This is an opinion column.

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Buzzing around the basketball courts…

All those offseason acquisitions, and Arkansas couldn’t buy a rebound against Auburn.

The first weekend of conference play is in the books for the SEC and a couple things stand out. We’ll start with Auburn’s epic victory at Wally World.

Arkansas was one of the preseason picks to win the SEC after bringing in half a dozen transfers plus a couple of highly rated recruits. Auburn didn’t receive nearly as much love despite bringing back the defensive core of its team. It’s tough to gauge one season from the next at the college level, but returning defensive experience seems like a good starting point for success in the wild-and-dizzy NIL transfer-portal era.

Discrepancy on the boards in Auburn’s 32-point slaughter of the Hogs was one of the most significant statistics in the first weekend of league play in the SEC. Auburn outrebounded Arkansas 46-32 at Bud Walton Arena. Forward Johni Broome and center Dylan Cardwell led Auburn with eight boards each, but seven players had at least three rebounds.

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Auburn is extremely deep defensively. It’s going to help the Tigers in March. Start with a player like 6-3 guard Tre Donaldson. He had seven rebounds in 11 minutes against Arkansas. That’s an eye-popping rate. Offense makes the highlight reels on ESPN, but rebounding wins games and Donaldson is the type of winning player who pairs perfectly with newcomers Chad Baker-Mizara and Aden Holloway. Auburn has three defensive-minded guards, though, and that’s what makes this team so dangerous. The others, of course, are K.D. Johnson and Chris Moore.

Baker-Mazara is a name to watch after transferring to Auburn from Northwest Florida State College. The 6-7 guard led Auburn with 16 points in his SEC debut. Baker-Mazara was at San Diego State in 2020 and began his college career at Duquesne. Auburn (12-2, 1-0 SEC) gets a visit from Texas A&M (9-5, 0-1 SEC) on Tuesday night on ESPN2. Tipoff at 8 p.m.

Auburn humbled Arkansas to kick off the SEC, but I’m not buying the sudden demise of the Hogs. Expect coach Eric Musselman’s team to be around until the end this season. Arkansas has made three straight Sweet 16s.

Alabama’s first big conference test comes on Tuesday with a home game against South Carolina (13-1, 1-0 SEC) at 7 p.m. on SEC Network. The Crimson Tide held on against Vanderbilt for a 78-75 road victory on Saturday to begin conference play.

As good as Auburn played against Arkansas, Tennessee (11-3, 1-0) came out of the weekend as the most impressive team in the SEC. The Volunteers drubbed previously undefeated Ole Miss 90-64. Tennessee outrebounded the Rebels 47-24, including 19-4 on the offensive glass. Welcome to the SEC, Ole Miss coach Chris Beard.

The other SEC games on Tuesday night are Mizzou at Kentucky (7 p.m., ESPN) and Vandy at LSU (7 p.m., SEC Network). Auburn is at home against LSU at 2 p.m. on Saturday and Alabama travels down the road to Mississippi State for a 7 p.m. tip. Both games are on the SEC Network.

STRONG STARTS

UAB is 2-0 in the American Athletic Conference after Sunday’s 75-71 home victory against South Florida. The Blazers (11-5) started the season a little shaky, but credit coach Andy Kennedy for finding the right formula to begin UAB’s debut season in the AAC. It’s a marquee, multi-bid basketball conference and where UAB basketball always belonged.

UAB 6-9 forward Yaxel Lendabord is a must-see talent with NBA potential. He had 23 points and 15 rebounds against the Bulls and has posted double-doubles in three consecutive games.

UAB (10-5, 2-0 AAC) is at No.17 Florida Atlantic on Sunday. It’s UAB’s first major game of conference play. FAU’s Cinderella run to the 2023 Final Four came after knocking off the Blazers in the CUSA tournament.

— Remember Auburn’s loss to Appalachian State earlier in the season? Troy (9-6, 3-0) sits atop the Sun Belt after knocking off App State 66-62 on Saturday. The point of the lesson is that early-season losses in basketball don’t matter as much as strong wins in conference play. Aamer Muhammad led Troy with 19 points. Christyon Eugene is averaging a team-high 15.1 points per game.

— Bucky Ball is rolling again at Samford. The Bulldogs (13-2, 2-0 SoCon) started conference play with major victories against Chattanooga and the Citadel. With the kids back in school for the spring semester, expect a huge crowd at the Pete Hanna Center for Thursday night’s game against UNC Greensboro (7 p.m.).

Joseph Goodman is the lead sports columnist for the Alabama Media Group, and author of the most controversial sports book ever written, “We Want Bama”. It’s a love story about wild times, togetherness and rum.