With January winding down, we’re about to get into the most important month of the college basketball season, as teams try to jockey for position when it comes to their conference tournaments and the NCAA Tournament.

Right now, the SEC is deeper than its been in a number of years, and there’s a team besides Kentucky on top of the standings.

As you can see, the red-hot Auburn Tigers currently lead the conference standings and picked up a big win over LSU on Saturday. However, there are five teams currently within two games of first place and every team has at least two conference wins:

  • Auburn — 19-2 overall, 7-1 in SEC
  • Florida — 15-6, 6-2
  • Kentucky — 16-5, 5-3
  • Tennessee — 15-5, 5-3
  • Alabama — 14-7, 5-3
  • Arkansas — 15-6, 4-4
  • South Carolina — 13-8, 4-4
  • Ole Miss — 11-10, 4-4
  • Mississippi State — 15-6, 3-5
  • Mizzou — 13-8, 3-5
  • LSU — 12-8, 3-5
  • Georgia — 12-8, 3-5
  • Texas A&M — 13-8, 2-6
  • Vanderbilt — 8-13, 2-6

Currently, ESPN bracketology expert Joe Lunardi has eight SEC teams making the NCAA Tournament, with Auburn leading the way as a No. 4 seed. Find the full bracket here (updated as of Jan. 25) and the eight SEC teams below:

  • Auburn — 4 seed
  • Florida — 5 seed
  • Kentucky — 5 seed
  • Tennessee — 5 seed
  • Alabama — 9 seed
  • Arkansas — 9 seed
  • Texas A&M — 10 seed
  • Mizzou — 11 seed

Obviously a lot can (and will) change between now and Selection Sunday, but it’s looking like it will be a good year for the SEC when tournament time rolls around.

Can any of these teams reach the Final Four? That remains to be seen, but they’ll all be battle tested from the tough conference schedule.