What a crazy week it was in SEC men’s basketball!

Tennessee continued its free fall, losing back-to-back games via buzzer-beating 3-pointers. Alabama was the one constant, staying steady and improving to 12-0 in league play.

Meanwhile, Florida and Auburn continue to struggle mightily, while Mississippi State and Vanderbilt have impressed as of late.

How has the topsy-turvy action affected our power rankings? Here’s a look at our updated 1-14 power poll of SEC squads:

14. LSU (12-13 overall, 1-11 in SEC, Last week: 12)

LSU’s losing streak is now at a whopping 12 games. But there’s good news in Baton Rouge. After an absolutely brutal stretch to start SEC play, the Tigers do have some “easier” games coming up. Here’s a look at their next 4 contests: at Georgia, vs. South Carolina, vs. Vanderbilt, at Ole Miss. If LSU can’t get at least a win or 2 in that stretch, things will get really ugly in Tiger land.

13. Ole Miss (10-15, 2-10, LW: 13)

Ole Miss picked up SEC win No. 2 against Georgia earlier last week, but then lost at home against South Carolina on Saturday. That may be the nail in the coffin of the Kermit Davis era in Oxford. Not being able to beat a Gamecocks team that entered Saturday’s game with an 8-16 overall record is completely unacceptable. Look for the Rebels to be on the hunt for a new head coach before next year.

12. South Carolina (9-16, 2-10, LW: 14)

Somehow, both of South Carolina’s SEC victories have come on the road. The Gamecocks have now won at Kentucky and at Ole Miss. This week provides more opportunities for the Gamecocks to improve their stock, as they host Vanderbilt on Tuesday and travel to LSU on Saturday in a pair of winnable games.

11. Florida (13-12, 6-6, LW: 6)

The Gators have been in an absolute free fall since beating Tennessee a couple of weeks ago. Since picking up that win over the Vols to bolster their NCAA Tournament résumé, they’ve lost at Kentucky, at No. 3 Alabama and at home against Vanderbilt. That last loss was particularly bad. A team with tourney hopes can’t be losing at home to Vanderbilt to fall to 13-12 overall. Florida probably needs to go 3-0 in its next 3 games (vs. Ole Miss, at Arkansas, vs. Kentucky) to get back into the March Madness picture.

10. Georgia (15-10, 5-7, LW: 10)

It was a week of highs and lows for Mike White and the Bulldogs. First, they suffered an inexplicable home loss to Ole Miss. Then they bounced back and beat Kentucky in Athens on Saturday. Kario Oquendo was a machine against the Wildcats, scoring 21 points and throwing down a couple of highlight-reel dunks like this:

When this team is clicking, it can be very dangerous. We’ll see if the Dawgs can win a second SEC game in a row on Tuesday night against LSU before taking a very difficult trip to Tuscaloosa to play No. 1 Alabama on Saturday.

9. Vanderbilt (13-12, 6-6, LW: 11)

How about those feisty Commodores! Vanderbilt has now won 3-straight SEC regular-season games, which is a feat it hadn’t accomplished since 2017. The Commodores have taken down Ole Miss, Tennessee and Florida in that stretch, which makes it even more impressive, as the Vols were ranked No. 6 in the nation at the time. It wouldn’t be out of the question to see this streak extend to 5 in a row, as the Commodores travel to South Carolina on Tuesday night before hosting a struggling Auburn team on Saturday night. Speaking of Auburn …

8. Auburn (17-8, 6-6, LW: 5)

Auburn has struggled recently, losing 3 in a row to fall to 6-6 in conference play. But those games were against Tennessee, Texas A&M and Alabama – 3 of the best teams in the entire league. On the other hand, the Tigers desperately need a résumé bolstering victory ahead of Selection Sunday. They’ll have a chance on Tuesday night hosting a Mizzou team that is just outside the AP Poll top 25 this week. Lose that one, though, and Auburn could be in a dire situation when it comes to making March Madness.

