Welcome to March, y’all!

This is one of the greatest months of the year, sports-wise. We’ve got spring football. We’ve got college baseball and college softball. Normally, when those who run Major League Baseball aren’t actively trying to destroy it, we have spring training.

But, most importantly, we have March Madness! Well, the Madness unofficially started in February this year, as 7 top-10 teams lost road games on Saturday, including every team in the top 6.

Two SEC teams (Auburn and Kentucky) were caught up in that chaos. That led to a shakeup in the top 4 of our weekly rankings.

So, without further ado, here’s a look at your updated SEC men’s hoops power rankings as we enter March:

14. Georgia (6-23 overall, 1-15 in SEC, Last week: 14)

This is the 117th season of Georgia men’s basketball. Never in the previous 116 years have the Bulldogs lost 23 games in a single season. The previous record was 22 losses in the 1951-52 campaign. This past week, the Dawgs fell at Texas A&M (91-77) and at home against Florida (84-72). Games this week against Tennessee on Tuesday night and at Mizzou on Saturday don’t look very promising, either. We are surely looking at the end of the Tom Crean era in Athens.

13. Ole Miss (13-16, 4-12, LW: 13)

The Rebels have now lost 6 of their last 7 games, with the lone win coming at Georgia. They’ve been battered by injuries, but this is not a good look for coach Kermit Davis and his squad. Davis’s seat is heating up quickly, and a Tuesday night trip to Kentucky looks like a difficult task. We’ll see if the Rebels can salvage anything on Saturday in the regular-season finale against Vanderbilt in Oxford. For now, though, it appears Ole Miss and Mizzou will be locked into that 12-13 matchup on the first day of the SEC Tournament.

12. Mizzou (10-19, 4-12, LW: 12)

Speaking of the Tigers, Mizzou decided losing 3 of its last 4 games by exactly 19 points entering Saturday night’s contest at LSU wasn’t good enough. The Tigers promptly lost by 20 in Baton Rouge. Star forward Kobe Brown was held to 2 points on 0-for-3 shooting in utterly indefensible coaching from Cuonzo Martin. His inability to draw up looks for Brown was ridiculous. The Tigers made only 3 of their 15 3-point attempts and committed 19 turnovers, with Boogie Coleman accounting for 7 of them. Martin not having a true point guard or any halfway decent 3-point shooters on this roster has hurt Mizzou all year long. He’s perhaps on the second-hottest seat in the SEC right now, behind Tom Crean at Georgia.

After a Tuesday night trip to South Carolina, the Tigers will return to Columbia to end the regular season at home against Crean and the Bulldogs. We’ll see if Mizzou can avoid an embarrassing loss heading into the SEC Tournament.

11. Vanderbilt (14-14, 6-10, LW: 10)

This year has been an improvement for the Commodores, as 14 wins is their most since the 2016-17 season (Bryce Drew’s first year as coach). But, when you have a player of Scotty Pippen Jr.’s caliber and still can’t fight your way to the NCAA Tournament bubble, it’s not a great year by any stretch of the imagination. The Commodores suffered 2 tough losses last week – by 2 points at home against Alabama and by 5 points at Mississippi State on Saturday. Pippen combined for 58 points in those 2 games, but it wasn’t enough for Vandy to pick up either victory.

The Commodores host Florida on Tuesday night and head to Ole Miss to close the regular season on Saturday. If they can win both games, and Texas A&M slips up at all, the Commodores could manage to avoid a first-round game in the SEC Tournament.

10. Texas A&M (18-11, 7-9, LW: 11)

The Aggies have been playing better basketball lately, winning 3 of their last 4 games since an 8-game losing streak derailed their once-promising season. This past week, they took down Georgia and Ole Miss to get themselves back on track. Texas A&M is 2-9 in Quad 1 games this year, but don’t count the Aggies out of the NCAA Tournament just yet. If they beat Alabama on Wednesday night in Tuscaloosa, that would give them a third Q1 win. Then, if they beat Mississippi State in College Station on Saturday, that would be overall victory No. 20. Win a couple of games in the SEC Tournament, and all of a sudden, the Aggies are on the bubble!

9. Mississippi State (17-12, 8-8, LW: 9)

Much like Texas A&M above, don’t count the Bulldogs out just yet. Yes, the 17-12 overall record is disappointing after the hype surrounding Ben Howland’s team this preseason, but there are still 2 great opportunities left in the regular season for the Bulldogs. They host Auburn on Wednesday night. The Tigers have struggled in recent road games, going 0-3 in their last 3 away from Auburn Arena. That would be Quad 1 win No. 3 for Mississippi State. A win at Texas A&M on Saturday night would give the Bulldogs 4 Q1 wins. They’d probably still need to win a couple of games at the SEC Tournament to warrant serious consideration on Selection Sunday but, hey, crazier things have happened!

8. South Carolina (17-11, 8-8, LW: 8)

Another spot, another SEC team with its NCAA Tournament hopes on life support. The Gamecocks missed a huge opportunity on Saturday, getting blown out 90-71 in Tuscaloosa to snap a 4-game winning streak. But, not all hope is lost entering the final week of the regular season. A game against Mizzou on Tuesday night is tricky. A win won’t do much for the Gamecocks, but a loss would be devastating. Then, on Saturday, South Carolina has a chance to redeem itself for Saturday’s loss at Alabama as it heads to Auburn for the regular-season finale. The Gamecocks can’t get caught looking ahead, though, or Tuesday’s game against Mizzou could go terribly wrong.

