Last week’s SEC power rankings were among the most confusing yet.
This time around? Things are starting to make a little more sense, but there’s still approximately 8,362 ways that you could rank the teams in the middle.
And since this is the wild world of SEC basketball, you can expect that all to change again this week.
As always, remember that these rankings are not based solely on overall and conference records. It’s focused more on overall strength, the eye test (this is not an RPI or advanced metrics set of rankings) and how I feel about the teams as of today.
Let’s dive into the rankings.
1. Florida (20-5, 10-2)
The revolving door at No. 1 continues, as the Gators move into the top spot this week.
During its six-game winning streak, Florida has won by an average of 24.8 points per game.
This week: at Auburn, at Mississippi State
2. Kentucky (20-5, 10-2)
It’s only a matter of time before the Wildcats make their push for the top spot in the SEC once again, but for now, John Calipari’s team stays behind the Gators.
Kentucky didn’t look impressive in a home win over LSU last Tuesday, but followed it up with a good showing in Tuscaloosa.
This week: vs. Tennessee, at Georgia
3. South Carolina (20-5, 10-2)
Perhaps the pressure of being ranked at the top got to the Gamecocks in their quadruple overtime loss to Alabama.
However, South Carolina was able to get back on track at Mississippi State, which isn’t an easy place to win.
This week: vs. Arkansas, at Vanderbilt
4. Alabama (14-10, 7-5)
A week after dropping all the way to No. 10, the Crimson Tide are back where they were prior to the fall in the rankings.
Even with the home loss to Kentucky (where scoring woes were once again a big part of the problem), the win at South Carolina proved this team’s ability to fight through adversity.
This week: at Missouri, vs. LSU
5. Tennessee (14-11, 6-6)
The Vols blew another second half lead in a 76-75 loss to Georgia. In Tennessee’s last three losses, it has blown leads of 13 or more in the second half.
I don’t have Georgia jumping the Vols just yet, but that could change after this week.
This week: at Kentucky, vs. Missouri
6. Georgia (14-11, 5-7)
I talked about the JJ Frazier/Yante Maten effect in the Saturday predictions column. Sure enough, Frazier put the Bulldogs on his back in scoring 20 points in the second half in the win over Tennessee.
If Mark Fox’s squad can grab two wins this week, it’ll keep climbing the rankings.
This week: vs. Mississippi State, vs. Kentucky
7. Arkansas (18-7, 7-5)
All Arkansas did this past week was get blown out at home by Vanderbilt and struggle to beat the worst team in the SEC on the road.
That wasn’t a great follow up to losing at Missouri the previous weekend.
And while I realize that the Razorbacks still have the best shot at getting the SEC’s fourth NCAA bid, I simply do not like the way they’ve played in recent weeks.
So, for now, they take a bit of a tumble.
This week: at South Carolina, vs. Ole Miss
8. Ole Miss (15-10, 6-6)
Things could’ve been much different for Ole Miss in the rankings had it held on to beat Tennessee last Wednesday.
The good news for the Rebels is that they were able to rebound from a 20-point halftime deficit to earn their 10th victory over Auburn.
This week: vs. LSU, at Arkansas
9. Auburn (16-9, 5-7)
Another week, another missed opportunity for Bruce Pearl’s team.
The Tigers had a great chance to build on back-to-back wins over Alabama and Mississippi State, but giving up 63 points in the second against Ole Miss simply wasn’t good.
This week: vs. Florida, at Texas A&M
10. Vanderbilt (12-13, 5-7)
My streak of incorrectly picking the outcome of Vandy games is officially over after the Commodores got blasted by 20 at Missouri.
Keep in mind that this was the same team that just days earlier went and blew out Arkansas in Fayetteville.
This week: vs. Texas A&M, vs. South Carolina
11. Mississippi State (14-10, 5-7)
Although the Bulldogs came up short against the Gamecocks, it’s clear that Ben Howland has his young team trending upward.
This week’s schedule features a couple of big opportunities to pull off upsets.
This week: at Georgia, vs. Florida
12. Texas A&M (13-11, 5-7)
It still feels crazy to put the Aggies this low, but they still haven’t been able to put it all together this season.
After encouraging play in Gainesville, Texas A&M desperately needs to capitalize and get a win or two this week.
This week: at Vanderbilt, vs. Auburn
13. Missouri (7-17, 2-10)
The Tigers have won two straight home games and could’ve very well won at Texas A&M last week.
Alabama will need to be ready for what will be a tough game in Columbia on Tuesday.
This week: vs. Alabama, at Tennessee
14. LSU (9-15, 1-11)
After being blown out in the majority of its conference games, at least LSU was competitive against Kentucky and Arkansas.
Scoring a road win this week seems unlikely, but then again, this is the SEC.
This week: at Ole Miss, at Alabama
Blake Lovell has worked in sports media for over 10 years. He currently covers SEC football and basketball for various publications.