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SEC Basketball Power Rankings: Alabama, Arkansas stay hot heading into SEC Tournament, Florida falters

Adam Spencer

By Adam Spencer

Published:

The regular season has drawn to a close, and now we turn our attention to the SEC Tournament, which tips off Wednesday night in Nashville.

Alabama is your regular-season champion, but no team enters the conference tournament hotter than Arkansas, which has won 11 consecutive games against SEC teams.

So, which teams can challenge the Hogs and Tide for the conference tournament title? Which teams will leave Nashville without making much noise?

Here’s a look at the SEC hoops power rankings as we officially enter March Madness:

14. Texas A&M (8-9 overall, 2-8 in SEC, Last week: 14)

The Aggies returned to the court after missing the entire month of February with COVID-19 issues. It was nice to see them playing again, and they actually gave Mississippi State and Arkansas tight games before coming up short in the end.

Emanuel Miller recorded double-doubles in both games. He had 24 points and 13 rebounds against Mississippi State and followed it up with 23 points and 10 boards against Arkansas. He continues to be one of the most underrated players in the country.

It seemed as if the Aggies faded late because they were tired, which isn’t a surprise given their long layoff. Either way, there were some promising signs this past week, so at the very least, Wednesday’s opening game in the SEC Tournament against Vanderbilt should be entertaining.

13. South Carolina (6-14, 4-12, LW: 13)

The Gamecocks limped to the finish line of the regular season with a pair of 28-point losses. That’s right — back-to-back losses by exactly 28 points. After falling 101-73 at home against Arkansas, the Gamecocks went to Kentucky and were trounced 92-64.

They’ll play Ole Miss on Thursday in the second round of the SEC Tournament, but at this rate, don’t expect much from the Gamecocks.

12. Vanderbilt (8-15, 3-13, LW: 12)

Vanderbilt went 0-2 against SEC competition last week, dropping games to LSU and Ole Miss. But the Commodores did manage to have at least some bit of positive momentum, as they beat Cincinnati in a nonconference matchup Thursday.

Scotty Pippen Jr. showed his NBA-ready range in that win over the Bearcats, scoring 36 points and knocking down this long 3 while also getting crushed by a defender:

The Commodores still don’t have Dylan Disu back, but if he plays Wednesday against Texas A&M and Pippen plays like he did against Cincinnati, Vanderbilt can absolutely win a game or 2 in the SEC Tournament.

11. Mississippi State (14-13, 8-10, LW: 10)

The Bulldogs battled back to beat Texas A&M early last week, but it wasn’t a good look for them to struggle so much against a team coming off a month-long layoff. Then, Mississippi State lost to Auburn to close out the regular season.

In the 78-71 loss to the Tigers, Tolu Smith (20 points), DJ Stewart Jr. (19) and Iverson Molinar (17) combined for 56 of the Bulldogs’ 71 points. That trio needs more help if the Bulldogs want to win any games in Nashville.

10. Auburn (13-14, 7-11, LW: 11)

The Tigers couldn’t beat rival Alabama on Tuesday night, but they did end the season on a high note Saturday, taking down Mississippi State 78-71. It was Bruce Pearl’s 600th career victory, and it was a great way to build momentum for 2021-22.

Oh, and Auburn center Dylan Cardwell is now the greatest 3-point shooter in college basketball history after knocking down a long shot. He has now made 100% of his 3s in his Auburn career (1-for-1). Meanwhile, Allen Flanigan continues to look like a star in the making. He had a game-high 22 points on Saturday and threw down this big-time dunk:

There’s plenty to be excited about with the Tigers next season. They won’t play in the SEC Tournament because of a self-imposed postseason ban, so now we wait to see if Sharife Cooper returns to school or heads to the NBA Draft.

9. Georgia (14-11, 7-11, LW: 9)

Georgia led Alabama 36-30 at halftime Saturday, but its defense fell apart as the Crimson Tide came roaring back for an 89-79 victory. That’s 59 second-half points given up by the Dawgs.

The good news for Tom Crean’s crew is that they get to play Mizzou on Thursday night in their first SEC Tournament game. The Bulldogs had a big second-half comeback to beat the Tigers back in mid-February. We’ll see if they can beat Mizzou again.

8. Kentucky (9-15, 8-9, LW: 8)

After losing to Ole Miss earlier in the week, the Wildcats picked up some much-needed positive momentum entering the SEC Tournament by demolishing South Carolina 92-64 on Saturday. BJ Boston and Davion Mintz each hit 6 3-pointers, which is a great sign for Kentucky.

Mintz was particularly impressive. He had 20 points to Boston’s 21, but he was hitting heat-check shots like this:

And getting shots in rhythm of the offense like this:

He also had 7 assists and 5 rebounds, further showing that he’s the guy at point guard for the Wildcats. Down low, Isaiah Jackson continues to impress. He had 13 points and 10 rebounds against the Gamecocks.

This is going to be a dangerous team in Nashville. The Wildcats play Mississippi State on Thursday afternoon.

