What a wild week of SEC men’s basketball!

We had upsets galore, dominant performances by top teams and baffling offensive showings by teams loaded with talent.

Outside of the No. 1 spot and the No. 14 spot, no team is in the same spot as it was last week. That’s how unpredictable this past week of hoops action was.

So, with that said, here’s a look at how our weekly SEC basketball power rankings shake out:

14. Georgia (5-10 overall, 0-2 in SEC, Last week: 14)

The Bulldogs showed some fight at home against Texas A&M in their SEC opener, losing on a last-second 3-pointer from the Aggies. They showed markedly less fight on Saturday at Kentucky, falling 92-77 to the Wildcats. Former Dawg Sahvir Wheeler couldn’t play due to a neck injury, but that didn’t stop coach Tom Crean from giving him about the worst hug possible:

At least Kario Oquendo continues to be a bright spot for this team. He scored 21 points vs. the Aggies and 22 vs. the Wildcats. Enjoy watching him, Georgia fans, because there’s not much else to root for with this team.

13. Arkansas (10-5, 0-3, LW: 9)

After losing the SEC opener at Mississippi State, things went from bad to worse for the Razorbacks this past week. The Hogs lost at home against Vanderbilt and then went to Texas A&M and didn’t have enough to finish a second-half comeback against the Aggies, falling 86-81.

The problem is poor defense. The Aggies shot 56.4% from the floor and 42.1% from 3-point range against Arkansas. That needs to change in a hurry, or else even a Wednesday night home game against Mizzou won’t be an easy win for Eric Musselman’s squad.

12. Vanderbilt (9-5, 1-1, LW: 10)

Vanderbilt started last week with a win at Arkansas, but followed it up with a disappointing home loss against South Carolina, 72-70, on Saturday afternoon. That was a game that could have really built momentum for Jerry Stackhouse’s squad heading into a Tuesday home game vs. Kentucky and a Saturday road trip to Georgia. If they’d have won that game, a 3-1 SEC start was entirely possible. Instead, the Commodores will be lucky to start SEC action 2-2. We’ll see what Saturday’s road trip to Athens has in store.

11. Mizzou (7-7, 1-1, LW: 13)

Perhaps the most surprising result of the weekend was Mizzou’s 92-86 win over Alabama. Nate Oats is now 0-3 in Columbia, thanks in large part to the play of Kobe Brown. The Alabama native had a career-high 30 points for the Tigers and also grabbed 13 rebounds, dished out 4 assists and had a block. He also had quick hands to poke the ball lose on a key possession late in the game:

Here’s 1 of those 4 assists. Look at Brown’s incredible court vision:

Freshman Trevon Brazile also earned more playing time for himself, putting up 9 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks and a steal. He threw down this awesome alley-oop, too:

Can the Tigers keep the momentum going? They play at Arkansas on Wednesday then host Texas A&M on Saturday. Those are 2 potentially winnable games if the Tigers play like they did on Saturday.

10. Florida (9-5, 0-2, LW: 7)

Florida has had 2 tough SEC opponents to start off league play, losing at home to Alabama and on the road at Auburn. But, that 9-5 overall record isn’t looking too good right now. And things might get a whole lot worse before they get better for Mike White and the Gators. They welcome a tough LSU team with an elite defense to town on Wednesday night. Then, they head to South Carolina – always a tough place to play during the Frank Martin tenure – on Saturday. If the Gators fall to 9-7 overall and 0-4 in SEC play, White’s seat will be on fire.

9. South Carolina (10-4, 1-1, LW: 11)

The Gamecocks scored a nice road win at Vanderbilt on Saturday by doing what not many teams have been able to do this year – hold Scotty Pippen Jr. in check. Yes, Pippen still finished the game with 17 points, but he only shot 4-of-11 from the floor and 0-for-3 from 3-point range. The Gamecocks also forced Pippen into 7 turnovers. That was a great game plan from Frank Martin. We’ll see if the Gamecocks can force Tennessee point guard Kennedy Chandler into a similar number of mistakes on Tuesday night in Knoxville.

8. Mississippi State (10-4, 1-1, LW: 6)

The Bulldogs have plenty of talent and depth, but the consistency just isn’t there. They lost at rival Ole Miss on Saturday night, and the reason why is obvious. The Bulldogs let the Rebels hit 11 of 23 3-pointers (47.8%) and made only 3 of their 16 long-range tries (18.8%). If that doesn’t improve, it’s going to be a long year in Starkville.

Fortunately, the Bulldogs get to return home for a pair of games this week – Wednesday night vs. Georgia and Saturday night vs. Alabama. Wednesday is already a must-win game for Ben Howland’s crew.

7. Ole Miss (9-5, 1-1, LW: 12)

I’m not sure the Rebels will stay this high in my rankings, but they took Tennessee to overtime to start last week and then thumped Mississippi State 82-72 in a rivalry game on Saturday night. The Rebels, for the record, have now won 12 of their last 17 games against the rival Bulldogs.

