04. Tennessee Volunteers (20-7, 10-4)
The Volunteers have won eight of their last nine games, including their last four, and have played themselves into a three-way tie for second place in the SEC standings. It might be due to a somewhat easier schedule over the past couple of weeks, but Tennessee has finally started to show some life offensively. The Vols put up 89 points in a lopsided win over Oklahoma in their mid-week game, but used their suffocating defense to bring a high-scoring Vanderbilt team to a halt. Some concerns early in the season about this team were clearly premature. As long as the defense holds, Tennessee shouldn’t be counted out.
03. Arkansas Razorbacks (20-7, 10-4)
Arkansas might not have been able to hold on against Alabama Wednesday night, but the Hogs did treat the college basketball world to one of the best games of the season. Darius Acuff Jr played all 50 minutes in the two-point double-overtime loss to the Tide, scoring 49 points along the way. It would have been understandable for the Razorbacks to stumble in their next game against Missouri, but they fought from an eight-point deficit to pick up a fourth win in five games. The defense might be what lets this team down, but as long as Acuff is on the court, Arkansas shouldn’t be taken lightly.
02. Alabama Crimson Tide (20-7, 10-4)
Since getting blown out at Florida, all Alabama has done since then is win. The Tide have rattled off six straight and are once again in the conversation for a conference title. There are still some major concerns about the defense, though the numbers against Arkansas are a little inflated due to the game going to double-overtime, and it's weird to say, but holding LSU to 83 points on Saturday is a solid defensive outing for this squad. The margin of error might be very small for this team, though, with how well the Tide have been playing lately, it would be foolish to count them out.
01. Florida Gators (21-6, 12-2)
You can’t lose if you never trail. Florida has won each of its last seven games by at least nine points and only trailed in four of those games, none by more than three points. Even if the last three games have been closer than Florida fans have become accustomed to, the Gators are still beating the brakes off every team they take on. The only area of concern lately has been turnovers. The Gators had 13 against South Carolina and 17 against Ole Miss this week, but even that wasn’t enough to cause Florida any stress. With every win, Florida looks more and more like a title contender.