06. Mississippi State Bulldogs (16-4, 4-3)
Road wins in SEC play are hard to come by, ask Mississippi State. The Bulldogs lost at Tennessee before holding off South Carolina on their home court in OT to get the win. Since conference play started, no team in the league has taken as many threes as Mississippi State (191), but they are only making 28% from deep. The Bulldogs aren’t as dominant as they once were, especially on defense, but Chris Jans is a proven defensive coach, so the Bulldogs should be fine down the stretch.
05. Kentucky Wildcats (14-5, 3-3)
Since the start of SEC play, Kentucky is averaging 86.2 points per game and giving up 86.2 points per game which has led to a .500 conference record. Kentucky, at one point this season, was considered a top team in the country, but its offense has to be nearly perfect to make up for how bad the defense has been. A few more performances like the one against Vanderbilt this week, and the Wildcats might fall even further in these rankings.
04. Tennessee Volunteers (17-3, 4-3)
Tennessee might have been a touch low in the rankings last week, but this week, the Vols have made up some ground following a 12-point win over Mississippi State and a two-point loss to Auburn. Tennessee’s defense stepped up in a huge way, holding Auburn to 30 points below its season average. The Volunteers have yet to drop a home game this year, and Tennessee’s next three games are in Knoxville. The Vols might be down, but they are definitely not out.