Busting Brackets
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SEC Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2023-24 season

By Jerran Anderson

Alabama head coach Nate Oats watches a shot fall in during practice for the Crimson Tide Men’s Basketball team Monday, Sept. 25, 2023.
Alabama head coach Nate Oats watches a shot fall in during practice for the Crimson Tide Men’s Basketball team Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. /
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SEC Basketball Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
SEC Basketball Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /

8. Missouri Tigers

Last season: 25-10, 11-7 in the SEC

Head coach Dennis Gates is another new face who’s already taken the SEC by storm. He’s got a top 2024 recruiting class already after earning the commitment of Trent Burns and looks to lead the Missouri Tigers to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time since 2013.

Noah Carter, Nick Honor, Sean East II and Aidan Shaw will be solid building blocks as returners. On their addition front, they’ll have John Tonje (Colorado State), Tamar Bates (Indiana), Caleb Grill (Iowa State), Jesus Carralero (Campbell) and Connor Vanover (Oral Roberts) out of the transfer portal. Coach Gates will look to a blend of mid-major and high-major names to lead the Tigers once again in 2023-24.

The frontcourt is wide open for Shaw to grow into a bigger role after producing 2.7 ppg and 1.7 rpg on 56.3 percent shooting from the field across 32 appearances as a freshman. He’ll need to be prepared to play a ton of minutes at the forward spot given their lack of depth in the frontcourt.

Connor Vanover is a 7-foot-5 presence who should provide quite the anchor support on the interior after producing 3.2 bpg this past season in the Summit League. He’ll look to emerge as a frontcourt presence for the upstart Tigers as Coach Gates looks to continue his success.

They’ll have a ton of guard depth but they’ll need to find their versatility and frontcourt stalwarts if they hope to compete in the SEC. For now, they’ll check in at No. 8 in the preseason conference power rankings.

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