SEC Basketball: Vanderbilt rises, Alabama takes back top spot in latest power rankings

03. Tennessee Volunteers

At this point of the non-conference schedule, the top four teams in the SEC are incredibly close. Tennessee has picked up back-to-back wins over Virginia and Baylor on neutral courts. The Volunteers held Virginia to only 42 points winning the game by 22. Then followed that up the next day with a 15-point win over Baylor. 

The defense has been great this season, as was expected, but Rick Barnes has his team scoring the ball well this year. Tennessee is making 53.2 percent from the floor and is averaging 82 points per game. Chaz Lanier has quickly become the team's go-to scorer this season. The North Florida transfer is averaging 17.7 points and making 54.8 percent from three on seven attempts per game. 

Against P5 competition this season, which has been three games, the Volunteers are averaging nearly 73 points per game while only giving up 53 points per game. Tennessee has dominated every team on the schedule, winning by at least 15 points in each game. The Volunteers are one of the best teams in the country and are slowly closing the gap on SEC powerhouses Auburn and Alabama. 

02. Auburn Tigers

Auburn has been dominant it’s first four games of the season. The Tigers have beaten every mid-major team by at least 23 points, and the win over Houston is still one of the best wins in the country. 

The Tiger's offense has been great with Johni Broome (20 ppg, 11.3 rpg) leading the way. Auburn doesn’t miss many shots inside the three-point arc. The Tigers are making 70.3 percent from two, which leads the country, and making 55.3 percent from the floor. Only Cincinnati (55.5) has a better field percentage. Auburn’s defense has been great as well, holding opponents to 59.3 points per game. Broome leads the SEC with 3.3 blocks per game. 

Auburn's schedule picks up a little this next week with back-to-back games against Iowa State and Duke. The Tigers have looked like one of the best teams in the country so far this season, and it will be interesting to see how Auburn holds up against these two teams. But at this point in the season there has been no reason to doubt Auburn. 

01. Alabama Crimson Tide

Alabama looked mortal against Purdue when it dropped the game 87-78 on the road. But the Tide bounced back in a big way to put up 100 points on a very good Illinois team. Going into the game Illinois hadn't allowed more than 67 points to opponents, so Alabama scoring 100 points was impressive.

Mark Sears (13.8 ppg) was a non-factor against the Illini, but that didn’t matter to Alabama. The rest of the team stepped up with four players scoring at least 16 points. Grant Nelson led the Tide with 23 points in the win. 

There aren't many teams that could put up huge offensive numbers without help from its best player, but Alabama is loaded with talent and can beat most teams with some of its role players. 

Alabama was my top team entering the season and only dropped after losing. But with the dominant win over Illinois, the Tide are back on top. Alabama still has a couple of wrinkles to work out, but so far this season there are only a few teams who have looked better than the Crimson Tide.