7. Ole Miss (15-10, 10-8, LW: 7)

Ole Miss is just absolutely suffocating on defense. Vanderbilt is a high-scoring team, but the Commodores couldn’t even crack 50 points Saturday night in the Rebels’ 56-46 win to close out the regular season.

The offense isn’t great, but the defense can help the Rebels stay competitive. We’ll see how far the defense can carry Kermit Davis’ squad in Nashville, starting with a game against South Carolina on Thursday night.

6. Florida (13-8, 9-7, LW: 3)

The Gators picked a bad time to go into a slump. First, Dru Smith and the Missouri Tigers escaped Gainesville with a 72-70 victory after Smith’s last-second layup:

Then, the Gators blew a halftime lead on Sunday against Tennessee, eventually losing 65-54. That’s not the sort of momentum you want to take into a conference tournament. But this has been the Mike White experience at Florida. The Gators cannot handle positive momentum. Right when it looks like the Gators have things figured out, they shoot themselves in the foot to cost themselves a top-4 seed in the SEC tourney.

5. Mizzou (15-8, 8-8, LW: 5)

Mizzou nearly blew an 8-point lead with 2 minutes left at Florida on Wednesday night, but the Dru Smith shot shown above in the Florida section saved the day. Smith followed up his 17-point performance against the Gators with 17 more points on Saturday against LSU.

Unfortunately for Smith, the Tigers fell 86-80 against LSU. It was a hard-fought game and both teams played well, but freshman sensation Cam Thomas proved to be too much to handle.

If Mizzou is going to make a run in the SEC Tournament, Kobe Brown will be a key. He had 11 points and 10 rebounds against LSU. The Tigers have plenty of talent in Brown, Smith, Xavier Pinson and Jeremiah Tilmon. Now, it’s just about putting it all together and recapturing the magic this team had during nonconference play.

We’ll see if they can avenge an earlier loss against Georgia on Thursday night.

4. Tennessee (17-7, 9-7, LW: 6)

Is John Fulkerson back? He sure looked like it on Sunday in a come-from-behind win against Florida. No, 14 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists won’t make anyone’s head explode when they see the box score, but considering Fulkerson had only managed 4 points in 5 of his last 6 games entering Sunday’s Florida game, it was an impressive performance.

He was getting to the rim like the Fulkerson of old:

And he was leaving his emotions on the court as he checked out late in his Senior Night game:

If that guy comes to play in Nashville this week, the Vols can make a run. They secured a double-bye in the SEC Tournament with Sunday’s win. Now, it’ll be about making sure Fulkerson continues to play at this level. Anything less and the Vols will have no chance to cut down the nets in Nashville.

3. LSU (16-8, 11-6, LW: 4)

I know the big knock on Cam Thomas is that he takes too many shots. That’s a fair criticism, but you have to look at what’s going on in the flow of the game when he shoots. Oftentimes, he takes difficult shots because nothing else is working on that possession.

On Saturday at Mizzou, he torched Mizzou’s stout defense for 29 points on 9-for-13 shooting, one of his most efficient performances of the year. He also went 10-for-12 at the free-throw line. Some of these shots are just ridiculous, though:

He has no business hitting a step-back 3 over Kobe Brown like that. But he makes it look easy. Those are NBA shots he’s making, and he’s making them look easy.

If he can stay hot and keep being efficient this week in Nashville, LSU is going to be a really tough out. Oh, and the Tigers are 16-1 when Darius Days scores at least 10 points. They should make sure to keep letting him shoot this week!

2. Arkansas (21-5, 13-4, LW: 2)

The Razorbacks got all they could handle from Texas A&M on Saturday, but this team showed its poise by doing what it took to pick up an 87-80 victory. The Hogs have won 8 straight games and 11 SEC contests in a row now, and Moses Moody looks like one of the best players in the country.

When things got tight late in Saturday’s game, Moody stayed calm. The freshman wasn’t rattled at either end of the floor. Here he is making a key block and then draining a clutch 3 on offense:

He finished with 28 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block and 0 turnovers. He can truly do it all. If anyone wants to beat the Razorbacks this week in Nashville, it has to start with shutting down the star freshman.

1. Alabama (21-6, 16-2, LW: 1)

After trailing Georgia 36-30 at halftime on Saturday, the Crimson Tide exploded for 59 points in the second half to win 89-79. That’s a great sign for a team that needed a confidence boost on offense heading into the SEC Tournament.

John Petty Jr. had 15 points and only made 2 3-pointers, but he was getting shots within the offense’s rhythm. And, when he’s hitting tough 3s like this, it’s going to be tough to stop Alabama:

Jahvon Quinerly led the Tide with 18 points against the Dawgs. He’s peaking at the right time and will be a big factor in the SEC Tournament.

The Tide are the No. 1 seed for a reason. We’ll see if they can make a march to the final (perhaps for a third game against Arkansas?) and make a run for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Adam Spencer

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.

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