As we enter the final week of the regular season, the SEC men’s basketball standings are still quite jumbled, with Auburn and Tennessee battling for the conference title and a whopping nine other teams still within range of a top-four seed.

In the most-recent bracketology rankings from ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, 10 SEC teams are included in the field of 68 or mentioned as bubble teams.

Therefore, this year’s conference tournament should be one of the most exciting in recent memory, since it won’t be Kentucky vs. everyone else. That said, the Wildcats have a track record of success in the SEC tourney, having won the past three.

Though this tournament should be wide open, here are four teams that should be considered favorites heading into St. Louis next week (as well as one lower seed that could make some noise):

Auburn

Even though the Tigers have been hampered by injuries in the past couple of weeks, they’re still a force to be reckoned with. Without Mustapha Heron and Anfernee McLemore, Auburn still mopped the floor with Alabama by 19 points.

Heron is back, having scored 22 points in Saturday’s loss to Florida. As long as Heron and Bryce Brown are clicking, the Tigers have proven they can beat anyone in the SEC.

As the likely No. 1 seed, they’ll certainly be a favorite when the tournament starts next Wednesday in St. Louis.

Tennessee

According to the KenPom rankings, Tennessee has the No. 4 defense in terms of adjusted efficiency. Being able to get stops is critical in March, and no team in the SEC is better at it than the Vols.

If Tennessee can control the pace, it will likely make a run in the SEC tourney, especially coming from a top-four position in the bracket.

Kentucky

As mentioned above, the Wildcats have won the past three SEC Tournaments, so they can’t be counted out. Making them even more formidable is the fact that they’ve seemingly broken out of their slump, winning their past three games after a four-game losing streak.

With a roster again loaded with NBA talent, Kevin Knox, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the other big-name Wildcats could certainly go on a run in St. Louis, especially if they manage to snag a top-four seed by winning their final two regular-season games.

Alabama

As long as Collin Sexton keeps playing the Crimson Tide have a chance to win the SEC Tournament. The freshman sensation is second in the SEC in scoring at 18.2 points per game.

Surrounding Sexton is a young-but-talented core of players who feed off Sexton’s energy and can be downright lethal when they’re hot. The Crimson Tide are 2-7 on the road, but they’re 3-1 in neutral-site games, so that could work in their favor in St. Louis next week.

Georgia

With the SEC’s leading scorer in star forward Yante Maten (19.5 points per game), the Bulldogs can never be counted out of a game. If Maten can string together a good run and his teammates step up, the Dawgs could make it to the SEC title game.

Georgia has taken down Florida twice this year and has wins over Tennessee, Alabama and a ranked Saint Mary’s team, so the Bulldogs can hang with anyone. They might be a double-digit seed come tourney time, but they’ll still be a team no one wants to see.