SEC Basketball power rankings: Auburn rises, Arkansas starting to sink

We are now more than a week into January, two months into another season of college basketball. The times are changing in college basketball, though some things seem to be constant. We’re still dealing with the fallout of the national pandemic, with COVID pauses and other issues throwing a wrench into scheduling and momentum. We’re still seeing exciting moments, plays, games, and performances, even if the prominent teams and names are different from years past. And finally, we’re seeing great play from the teams in SEC Basketball.

Very soon, we’re going to see how this conference changes when Oklahoma and Texas join the league, but the SEC is still pretty remarkable even today. After years where Florida and Kentucky dominated the conference, we’ve seen renewed vigor from programs like Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, LSU, and Tennessee in recent years. Many of the other teams in the league have had great seasons recently, and the league remains one of the very best in the nation, and one of the deeper power conference leagues this season.

Just a couple weeks into conference play, we’ll be taking a deep dive into the fourteen teams in the SEC with our goal being to rank them where they currently sit. It’s clear that much of the focus will be on wins and losses during nonconference play, while also keeping in mind how they’ve looked in their first few SEC games.

Obviously, we aren’t just going to be records or standings to rank the programs; there are various intangibles at play here. Things can certainly change in this conference; one of the bottom teams beat one of the top ones last weekend, but this is how the teams currently stand.

Without wasting any more time, we’ll get right into the rankings, starting at the bottom and working up towards the SEC’s best team.