This wasn’t a great week for the SEC. Arkansas, Ole Miss, and Texas A&M struggled to get past mid-major opponents. Kentucky dropped its second game of the season. And Mississippi State ended the week with an over losing record. Maybe these teams were looking ahead to MTEs or Thanksgiving, but either way, it wasn’t the best representation of SEC basketball. After this mediocre week of hoops, here are the latest SEC power rankings:
16. Mississippi State Bulldogs (2-3)
Mississippi State hasn’t finished with a losing record since the 2015-16 season. Now, after a 2-3 start, it looks like the Bulldogs are barreling towards an early offseason. Chris Jans’ team hasn’t been competitive against power conference competition this season, losing both games by at least 15 points, including a 21-point loss to Kansas State to open the Hall of Fame Classic. And now a two-point loss to a rebuilding New Mexico team has the Bulldogs in a tailspin. Luckily for Jans, he still has Josh Hubbard (23.8 ppg) putting up huge numbers.
15. Texas A&M Aggies (4-2)
A&M finally had some success following a two-game losing streak. The Aggies picked up arguably their best win of the season over Montana, 86-81. They followed that up with a 41-point win over Manhattan. Bucky McMillan’s team desperately needed this win to gain some confidence. Early returns have shown that McMillan’s preferred style of basketball isn’t going to cut it against quality competition. I was excited to see A&M play a fun style of basketball. Maybe it will eventually work, but so far this season, there are simply too many flaws for Texas A&M to compete.
14. South Carolina Gamecocks (4-1)
South Carolina destroyed Radford early in the week by 29 points, but couldn’t hold on against Butler, recording its first loss of the season 79-72. Even though the Gamecocks lost, they were at least competitive against a power conference opponent, which can’t be said for every SEC team so far this season. Meechie Johnson (16.4 ppg), Eli Ellis (13.4 ppg), and Mike Sharavjamts (11.8 ppg) have been solid offensively this season, but it will be the defense that leads this team to wins. I don’t know how good SC will be moving forward, though they are already off to a better start than I expected.
13. Oklahoma Sooners (3-2)
Oklahoma’s offense has been great through its first five games of the season, largely due to the play of Nijel Pack (18.8 ppg). The Sooners have scored at least 95 points in four of their five games, including their most recent game, a 95-71 win over an overmatched Oral Roberts. Oklahoma hasn’t picked up a signature win yet this season. Porter Moser’s squad has been great against mid-major programs, but has struggled defensively against NCAA Tournament-caliber teams. OU has a tough stretch of games starting later this week. We’ll see if the defense can hold, though it’s not something I would bet on.
12. LSU Tigers (5-0)
I didn’t think LSU would make it this far into the season without a loss with this many mid-major transfers that were going to need to take on a large role early on. The Tigers have not only been winning but also putting up a ton of points. LSU has the seventh-highest scoring offense in the country at 98.6 points per game, and Michael Nwoko (19.0 ppg) has been unstoppable, making nearly 78 percent of his two-point shots. The Tigers still have yet to play a P5 opponent, so there’s a good chance they regress, but right now, the Tigers are far better than many anticipated.
11. Texas Longhorns (4-1)
Since opening the season against Duke, Texas has played one of the easiest schedules in the country. The Longhorns just finished up a four-game stretch against teams currently ranked 330 or lower in KenPom, so the 35-point win over Rider isn’t going to move the needle much. Daiyln Swain and Matas Vokietaitis continue to be the only consistent sources of offense for a team with a ton of scoring talent. A little more offense from the guards on this team would go a long way, but for right now, Texas is winning the games it needs to.
10. Georgia Bulldogs (6-0)
Georgia’s offense has started to come back down to earth after the ridiculously hot start. But the Bulldogs are still off to an undefeated start, including two wins this week - easily beating Florida A&M by 30 and then sneaking past Xavier 78-77 in the Charleston Classic. Georgia's also be great defensively, holding opponents to 65 points per game - though giving up 29 points to Maryland Eastern Shore is doing most of the work. I don’t know how sustainable the offense will be against SEC competition, but right now, this Georgia team is tough to beat.
