College basketball often emits misleading signals in November. What you do against Florida A&M isn't necessarily what you'll do against Florida.

Still, judging from the early returns, it's going to be a tough year to make the SEC All-Freshman team.

One freshman, Auburn's Toney Douglas, ranks No. 2 in the league in scoring (19.8 ppg).

Another, LSU's Glen Davis, is No. 2 in rebounding (9.8).

Another, Tennessee's Chris Lofton, is the leading 3-point marksman (15-of-26 for 57.7 percent).

Yet another, Arkansas 7-footer Steven Hill, is No. 1 in blocked shots (15).

At least 13 freshmen are in the starting lineup on SEC teams, six of them scoring in double figures. A dozen more are playing significant minutes, at least 14 or 15 a game.

Only Mississippi State and South Carolina don't have a freshman in either of the above categories.

The early front-runner for freshman of the year might be Auburn's Douglas. He's not only scoring big, he's rebounding big - 7.4 boards per game. And, get this, he's only 6-foot-1.

Douglas poured in 38 points against Nicholls State. That matched the school freshman single-game record set in 1974 by Eddie Johnson, who is also remembered for wearing one of the more prolific Afros in SEC history.

Two other freshmen, Frank Tolbert and Daniel Hayles, are playing big roles for the surprising Tigers, off to a 5-0 start under Jeff Lebo.

Georgia takes honors by starting three freshmen. Point guard Sundiata Gaines, wing Channing Toney and center Dave Bliss. Gaines is scoring at a 17.0 clip.

The Bulldogs' depth is so thin that a late-signing freshman from Australia named Kevin Brophy is averaging 25 minutes.

Alabama put a lot of its eggs in point guard Ron Steele's basket and he hasn't broken many of them. Steele is averaging 32 minutes a game, scoring 11.2 points and has twice as many assists as turnovers.

In fact, he's been such a man of steel, another touted freshman point guard, Glenn Miles, has already decided to transfer.

At Florida, Corey Brewer played his way into the starting lineup with defense. The Gators already had plenty of scorers.

Brewer has 11 steals in four games.

"He's like a defensive back,'' teammate Matt Walsh told the Gainesville Sun. "You don't think he's going to get there and all of a sudden, he picks it off.''

Kentucky's touted rookies are all contributing, but haven't been tested yet. That changes in the next couple of weeks with North Carolina, Indiana and Louisville on the docket.

Center Randolph Morris and guard Rajon Rondo are starting. McDonald's All-America guard Joe Crawford is averaging a modest 2.8 points a game.

The best big man so far is LSU's Davis, who is a rebound away from averaging a double-double (10.8/9.8).

But the best big man in the signing class is playing for the Boston Celtics. That would be Arkansas signee Al Jefferson, who jumped straight to the NBA as the 15th pick.

"I think he would have done pretty well in college,'' said Arkansas coach Stan Heath, tongue in cheek.

At Vanderbilt, three freshmen are in the rotation. Guard Alex Gordon is averaging 9.0 points. He and Shan Foster are both shooting 50 percent from 3-point range.

Nobody is shooting it better from behind the arc than Lofton.

Freshmen are supposed to need a year to adjust to college defenses, but Lofton is evidently a speed-reader.

He's been the leading scorer in two of the Vols' four games.

Stat Watch: After getting lit up by top-15 teams North Carolina and Texas in Maui, the Vols are, predictably, last in the SEC in scoring defense at 78.4 points a game. They're next-to-last in field-goal defense at 49.1 percent.

Strength of Schedule: Nobody in the league can match the quality of UT's early schedule, thanks to the quality of the Maui Invitational.

The Vols' win over Stanford is arguably the league's best win to date, based on preseason projections. Alabama beat Minnesota in Alaska; Florida topped Providence.

Auburn's season-opening win at Temple is noteworthy.

Mike Strange may be reached at 865-342-6276 or strange2@knews.com.