SEC Basketball Power Rankings, Feb. 16: The kings make a statement, chaos reigns elsewhere
By Adam Spencer
Published:
Alright, y’all, I’m back from having the flu. It absolutely knocked me out for the last few days. Surely I didn’t miss anything exciting in the world of SEC men’s college basketball, right?
Looks around the league.
Oh my. Oh no. What is going on?
Here I thought I hallucinated Mizzou’s thrilling win in College Station over Texas A&M last week. Surely Oklahoma’s arena catching on fire was a dream, right?
Well, I’m feeling much better now, so let’s try to sort through the chaos and rank the SEC men’s basketball teams, shall we? At least Florida stayed consistent for me.
16. South Carolina (11-14 overall, 2-10 in SEC)
A 6-game losing streak has the South Carolina Gamecocks firmly in the cellar. Getting blown out by nearly 50 points by Florida earlier this month was the low point in a season full of them.
15. LSU (14-11, 2-10)
The LSU Tigers move up a spot simply because South Carolina’s collapse has been more dramatic. Matt McMahon’s team is competitive for 30 minutes, but the wheels tend to come off in the final 10.
14. Ole Miss (11-14, 3-9)
Chris Beard’s squad is currently on a 7-game slide, with the worst loss for Ole Miss during that stretch having just come on Saturday by 12 points at home against rival Mississippi State. The Rebels have the talent to keep games close, but they haven’t won a game since the middle of January. The road doesn’t get easier with Florida and A&M up next.
13. Oklahoma (13-12, 3-9)
Porter Moser and the Oklahoma Sooners have at least shown some flashes of being dangerous lately. They’ve won 2 in a row, shocking Vanderbilt and earning a strong home win over Georgia on Saturday. This team isn’t exactly a threat to make the NCAA Tournament, but it could ruin a team’s season in the SEC Tournament.
12. Mississippi State (12-13, 4-8)
Chris Jans has his guys playing hard, but the talent gap is starting to show. Mississippi State got some revenge on rival Ole Miss, handing the Rebels a loss in Oxford on Saturday, but with a sub-.500 record at this point in the season, this is not a tournament-worthy squad.
11. Auburn (14-11, 5-7)
It has been a brutal February on the Plains. Steven Pearl’s squad has lost 4 straight. Those 4 games have been against Tennessee, Alabama, Vanderbilt and Arkansas, to be fair, but Auburn has failed time and time again to build on the momentum from the upset win at Florida. The Tigers are plummeting toward the wrong side of the bubble, and the suspension of leading scorer Keyshawn Hall is another troubling sign.
10. Georgia (17-8, 5-7)
Mike White’s Georgia Bulldogs had been the definition of “average” in the SEC for most of the season, taking care of business against teams they should beat while losing to top-tier squads. That trend is no more, as the Dawgs suffered an awful loss in Norman over the weekend, falling to Oklahoma even as Oklahoma’s arena caught fire. The Bulldogs are trending toward the wrong side of the NCAA Tournament bubble.
9. Texas A&M (17-8, 7-5)
The Bucky Ball hype train has, sadly, derailed. Since sitting at 7-1 and No. 1 in our power rankings back on Feb. 3, the Texas A&M Aggies have lost 4-straight games. The offense has gone ice cold, shooting under 30% from deep over the last 10 days. Bucky McMillan’s system relies on shooting with confidence, and right now, the Aggies’ tank is empty. They need to beat Ole Miss this week, or they could be playing for their March Madness lives in the SEC Tournament.
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8. Mizzou (17-8, 7-5)
The Missouri Tigers pulled off a 1-point thriller at Texas A&M midweek that was huge for their NCAA Tournament résumé. Trent Pierce is emerging as a legitimate scoring threat, and Mizzou is quietly moving off the bubble and toward a solid mid-seed. The Saturday home loss to Texas hurt, but it’s by no means a death blow for a squad that has been very competitive in SEC play.
7. Texas (16-9, 7-5)
Sean Miller has the Texas Longhorns playing competitive basketball, and it appears the consistency is finally coming around. Texas used a second-half surge to blow past Mizzou in Columbia on Saturday night and is now on a 4-game winning streak. You want to be playing your best basketball come March, and it seems as if Texas is trending in that direction.
6. Alabama (18-7, 8-4)
Nate Oats has the most explosive offense in college basketball, but the defense remains a harrowing experience if you catch Alabama on the wrong night. Losing Charles Bediako after he lost his court case is a tough blow for what was already an inconsistent defense, but with Labaron Philon and company scoring at an elite rate on offense, the Tide are still a very dangerous squad.
5. Tennessee (18-7, 8-4)
It was a milestone week for Rick Barnes, who notched his 250th win with the Tennessee Volunteers in a solid victory over LSU. Nate Ament remains among the most-talented freshmen in the country in what is proving to be an insanely loaded class, and while the recent loss to Kentucky stung, Tennessee’s defensive floor is simply too high for the Vols to slide far. When Ja’Kobi Gillespie is aggressive and on his game, this team can beat anyone in the country.
4. Kentucky (17-8, 8-4)
Mark Pope’s first season in Lexington continues to be a roller coaster, but the trajectory is pointing up. Kentucky went toe-to-toe with Florida and beat Tennessee on the road. The Wildcats have climbed back into the top 4 conversation, though the lack of a true rim protector still feels like a ticking time bomb for March.
3. Vanderbilt (21-4, 8-4)
Is it time to start talking about Mark Byington for SEC Coach of the Year again? The Vanderbilt Commodores are on a tear, most recently putting the clamps on Texas A&M in Nashville to continue the Aggies’ tailspin. Vandy is 21-4 overall and Memorial Gym is becoming a fortress for the Commodores, but they’re also an impressive 6-2 on the road. They’re venturing toward protected-seed status in the NCAA Tournament.
2. Arkansas (19-6, 9-3)
John Calipari has the Hogs humming at exactly the right time. Arkansas picked up a massive win over Auburn on Saturday and has shown a level of defensive grit we didn’t see in November. The Hogs have moved into sole possession of second place, and with the jumble of teams tied at 8-4 below them, the Razorbacks look like the safest bet to challenge Florida for the regular-season crown.
1. Florida (19-6, 10-2)
The Florida Gators are officially back in the driver’s seat in the SEC regular-season race. After dismantling Alabama in Tuscaloosa earlier this month, Todd Golden’s squad just passed the ultimate blue-blood test, outlasting Kentucky in an exciting wire-to-wire battle at the O’Dome. Thomas Haugh is playing like an All-American, and the Gators are finally getting some slightly better 3-point shooting. They are the class of the league, hands down.
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
