4. Alabama Crimson Tide (7-2)
Alabama was my preseason favorite to win the SEC. The Crimson Tide have dropped a couple of games early this season, but have looked really to this year. Losses to Purdue and Oregon dropped Alabama from the top spot in the rankings, but the Tide have wins over three ranked teams keeping them near the top. Following both losses this year Alabama has bounced back to beat the next team by double digits. The Tide beat Illinois by 13 and then beat North Carolina by 15 points.
Alabama is currently in the midst of a stretch of seven straight games against P5 competition, with its next game against Creighton next week. Even with the two losses, Alabama hasn’t looked bad in any game this season. The Tide started slow from three this year, but have made at least 10 from deep in each of the last five games. It’s hard to believe that this team still isn’t at full strength. Latrell Wrightsell will miss the rest of the season due to injury, Houston Mallette broke his redshirt to replace Wrightsell, and Chris Youngblood is still out with an injury. Alabama might still be getting better as the season continues, which is scary for anyone who plays the Tide.
3. Kentucky Wildcats (8-1)
Kentucky was one of two teams to drop its matchup in the SEC/ACC Challenge. The Wildcats traveled to Clemson for the first true road game of the season and lost 70-66. The loss to the Tigers was the only game this year in which Kentucky didn’t score more than 75 points. Mark Pope had the tall task of getting the team ready to take on Gonzaga only a few days after the loss. The Wildcats fell behind by 18 points before pulling out the 90-89 win on a neutral court in Seattle. The win over Gonzaga was the second win over a top-10 opponent this season, Kentucky beat Duke earlier this year.
If it weren't for the loss to unranked Clemson, Kentucky would have a solid case for being the top SEC team in these rankings. The Wildcats have been great this season and have two of the best wins in the country, but outside of games against Duke, Clemson, and Gonzaga, Kentucky hasn’t played a very tough non-con schedule. This doesn’t mean that Kentucky isn’t one of the top teams in college basketball, just that the two teams ranked ahead of the Wildcats have faced tougher competition.