The SEC continues to deliver some of the best games in the country, and this week was no exception. On Tuesday, we saw some high-scoring affairs, with Auburn and Ole Miss each dropping 98 points to defend their home courts. And Wednesday saw Tennessee hold off a hot Missouri team to get another ranked win on the season.
But Saturday provided some of the most exciting games we’ve seen all year. Winning on the road has been incredibly difficult since the start of SEC play, but road teams showed up in a big way on Saturday, with six of eight away teams picking up wins in exciting fashion. This was also the closest week in terms of margin of victory that we’ve seen in a while, with only one game being won by more than nine points.
The fact that all the teams in the conference have held up this well through the gauntlet, which is the SEC schedule, is a testament to how loaded the league is. And don’t worry, just because the conference has a .500 record since the start of January doesn’t mean that the SEC is overhyped, it just means that league play has begun. After another fantastic week of basketball, here are the latest SEC power rankings.
16. South Carolina Gamecocks (10-13, 0-10)
Another 0-2 week sends South Carolina barreling towards becoming the fourth SEC program to go winless in conference play since World War II. Luckily for the Gamecocks, there are still eight more games to play in the regular season to end their ten-game skid. South Carolina has been competitive in most games in conference play, but the Gamecocks have been terrible on offense - only scoring more than 70 points once in league play. South Carolina’s defense is passable, but if the Gamecocks expect to actually win a game, the offense has to be better. Scoring 57 points against Kentucky, the conference’s worst defense, isn’t a good sign moving forward for the already down Gamecocks.
15. LSU Tigers (12-11, 1-9)
LSU is starting to dig itself quite a hole to climb out of. The Tigers have lost six straight games with three of the last four being by more than 10 points. LSU gave up 81 points to a bad Georgia offense earlier in the week. But, the Tigers nearly beat Ole Miss on Saturday falling to the Rebels by two at home. LSU led by 11 with three minutes to play and didn’t score another point in the game. Conference play hasn’t been kind to the Tigers, and the schedule only gets more difficult moving forward. We are starting to get to the point where LSU should start looking forward to next season.
14. Georgia Bulldogs (16-8, 4-7)
The SEC struggles continue for Georgia. The Bulldogs have scored at least 69 points in each of their last three games (their best offensive stretch in SEC play) but have only managed a single win. Georgia handled business against a struggling LSU team in the mid-week game but wasn’t able to complete the comeback against Mississippi State on Saturday. The loss to MSU is going to sting for a while. Silas Demary Jr was driving to the basket to potentially take the lead when he dribbled to ball of his foot right to a Mississippi State player with one second left in the game. The Bulldogs are tough but not quite at the level of their SEC counterparts.
13. Oklahoma Sooners (16-7, 3-7)
It's one step forward, two steps back for the Sooners. It looked like Oklahoma solved some issues last week, beating Vandy by 30 points, but the Sooners failed to show up against two of the best teams in the county this week. Playing Auburn and Tennessee in back-to-back games is absolutely brutal. Losing each of these games by 28 points is unacceptable for a team still hoping to sneak into the NCAA Tournament. Oklahoma hasn’t finished with a winning conference record since 2020-21 under Lon Kruger, and with six of its final eight games against teams currently ranked in the top 25, it looks like the Sooners will have to wait another year.
12. Texas Longhorns (15-9, 4-7)
It was only a couple of weeks ago that Texas upset both Missouri and Texas A&M. Since then the Longhorns have gone 1-3, with the lone win being against LSU. Texas got close to picking up wins this week, but the Longhorns fell short in their two games losing to Arkansas and Vanderbilt - both by eight points. This hasn’t been a great season for SEC newcomers, although Texas has faired slightly better than Oklahoma. Tre Johnson continues to shine and is the front-runner for SEC freshman of the year, so that’s something for Rodney Terry to hang his hat on, otherwise it's been an underwhelming four-game stretch for the Longhorns.
11. Arkansas Razorbacks (14-9, 3-7)
Where has this team been all season? Arkansas started SEC play with six straight losses, but the Razorbacks have gone 3-2 over the last five games and are starting to show some life offensively. The Hogs have scored 75 or more points in each of their last three games after falling to do so through the first seven conference games. It looks like the win at Kentucky has been a turning point for Arkansas. The Razorbacks are trending in the right direction - even though the loss might have set the Hogs back a touch in regards to getting an NCAA Tournament bid, there’s still plenty of time to salvage this season.
10. Vanderbilt Commodores (17-6, 5-5)
Following the embarrassing loss to Oklahoma last week, the Commodores dropped their first game of the week at Florida but bounded back to take down Texas in Nashville on Saturday. This was only Vanderbilt’s second win over the past five games, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. The victory over the Longhorns stops a two-game skid and pulls the Commodores back to .500 in conference play. Any other year, a 5-5 record in SEC play would have Vanderbilt a little higher in the rankings, but with how stacked the conference is, it will take a couple of more wins for the Commodores to crack the top half of these rankings.