09. Ole Miss Rebels (5-0)
Ole Miss finished off the easiest portion of its season with a 72-65 win over Austin Peay. The Rebels haven’t played the toughest schedule, but they’ve won most of their games this season relatively easily. The offense has been good but not great, which we saw in Ole Miss’s most recent game. Though on the positive side, the Rebels have been excellent on the defensive end, only allowing an opponent to score more than 65 points once. If Ole Miss can keep up the defensive pressure once the schedule picks up next week, then it should be fine moving forward.
08. Missouri Tigers (6-0)
Missouri’s week could have been better. After bleeding a ton of points down the stretch to Prairie View A&M, the Tigers downed South Dakota by 34 points to stay undefeated this season. Missouri’s offense has shown up in every game, and Mark Mitchell (18.7 ppg) has finally found his shot. Missouri has been super efficient so far, making 57.6 percent from the floor and 45.0 percent from three - both ranking top five in the country. We’ll see if Mizzou can keep this up. The next couple of games shouldn’t challenge the Tigers, though the game against Kansas is looming at the beginning of December.
07. Vanderbilt Commodores (5-0)
Vanderbilt’s worst offensive outing this season was against Eastern Kentucky, where the Commodores only managed 92 points in the lopsided win. Otherwise, Vanderbilt has scored at least 104 points in its other four games. I know these numbers aren’t being put up against good teams, but it’s still impressive how well this team is playing in Mark Byington’s second season leading the program. Six players are currently averaging more than 10 points per game, and Frankie Collins is not far behind with 9.7 points. If Vanderbilt can keep this up in conference play, it could easily compete for the SEC title.
06. Arkansas Razorbacks (5-1)
Arkansas was one of the SEC teams to struggle to pull away in its early week game. The Razorbacks managed to hold on against Winthrop, winning 84-83. Which isn’t a great result for a ranked team. The Hogs then turned around and destroyed Jackson State 115-61. I feel like this year's team will have a similar trajectory to last year's - somewhat underperforming early in the season, then coming on strong towards the end. Arkansas’s young talent is still figuring things out, so it's still a little early to worry about this team.
05. Kentucky Wildcats (4-2)
Kentucky has struggled against good teams this season, most recently falling to Michigan State 83-66. The Wildcats were without Jaland Lowe, though that shouldn’t have prevented them from keeping the game close. Kentucky had no trouble taking down Loyola Maryland by 42 points to end the week. Mark Pope’s team isn’t completely healthy, so it might be a while before we see Kentucky at full strength. Even though the Wildcats have two early losses to ranked teams, I’m not ready to abandon them. Kentucky has one of the best rosters in the conference; it's only a matter of time before things click.
04. Auburn Tigers (4-1)
A one-point loss to the No. 1 team in the country has Auburn moving back up these rankings. The Tigers might have picked up their first loss of the season, but they outperformed expectations in the process. It appears that the dud of a game to open the season was just early-season jitters. Outside of the Houston game, Auburn's offense has been really good, as has its defense. With an elite offense and a solid defense, the Tigers might just be a team to watch out for as we barrel towards the toughest part of the season.
03. Tennessee Volunteers (5-0)
Just based on their defense alone, the Vols are one of the best teams in the conference. Tennessee has held every opponent to 66 points or less this season, allowing teams to make 34 percent from the floor. I recognize that Tennessee hasn’t been tested yet this season, but even some of the better teams in the country have slipped up against bad competition, leading to close games. Tennessee has not. All but one game has ended with Tennessee winning by at least 25 points. If the Vols' defense is playing this well right now, I can only imagine how great they will be down the stretch.
02. Florida Gators (4-1)
Florida has been flying under the radar ever since its season-opening loss to Arizona. The Gators have rattled off four straight wins, including double-digit victories over Miami (FL) and Merrimack this past week. Florida is dominating the boards, as expected, but hasn’t been great on the perimeter - only making 25.7 percent. The Gators still have a long way to go if they want to repeat as NCAA Tournament champions. But with Todd Golden at the helm and the roster's talented bigs, Florida should still be considered one of the top teams in the country.
01. Alabama Crimson Tide (3-1)
Alabama has the SEC’s only two ranked wins of the season after the first three weeks of play. The Tide took on No. 8 Illinois this week at the United Center in Chicago and walked away with the 90-86 win. The Tide’s offense hasn’t been the most efficient and has a few areas to clean up, but one thing is for sure: no matter the opponent, Alabama is going to put up big numbers. The Tide might not be the most complete team in the country; however, they are playing one of the toughest schedules, which is impressive this early in the season.