It was a busy weekend in the SEC, but no game was better than the annual Braggin’ Rights rivalry between Mizzou and Illinois. Mizzou got to host the game this year since it had to be moved from St. Louis due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Tigers won a thrilling game, but they weren’t the only SEC squad to impress. Ole Miss finally got its season started and the Rebels are now 3-0. Tennessee is an impressive 2-0.

So, how do the 14 SEC teams stack up against one another this week? Here’s a look at out updated SEC basketball power rankings!

14. Mississippi State (3-3 overall, Last week: 14)

If DJ Stewart Jr. and Iverson Molinar continue to develop as a backcourt tandem, the Bulldogs won’t be in the No. 14 spot for long. But after a double-overtime loss to Dayton on Saturday, I’m still just not very impressed with the Bulldogs. Losses to Clemson, Dayton and Liberty aren’t necessarily embarrassing, but I need to see more from Ben Howland’s squad before I bump them up at all.

However, Stewart is the real deal. Look at his versatility as a scorer:

He finished with 32 points against Dayton. Molinar had 20 points and 7 assists. If some guys step up around them, the Bulldogs can win a few SEC games this season.

13. South Carolina (1-2, LW: 11)

The Gamecocks are 1-2 with losses to Liberty and Houston on their schedule and now they’re on pause due to COVID-19. They’re supposed to play rival Clemson on Saturday, but unfortunately, that game was postponed. Too bad. The Tigers are 5-0 this season, too.

12. Vanderbilt (2-0, LW: 13)

The Commodores are 2-0, yes, but you’ll have to forgive me for not being super excited about a 6-point win over Valparaiso and a blowout win over 0-7 Mississippi Valley State. Still, the Commodores did some good things, and Dylan Disu was outstanding in Sunday’s 84-41 win over MVSU, scoring 17 points and grabbing 13 rebounds.

Vanderbilt hosts 4-1 Richmond on Wednesday night, so that’ll show us a lot about this year’s Commodore squad.

11. Kentucky (1-4, LW: 8)

Kentucky’s awful start to the season continued on Saturday, as the Wildcats trailed Notre Dame by 22 points (48-26) at halftime. That was their largest-ever halftime deficit at home. The second half was a different story, as the Wildcats nearly came all the way back, but came up just short in the 64-63 loss. Olivier Sarr’s last-second jumper for the win just missed:

Sarr was solid, scoring 22 points and grabbing 7 rebounds, but the Wildcats are facing a historically awful start to the season. They’re 1-4 for the first time since the 1984-85 season and if they lose on Saturday against 5-1 UCLA in Cleveland, it’ll be the first time they’ve started 1-5 since 1926-27:

Yikes. Coach John Calipari needs to find a way to pick up the win on Saturday, but it won’t be easy.

10. Texas A&M (3-1, LW: 6)

The Aggies played their first major conference opponent in TCU and they got exposed a little bit. Playing the Horned Frogs in Fort Worth, A&M got off to an awful start, trailing 42-21 at halftime.

Buzz Williams’ crew was never able to recover in the 73-55 loss. It seems Williams is still trying to figure out his rotation, so we’ll see if that continues moving forward. They should be able to bounce back against Southeastern Louisiana on Tuesday night.

9. Alabama (3-2, LW: 7)

Clemson is a good team at 5-0. In fact, the Tigers are probably underrated after cracking the AP Poll at No. 24 this week. However, Alabama had no business only scoring 56 points against the Tigers in the 64-56 loss on Saturday night.

The Crimson Tide shot an abysmal 3-for-22 from 3-point range and only got 5 points from talented sophomore Jaden Shackelford. Herb Jones is a great player, but you don’t want him to be your offensive leader.

I’m officially concerned about the Tide’s offense, as they’ve struggled against the 2 major-conference teams they’ve played (Stanford and Clemson). They’ll need to regroup against a tough 5-1 Furman team on Tuesday night before facing Western Kentucky on Saturday. (Alabama was supposed to play No. 6 Houston in Tuscaloosa on Saturday afternoon, but that was scratched due to the Cougars’ COVID-19 issues. So the Tide quickly added Western Kentucky.)

8. Auburn (3-2, LW: 10)

Defenses will quickly need to learn that they cannot, under any circumstances, leave Auburn freshman Justin Powell alone beyond the 3-point arc. In the Tigers’ 74-71 win over Memphis in Atlanta on Saturday, Powell made 4-of-6 3-pointers and finished with 26 points and 8 rebounds:

He’s quickly become a leader for this year’s Auburn team, and if he can keep torching the nets, Auburn will continue to move up these rankings. The win over Memphis was one of the more impressive victories for an SEC team this weekend.

