SEC Basketball: Tennessee rises while Arkansas slides in latest power rankings

This past week might have been the biggest and best for the SEC this season. All 16 teams in the conference participated in the SEC/ACC Challenge with the SEC dominating to the tune of a 14-2 record in the event. After the first night of games, the SEC had already won the challenge. If last week didn't solidify the SEC as the top conference in college basketball, then I don't know what will. Every team in the conference is good enough to make it to the NCAA Tournament. Here are the latest SEC power rankings following an impressive week of basketball by the conference.

16. South Carolina Gamecocks (6-3)

South Carolina has been playing a little better lately, knocking off Virginia Tech, Boston College, and East Carolina in its last three games. The Gamecocks beat the Hokies by 10 and the Eagles by 22 but struggled in the win over ECU, beating the Pirates by only seven points. The wins over VT and BC would look better on paper if they weren’t the two worst teams in the ACC. USC is still the only SEC team with three losses on the season. And to the Gamecock's detriment, those losses are looking slightly worse as the season progresses. 

Collin Murray-Boyles (16.0 ppg, 9.4 rpg) continues to be the Gamecock's best player, but the offense has been somewhat underwhelming, considering the level of competition. The defense has been good over the past few games, holding two of the last three opponents to 60 or fewer points. South Carolina was able to ride its defense to 26 wins a season ago, but this year feels different. I’m not sure if this Gamecocks team has what it takes to repeat last year's success. We will only have one game left in the non-con slate to see SC take on a quality opponent, but South Carolina will need to beat a couple more good teams before I can consider moving up the Gamecocks in the rankings. 

15. Missouri Tigers (7-1)

Missouri has won seven straight games, against some poor competition, but being down 16 points to California in its last game wasn’t ideal. Cal hasn’t been a great defensive team this year, so Mizzou dropping 98 points wasn’t all that surprising. But The Tigers needing to make nearly 85 from the floor to beat the Bears was concerning. Missouri was without its top scorer and one of the team's top defenders, Caleb Grill, but giving up 93 points to Cal is a huge cause for concern. 

I need to see Mizzou defend well against good teams before I can consider moving the Tigers up the rankings. Missouri has by no means been a bad team this season. Mizzou is one of the top-scoring teams in the country and leads the country in field goal percentage, but the schedule has been incredibly weak. The Tigers have its biggest test of the season against Kansas, so I’m hoping to learn more about this team following that game. Right now Missouri is good, but not great. I think the Tigers are a tournament-caliber team, but with how deep the SEC is Missouri doesn’t quite beat out some of the other teams playing at a similar level.