08. Texas Longhorns (11-7, 2-3)
Texas might have the two best wins of SEC play - beating Alabama to end last week and upsetting Vanderbilt by 16 on Wednesday. And if the Longhorns could have held on against Texas A&M, they would have likely been a few spots higher. Most teams regress some against better competition, but Texas has surprisingly improved from the free throw line and from behind the arc since matching up against SEC teams. The defense is still a problem, though, as long as the offense stays hot, the Longhorns should be tough to beat.
07. Missouri Tigers (13-5, 3-2)
Mizzou went scoreless for nearly six minutes to open the game at LSU on Saturday. Missouri did fight its way back, though it wasn’t enough to avoid another loss away from home. The LSU defeat stings a little more, considering Mizzou knocked off Auburn by 10 just a few days earlier. Missouri is playing much better than it was at times to close out non-conference play; however, until the Tigers can figure out how to play consistent basketball twice in a week, Mizzou’s ceiling might be right around the middle of the pack.
06. Arkansas Razorbacks (13-5, 3-2)
After spending most of the season in the top five, Arkansas has dropped a couple of spots over the past couple of weeks. The Razorbacks were playing like one of the best teams in the conference, but have struggled to score on the road lately and have lost two of their last three games. A 34-point win over South Carolina helped stop the bleeding, though the Hogs still dropped their next game at Georgia by 14 points. Maybe it's the inexperienced roster, or maybe it's the rigors of SEC play, but this isn’t a consistent team right now.
05. Texas A&M Aggies (14-4, 4-1)
Texas A&M is holding up much better than I expected. The Aggies did suffer their first SEC loss at Tennessee in double-overtime, but the losing stopped there. A&M followed that up with a four-point win at Texas to pull itself into a tie for first place in the conference standings. Bucky McMilan’s version of 3-and-D has worked wonders in College Station - the Aggies are making the second most threes in conference play, as well as forcing the most turnovers. This is a really well-coached team that isn’t showing signs of slowing down.