7. Kentucky (16-9, 7-5, LW: 3)

Not having CJ Fredrick and Sahvir Wheeler really hurt the Wildcats this past week in losses to Arkansas and at Georgia. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi said Kentucky’s loss to the Bulldogs on Saturday dropped it out of the field of 68 as things stand now, and it’s hard to disagree with him. But the Wildcats have time to get back on the right side of the bubble while the team gets healthy. It won’t be easy this week, though. On Wednesday night, the Wildcats head to Starkville to take on the red-hot Mississippi State Bulldogs. Then they return home to Lexington on Saturday afternoon for a huge game against a reeling Tennessee squad.

6. Arkansas (17-8, 6-6, LW: 9)

Arkansas hit a bit of a speed bump on Saturday against a tough Mississippi State defense in Fayetteville. Freshman Anthony Black was magnificent, putting up 23 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, but the rest of the Arkansas offense struggled. Black also had 3 steals. The Hogs will need to bounce back from the loss to the Bulldogs quickly, as they head to College Station to take on a tough Texas A&M squad on Wednesday night and then host a desperate Florida team facing a must-win game on Saturday.

5. Mississippi State (17-8, 5-7, LW: 8)

Mississippi State has now won 5 games in a row, including 4 in a row against SEC teams. The Bulldogs have the No. 4 defense in the nation, per KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency rankings. Winning at Arkansas on Saturday was a great victory for Chris Jans and company. The Bulldogs return home to face Kentucky with the chance to add another big win to their tournament résumé on Tuesday night and then head to rival Ole Miss on Saturday.

4. Tennessee (19-6, 8-4, LW: 2)

The Vols have now lost back-to-back games via buzzer-beater 3-pointers. First, a Wednesday night loss in Nashville to Vanderbilt:

Then Mizzou got in on the last-second magic on Saturday via this crazy play:

Buzzer beaters are always a bit fluky, but the Vols were uncharacteristically undisciplined to give Mizzou a chance to win. First, a missed free throw meant that the Tigers would at least have a chance to tie the game at the buzzer. But on the second free-throw attempt, the Vols committed a lane infraction, which gave Mizzou the ball with time to set up a play. That was very unlike a Rick Barnes team.

The Vols have to figure out some consistency quickly, or this could turn into yet another season where they don’t live up to expectations.

3. Mizzou (19-6, 7-5, LW: 7)

Based on how much the Tigers struggled shooting the 3 at Mississippi State, you’d have thought they’d struggle on Saturday against Tennessee in Knoxville. After all, Tennessee has the No. 1 defense in the KenPom rankings. But as you can see in the Vols’ section above, DeAndre Gholston delivered 1 of the biggest 3s of the Mizzou season at the buzzer to beat Tennessee. The Tigers made 14-of-26 3-pointers on Saturday (53.8%). They can’t take their foot off the gas pedal now, though. They head to Auburn on Tuesday night and host Texas A&M on Saturday. Speaking of the Aggies …

2. Texas A&M (18-7, 10-2, LW: 4)

Wade Taylor IV had a big week for the Aggies. In a win vs. Auburn on Tuesday night, he had 22 points. He followed that up with 23 points in a Saturday victory over LSU:

These next 2 weeks will tell us a ton about Buzz Williams’ squad. The Aggies host Arkansas on Wednesday and travel to Mizzou on Saturday of this week. Next week, they host Kentucky and then head to Starkville to play Mississippi State. Those are 4 NCAA Tournament-level tests and great preparation for the SEC tournament!

1. Alabama (22-3, 12-0, LW: 1)

The Crimson Tide passed another tough test on Saturday, going into Neville Arena and beating rival Auburn in an intense atmosphere that featured ESPN’s College GameDay on campus. But there isn’t any rest for Nate Oats’ squad, as the Tide head to Rocky Top to face No. 10 Tennessee on Wednesday night.

If the Tide keep getting elite contributions from their deep freshman class, they’re going to be tough to beat. Brandon Miller is the star of the group, and he scored 13 points at Auburn, but wasn’t his usual self, going 0-for-7 from 3-point range. Fellow freshman Jaden Bradley had 12 points, but freshman Rylan Griffen stole the show, scoring 16 points off the bench and playing strong defense:

If Alabama can get past Tennessee, the expectation for a perfect SEC season will intensify. For now, though, this Tide team absolutely deserves its No. 1 ranking in the AP Poll.