09. Mississippi State Bulldogs (17-6, 5-5)
The Bulldogs picked up a much-needed win in their only game of the week to stop a two-game skid. Mississippi State held off a late charge by Georgia to eke out a win in Athens. Mississippi State now sits at .500 in SEC play and hasn’t looked like a contender for the conference title for some time now. Over the past few weeks, the Bulldogs have lacked the defensive upside Chris Jans coached teams are known for. Mississippi State has allowed at least 75 points in three straight games for the second time in SEC play. Once considered a contender in the conference, the Bulldogs have now fallen to the bottom half of the league.
08. Ole Miss Rebels (18-6, 7-4)
Ole Miss couldn’t have asked for a better week. The Rebels upset No. 14 Kentucky by 14 points at home. Then turned around and knocked off LSU in Baton Rouge by two points after trailing by 11 late in the game. However, it should be noted that if it weren’t for LSU going scoreless over the final three minutes of the game, Ole Miss might be a little lower in the rankings. The defense is starting to slip, the Rebels are allowing 82 points per game over the last three games. Ole Miss has a 2-1 record in those games so maybe the defense isn’t a huge concern, but it's something to monitor.
07. Kentucky Wildcats (16-7, 5-5)
Kentucky fans can finally take a minute to breathe. After giving up 93.5 points per game in their previous two games, the Wildcats actually put together a strong defensive performance ending their two-game losing streak. Granted it was against the worst offense in the SEC. Regardless of who Kentucky was playing, holding a team to 57 points was huge for the Wildcats. Lamont Butler returned for Kentucky against South Carolina, but it’s far too early to say he “fixed” all of the Wildcats' defensive problems. Until Kentucky can show any sort of life on defense against an above-average offense there is still reason for Kentucky fans to panic.
06. Missouri Tigers (17-6, 6-4)
The Missouri Tigers are in the middle of their first losing streak of the season. Missouri couldn’t get the job done against two top 10 opponents this week - coming up short on the road at Tennessee and then losing to Texas A&M at home in heartbreaking fashion. The Tigers have been competitive in every game this year and have only one loss in SEC play by more than eight points. Mizzou continues to exceed expectations, and even in its two losses this week proved they are one of the top teams in the SEC. However, there is still work to be done before the Tigers can be contenders on a national level.
05. Texas A&M Aggies (18-5, 7-3)
Texas A&M keeps finding ways to win. The Aggies have won three straight including a three-point win on the road at Missouri - Wade Taylor IV hit a three with two seconds left to get the win. Somewhat surprisingly, A&M has more wins on the road (4) in SEC play than they do at home (3). Which is impressive considering how stacked the conference is. Buzz Williams knows exactly how to get wins with this team, even if those wins aren’t going to look pretty. As long as A&M continues to dominate the offensive boards and defend well, the Aggies will be a threat to win the SEC.
04. Florida Gators (20-3, 7-3)
Florida bounced back from a terrible offensive performance against Tennessee to pick up two great wins this week. The Gators held off a tough Vanderbilt team and then stunned the No. 1 team in the country - beating Auburn on the road. This was Florida’s second win this season over a top-ranked team, the Gator’s also beat No. 1 Tennessee early in SEC play. Florida has played some of its best basketball following losses this season, so it wasn’t a complete surprise that the Gators upset Auburn. We shouldn’t count out Florida at any point this season, especially if the Gators are playing a top-ranked team.
03. Tennessee Volunteers (20-4, 7-4)
Is Tennessee back on track offensively? Over the past couple of games, it certainly looks like it. For most of the season opponents didn’t need to worry about the Vols on that end of the court Tennessee’s defense did most of the work - shutting down opposing offenses so the Vols didn’t need to score as many points. But over the last two games, both of which were wins, Tennessee shot at least 50 percent from the floor. Other than the game earlier in the week against Missouri, the Vols have played lockdown defense. The Volunteers are looking like the team they were early in the season, which was unbeatable.
02. Alabama Crimson Tide (20-3, 9-1)
The Crimson Tide are winners of six straight and have been unconscious on the offensive end of the court, averaging more than 91 points per game over that stretch. The Tide held off a late surge from Arkansas to win their only game this week, scoring more than 80 points for the 20th time this season. The bad defense is still something to watch, but until the Tide can’t score, a bad defense most likely won’t make a difference. Alabama has a case to be the top team in the SEC, and if the Crimson Tide had won easily at Arkansas, there was a good chance they would have jumped Auburn in these rankings.
01. Auburn Tigers (21-2, 9-1)
For the first time in nearly a full calendar year, Auburn lost a game on their home court. And in the process, the Tigers drop their first conference game of the season. It was unlikely that Auburn would go undefeated in SEC play, which hasn’t been done since the 2014-15 season, but if there was going to be a team to do it, this Tigers team looked the part. We shouldn’t overlook the beatdown Auburn put on Oklahoma earlier in the week. The 28-point win over the Sooners was Auburn’s fifth win in SEC play by double-digits. Auburn is still the best team in the country, though it might be a little closer following the loss.