closely with the AP All-SEC team released on the same day. The voting bodies are similarly sized (16 voters for AP, 14 coaches in the league) and the AP uses a traditional five-man all-conference team, exposing some stark contrasts in opinions regarding the league's best.
Three of the AP's five first team selections did not make the Coaches eight-man All-SEC team: Sexton, Auburn's Bryce Brown and Arkansas guard Daryl Macon. That means Macon made first team for the AP voters, while Jaylen Barford represented Arkansas on the coaches' first team.
The consensus picks, Georgia forward Yante Maten and Tennessee forward Grant Williams, were also the players of the year -- Maten for the coaches, Williams for the media. Both groups picked Rick Barnes as coach of the year.
Check out the full collection of All-SEC honors below:
Coaches First Team All-SEC
Jaylen Barford, Arkansas
Chris Chiozza, Florida
Yante Maten, Georgia
Kevin Knox, Kentucky
Kassius Robertson, Missouri
Chris Silva, South Carolina
Grant Williams, Tennessee
Tyler Davis, Texas A&M
Coaches Second Team All-SEC
Collin Sexton, Alabama
Daryl Macon, Arkansas
Bryce Brown, Auburn
Jared Harper, Auburn
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Kentucky
Quinndary Weatherspoon, Miss. State
Admiral Schofield, Tennessee
Jeff Roberson, Vanderbilt
AP First Team All-SEC
Bryce Brown, Auburn
Daryl Macon, Arkansas
Yante Maten, Georgia (unanimous)
Collin Sexton, Alabama
Grant Williams, Tennessee (unanimous)
AP Second Team All-SEC
Jaylen Barford, Arkansas
Chris Chiozza, Florida
Jared Harper, Auburn
Mustapha Heron, Auburn
Kassius Robertson, Missouri