7. Ole Miss (3-0, LW: 12)

Ole Miss is playing well but hasn’t played any notable opponent. Against 0-5 Central Arkansas on Monday night, the Rebels struggled offensively, but it didn’t matter in an easy win.

Devontae Shuler was spectacular, scoring 20 points. He turned defense into offense, like on this nice steal and score:

Ole Miss travels to Middle Tennessee on Wednesday and Dayton on Saturday, so we’ll learn a lot more about the Rebels this week.

6. Georgia (5-0, LW: 9)

The Bulldogs are an impressive 5-0, but the reason they’re not higher is the quality of their opponents has not been good at all. On Saturday, they got all they could handle from a Samford team that lost to Alabama A&M to start the season.

Their 5 wins are over Samford, Montana, Jacksonville, North Georgia and Florida A&M. Not exactly a murderer’s row. Still, 5-0 is 5-0, so the Bulldogs at No. 6 is a good spot for them this week.

The good news is that Justin Kier is starting to show what kind of shooter he is. He led the team with 18 points against Samford:

Sahvir Wheeler had 15 points and 6 assists. He’ll continue to get the ball to his teammates in great positions to score, so we’ll see if the Dawgs can beat a tough Cincinnati squad on Saturday.

5. LSU (4-1, LW: 5)

The Tigers were able to add Sam Houston State to their schedule for Monday afternoon, and it turned out to be a great game for Javonte Smart. It was one of his best efforts as a Tiger, as he went for 25 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals. He was all over the place:

https://twitter.com/Timeoxt/status/1338615193186660352

He didn’t get to the free-throw line, but everything else was clicking. Meanwhile, Darius Days had a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double and sensational freshman Cam Thomas continues to score at will, putting up 19 points.

Games against New Orleans and North Texas this week shouldn’t be too tough for LSU. Will LSU be ranked if it can get up to 6-1? We’ll find out soon!

4. Florida (3-1, LW: 1)

Saturday’s loss at Florida State doesn’t matter. What matters is the health of Keyontae Johnson. After suffering a scary medical incident in Tallahassee, Johnson had to be stretchered off the court and taken to a Tallahassee hospital. The latest update is that he is in critical but stable condition. He has been transported to a hospital in Gainesville and is responding to simple commands.

Our thoughts are with Johnson, his family and the Florida basketball family right now. We hope he’s able to make a full recovery.

3. Arkansas (6-0, LW: 4)

Like Ole Miss and Georgia, the Razorbacks are undefeated, but without any signature wins on their resume. They only have games left against Abilene Christian and Oral Roberts left before SEC play starts on Dec. 30.

That’s not exactly a great resume, but this has been a weird year. The Hogs have plenty of talent and are winning every game they play. We’ll see if that continues against more quality opponents in a couple of weeks.

2. Tennessee (2-0, LW: 2)

The Vols remain the highest-ranked team in the SEC in the AP Poll, moving up to No. 10 this week. The Vols have 2 nice wins against Colorado and Cincinnati, but it has been a rough start for the offense.

John Fulkerson continues to shine, scoring 15 points with 12 rebounds against Cincinnati, but the rest of his teammates are still working themselves into the flow of the season. Games against Appalachian State and Tennessee Tech should give the Vols time to get right on offense this week.

1. Mizzou (5-0, LW: 3)

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new No. 1 team in these rankings! The Tigers’ résumé is undeniable at this point — wins over ranked Oregon and Illinois squads and a true road win at Wichita State among their 5 victories.

Beating Liberty and No. 6 Illinois in the past week is the toughest 2-game stretch an SEC team has had this year while still winning both games. Javon Pickett had 14 points and 5 rebounds in the Braggin’ Rights game, which he suddenly becomes a superstar in every year.

But Xavier Pinson and Dru Smith led the way with 17 points apiece. That’s the Tigers’ recipe for success this season. Get those 2 guys going and the rest will follow. Here are just a few of Smith’s highlights from the Illinois game:

When he plays like that, leading the team on both ends of the floor, the Tigers will be tough to beat. They’re up to No. 16 in the AP Poll, and if they beat Prairie View on Friday, they could rise even higher next week.