7. LSU (20-9, 8-8, LW: 7)

Now, we get to a team with a spot in the NCAA Tournament likely already secured. The Tigers added to their win total on Saturday with a 20-point win over Mizzou. Tari Eason continues to be a superstar for LSU, scoring 18 points and adding 6 rebounds. But, he’s also a menace on defense, as this possession shows:

Will Wade’s squad now has one of the tougher final weeks in the entire country. On Wednesday night, LSU heads to Arkansas. Then, on Saturday, the Tigers finish the regular season at home against Alabama. Winning 1 or both of those games would really help LSU’s seeding come Selection Sunday.

6. Florida (18-11, 8-8, LW: 6)

Phlandrous Fleming Jr. is an Athens, Georgia, native who now plays for the Florida Gators. Naturally, Saturday’s game in Athens against the Bulldogs was a big one for Fleming, and he showed up in force. He finished the 84-72 victory with 27 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. He was scoring from all over the floor:

It’ll be important for him to continue playing like that, as the Gators face a tricky final week of the regular season. A Tuesday night road trip to Vanderbilt is exactly the kind of devastating loss the Gators have suffered time and time again under Mike White. Then, a home date against No. 7 Kentucky looms large on Saturday. Go 2-0 in those games and the Gators should be in the NCAA Tournament. Go 1-1, and things get dicey.

5. Alabama (19-10, 9-7, LW: 5)

Alabama scored a big home win on Saturday night, taking down South Carolina 90-71. Starting guards Jaden Shackelford (21 points), Jahvon Quinerly (20) and Keon Ellis (17) combined for 58 total points, going 12-for-23 from beyond the 3-point arc. When those 3 play like that, there aren’t many teams in the entire country that can hang with the Tide.

The problem is that they haven’t played like that consistently this season. But, they have a great chance to build some momentum heading into the SEC Tournament. The Tide host Texas A&M on Wednesday night and head to LSU to close the regular season on Saturday. Both of those are big games. If Alabama can secure the No. 5 seed in the SEC tourney, it will be a team no one wants to see.

4. Tennessee (21-7, 12-4, LW: 4)

Now, we’ve reached the top 4 in the suddenly crowded SEC this year. These squads are really 1A, 1B, 1C and 1D at this point. None of the top-4 teams have road wins over any of the other top-4 teams. Each squad has, thus far, defended its home court. The Vols did that on Saturday afternoon, scoring a 67-62 win over Auburn.

Like Alabama above, Tennessee relies heavily on its guards for its scoring. They came through on Saturday, as Santiago Vescovi (14 points), Kennedy Chandler (13), Zakai Zeigler (13) and Josiah-Jordan James (10) combined for 50 of the Vols’ 67 points. Chandler continues to be a menace in the lane. He has one of the best running floaters in the country:

Tennessee has a chance to enter the SEC Tournament on a high note. The Vols head to Georgia on Tuesday and host No. 14 Arkansas on Saturday afternoon in the regular-season finale. We’ll see if they can keep the trend of the top-4 teams in the SEC defending their home courts going.

3. Kentucky (23-6, 12-4, LW: 1)

The Wildcats got Sahvir Wheeler and TyTy Washington back on Saturday at Arkansas, but it wasn’t enough to get them over the top, as they fell 75-73 to the red-hot Razorbacks. Oscar Tshiebwe was unstoppable, scoring 30 points and grabbing 18 rebounds in the loss. Yes, Tshiebwe gets a lot of his points on looks right at the rim. Some come via passes from Wheeler after he drives the lane, but he works hard to get offensive rebounds to get many of his easy buckets.

As you can see in the highlight video below, he’s also developing a nice mid-range jumper:

Yes, Kentucky lost on Saturday, but a 2-point road loss against Arkansas is not a bad defeat at all. The Wildcats should still be considered one of the favorites to win the SEC Tournament in Tampa, especially if Washington and Wheeler are back at 100% by then.

2. Auburn (25-4, 13-3, LW: 2)

Auburn’s road woes continued on Saturday at Tennessee, as the Tigers suffered a 67-62 loss. They have now lost 3 road contests in a row, following a 1-point win at Mizzou and a 2-point escape at Georgia in the 2 road games prior to the losing streak.

What happened on Saturday? The biggest problem is that only 5 different players scored. Jabari Smith Jr. continued to dominate, scoring 27 points, grabbing 8 boards and blocking 2 shots. KD Johnson added 18 points, but from there, the offense was bleak. Walker Kessler had 8 points, Wendell Green Jr. added 5 and Allen Flanigan had 4. Zep Jasper, Dylan Cardwell, Devan Cambridge and Jaylin Williams all played in the game and combined for exactly 0 points.

Some of the shots Smith makes, though, are just insane. Not a single shot in the below highlight reel is what you would consider an “open” look:

Auburn has a chance to pick up a road win and gain some confidence at Mississippi State on Wednesday night. That game will be huge for this team moving into postseason play.

1. Arkansas (23-6, 12-4, LW: 3)

Arkansas has wins over Auburn, Kentucky and Tennessee. That’s why the Hogs are No. 1 this week. What more can you ask of a team other than to beat the other top teams in the league?

Yes, all of those big wins have come in front of the raucous Bud Walton Arena crowd, but a victory is a victory, no matter how you slice it. And, JD Notae was, once again, electric. He scored 30 points and dished out 8 assists, showing that he’s vastly underrated as a passer:

He’s neck-and-neck with Tshiebwe for the SEC Player of the Year award. You can’t go wrong picking either of them.

As for Arkansas’s remaining schedule? The Hogs host LSU on Wednesday night before heading to Rocky Top to take on No. 13 Tennessee on Saturday afternoon. We’ll see if the Hogs can stay hot entering the SEC Tournament!