Matthew Murrell was red-hot against the Bulldogs, scoring a career-high 31 points to pace his team:

Meanwhile, freshman Daeshun Ruffin had a career-high 8 assists, including this nice lob:

https://twitter.com/OleMissMBB/status/1479990259849084930

When the Rebels play like that, they’ll be tough to beat. After a trip to Texas A&M on Tuesday night, they host Auburn on Saturday. We’ll see if there’s an upset brewing in Oxford this weekend.

6. Tennessee (10-4, 1-2, LW: 4)

The Vols needed overtime to beat Ole Miss 66-60 at home to start last week. That was the first sign that something was off about this squad. Then, the Vols went into Baton Rouge on Saturday evening and continued to flounder, making 19 of 49 field goals (38.8%) and shooting just 25% (6-for-24) from 3-point range in a 79-67 loss to LSU.

After the game, Rick Barnes had a strong message for veteran big man John Fulkerson:

I don’t think calling out a team leader in the media is a good move. Keep that in the locker room. We’ll see if Fulkerson handles the public criticism well, or if he and Tennessee continue to struggle at home against South Carolina on Tuesday night and at Kentucky on Saturday afternoon.

5. Alabama (11-4, 2-1, LW: 2)

Mizzou Arena is a house of horrors for Nate Oats. During his time at Alabama, he’s now 0-3 in the building, including Saturday’s inexplicable 92-86 loss to the Tigers. In very uncharacteristic fashion for a Nate Oats team, Alabama’s defense has been lacking this year.

Oats said the defense was a major concern after the game, and hinted at making some changes to Alabama’s rotation:

We’ll see how things change this week, but if the defense doesn’t improve, the Tide are in for a couple of rough games. On Tuesday, they host rival Auburn. Then, on Saturday night, they head to Starkville to take on Mississippi State.

4. Texas A&M (13-2, 2-0, LW: 8)

I’m as surprised as you are that Texas A&M is this high. But, the Aggies absolutely deserve it thus far. No, I wasn’t overly impressed by them needing a last-second 3-pointer to beat a bad Georgia team to start last week. But, Saturday’s win over Arkansas was much more impressive.

Quenton Jackson continues to be a leader for this team. He’s not afraid to have the ball in his hands in clutch situations, and he delivered the dagger against the Razorbacks:

A 4-0 start to conference play is entirely reasonable for this team. On Tuesday night, the Aggies host Ole Miss. Then, on Saturday, they head to Columbia to take on Mizzou. What a job Buzz Williams is doing with this team this year.

3. Kentucky (12-3, 2-1, LW: 3)

Through 15 games, the Wildcats have scored the most points in the SEC, with 1,243. That’s ahead of second-place Alabama’s 1,237 points. But, at LSU last week, we saw the Wildcats struggle their way to 60 points in a loss. Yes, they lost PG Sahvir Wheeler early in the game and TyTy Washington was dealing with cramps in the second half, but it still showed that this offense might not be as elite as the numbers indicate, due to a weak nonconference schedule.

Fortunately for coach John Calipari, the defense continues to be strong. Big man Oscar Tshiebwe put up 29 points and 17 rebounds on Saturday against Georgia, continuing his insane season.

This week, we’ll find out a lot about Kentucky. The Wildcats take a trip to Vanderbilt on Tuesday night before hosting a struggling Tennessee squad on Saturday. The Vols play great defense, though, so Kentucky will need to bring its “A” game offensively.

2. LSU (14-1, 2-1, LW: 5)

Tari Eason continues to be a star for the Tigers. The Cincinnati transfer scored 24 points and had 12 rebounds in Saturday’s 79-67 win over Tennessee. He also threw down this dunk and added some flourish at the end:

Starting PG Xavier Pinson suffered a knee injury when he slipped late in the game, but it doesn’t appear that will be a major issue moving forward. Coach Will Wade said Pinson will hopefully only miss a week, at most. That’s huge, as the Tigers face another couple of intriguing games this week – at Florida on Wednesday and vs. Arkansas on Saturday.

1. Auburn (14-1, 3-0, LW: 1)

Auburn is cruising this season. The Tigers improved to 3-0 in SEC play last week with double-digit wins at South Carolina and vs. Florida. By now, y’all know how much I love watching Wendell Green Jr. play. Well, he was at it again vs. the Gators, draining this step-back 3 from NBA range over Florida big man Colin Castleton:

He finished with 13 points, but Saturday night was the KD Johnson show. The Georgia transfer led all scorers with 23 points, going 3-for-4 from long range. He was providing plenty of energy all night long:

This Auburn team is so deep. But, this week provides a challenge for Bruce Pearl’s squad. The Tigers head to Tuscaloosa to take on rival Alabama on Tuesday night and then head to Oxford to play Ole Miss on Saturday night. The Tigers lost both games against the Rebels last year. Can they flip the script this year?