SEC Basketball: Auburn rises, Texas A&M falls in latest power rankings

03. Kentucky Wildcats

Mark Pope has Kentucky firing on all cylinders. Through the first two games of the season, the Wildcats are averaging 101.5 points and only allow 67 points. The first game of the season was against Wright State, a game that Kentucky won 103-62. Pope and the Wildcats followed that up with a 100-72 victory over Bucknell. 

Seven Wildcats are averaging double-digit points with Koby Brea leading the way with 19 per game. Brea is shooting 83 percent from three with 10 made threes. The team is making 40 percent from deep. And defensively Amari Williams has proved to be a solid addition on both ends of the court. He is averaging 12.5 points and 13.5 rebounds per game. 

I was optimistic about Mark Pope’s first year in Lexington, but there were some unknowns since he had to build the roster from scratch. But early indications for Kentucky are that it is one of the top teams in the conference already. I’m excited to see what this team can do this week against one of the best teams in the country when Kentucky takes on Duke. 

02. Alabama Crimson Tide

Alabama was my top team entering the season, and the slide to the second position has less to do with what the Tide have done this season and more to do with Auburn. 

Alabama opened the season with a 56-point win over UNC Asheville. In the win Alabama had seven players in double figures with Mark Sears scoring a game-high 20 points. The Tide followed that up with a slightly less impressive 88-79 win over Arkansas State. Sears looks as good as expected and currently leads the team with 19.5 points per game. The addition of Clifford Omaruyi has already proved beneficial on the defensive end of the court. He is averaging 14 points and 8.5 rebounds through two games. 

So far the Tide have looked like one of the top teams in the SEC even against far less talented competition. I don’t think the result from Arkansas State is all that concerning. Alabama struggled from deep, only making six threes in the game, but still managed to score 88 points. Nate Oats has this team rolling thus far. The real test comes over a six-game stretch starting in a couple of weeks. But until then Alabama is still a top team in the country. 

01. Auburn Tigers

Auburn already has a signature win on the season. The Tigers took down Houston, one of the best teams in the nation, on Saturday night 74-69. That was after Auburn beat Vermont by 51 points to open the season. The huge offensive performance in Auburn's first game of the season against Vermont was mostly due to 16 made threes. 

Johni Broome has looked like one of the best players in the country so far this season. He scored 12 points in 22 minutes against Vermont and 20 points and nine rebounds in the win over Houston. Four other Tigers are adding double-digit points per game this season, with Miles Kelly leading that group with 13 points per game. 

It was an easy decision to move Auburn up to the No. 1 spot in the rankings on the back of taking down a really good Houston team.  In the preseason I said that Auburn would be the easy No. 1 if it weren’t for Alabama and Auburn has proved to be worthy of the top ranking. The Tigers have a relatively easy schedule this week before taking on Iowa State and Duke in back-to-back games in a couple of weeks.