The SEC is down to only three ranked teams in the latest AP Poll — No. 1 Tennessee, No. 5 Kentucky and No. 19 LSU. However, that doesn’t mean the basketball isn’t good across the conference.

The problem? Much like in football, the teams are beating up on each other, making it hard for all but the elite teams to rise above the pack.

With the NCAA Tournament quickly approaching, that’s not good news for some of the mid-tier SEC squads. In Joe Lunardi’s updated bracketology on Saturday, 8 SEC teams were projected to make the field of 68 (along with Arkansas in the “Next Four Out” section). The problem, however, continues to be that a lot of those teams are going to continue beating up on each other.

What that means for fans, though, is a lot of intense, fun action, so buckle up and enjoy the ride. That said, here are this week’s power rankings:

1. Tennessee (22-1 overall, 10-0 SEC, Last week: 1)

The Volunteers have been banged up a bit recently, with Jordan Bone missing a few minutes against Florida with an ankle injury and Yves Pons sitting out against the Gators due to an injury suffered in practice. However, they’ve continued to dominate, and Admiral Schofield seems to be out of his slump, as evidenced by thunderous dunks like this:

The Vols still have a brutal remaining schedule to navigate, though, so they’ll have to bring their “A” game to every matchup to stay atop the SEC standings. On Saturday, they travel to Lexington to take on No. 5 Kentucky. Following that, they host Vanderbilt and then end the season with a brutal gauntlet — at LSU, at Ole Miss, vs. Kentucky, vs. Mississippi State and at Auburn.

That’s possibly the toughest remaining schedule in the SEC, so we’ll see what the Vols are made of over the next few weeks.

2. Kentucky (20-3, 9-1, Last week: 2)

The Wildcats almost blew a big lead at Mississippi State on Saturday, but the young team showed its resolve by holding on for a 4-point victory. Freshman Tyler Herro only had 12 points, but this was a huge shot in a clutch situation:

PJ Washington and Ashton Hagans get a lot of the attention for Kentucky, but Herro has never been afraid to step up in big moments. He’s a great shooter, but his all-around game is improving, too, and that makes the Wildcats even more dangerous.

3. LSU (19-4, 9-1, Last week: 3)

Tennessee’s Grant Williams is the front-runner to win the SEC Player of the Year award for the second year in a row, but LSU’s Tremont Waters also deserves to be in the mix. Waters had 45 points, 15 assists and 8 steals in wins against Mississippi State and Auburn last week.

Freshman big man Naz Reid is also showing why he’s a potential NBA Draft lottery pick, and his defense is coming along just as quickly as his offensive arsenal. He had 29 points and 9 rebounds against the Bulldogs and a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double against Auburn. Just look at the defense he played on Auburn G Jared Harper in a key moment Saturday:

After the loss at home against Arkansas last week, the Tigers have woken up, and that’s a scary thought for the rest of the conference. They’re not quite on the same level as the two teams above them in these rankings, but they can beat anyone on any given night.

4. South Carolina (12-11, 7-3, Last week: 4)

The Gamecocks continued their trend of getting beaten up by the SEC’s top teams and taking care of business against everyone else in the conference. South Carolina is 7-3 in conference play, with their losses coming against each of the teams above them on this list.

Based on that trend, we can expect Frank Martin’s crew to go 1-1 this week, as they travel to take on No. 1 Tennessee on Wednesday night and then play host to Texas A&M on Saturday afternoon. Moving forward, this is the last game they’ll have to play against a team above them in the SEC standings, so it’ll be fun to see if they can finish 14-4 in league play and snag a top-four seed in the SEC Tournament.

5. Ole Miss (16-7, 6-4, Last week: 8)

I posed the question last week asking who would emerge from the SEC’s 4-4 club, as last Tuesday, a whopping six teams sported that record in conference play. Ole Miss was one of them, and the Rebels managed to break free of the pack in explosive fashion.

Wins over Texas A&M and Georgia won’t blow anyone away, but winning is always better than losing (that’s some hard-hitting analysis, I know), and the Rebels desperately needed some SEC victories. Breein Tyree has been particularly hot lately, and has scored 20 points or more in five consecutive games:

Tyree scored 53 total points last week — 22 against Texas A&M and 31 against Georgia. With games at Auburn and at home vs. Mizzou this week, extending their winning streak to 4 games is a must for Kermit Davis’ squad.

6. Alabama (15-8, 6-4, Last week: 9)

The Crimson Tide took care of business against Georgia and Vanderbilt last week, but this week promises to be much tougher. First, a trip to Mississippi State looms large, followed by a visit from the Florida Gators.

Freshman Kira Lewis Jr. is out of his mini-slump, but now double-double machine Donta Hall is in a slump of his own. Hall’s production will be crucial for the Tide this week, so we’ll see if they can continue climbing up the SEC standings.

7. Auburn (16-7, 5-5, Last week: 6)

The time for treading water needs to come to an end for the Tigers, who followed up a 3-game winning streak with a road loss at LSU on Saturday. This week, they face Ole Miss at home, with a chance to avenge their SEC-opening loss to the Rebels.

Then, it’s off to Vanderbilt for a game against the hapless Commodores. This could be a great get-right week for the Tigers, who could still potentially work their way into a top-four SEC Tournament seed if all goes well.

8. Arkansas (14-9, 5-5, Last week: 7)

The Razorbacks are clinging to life with regards to the NCAA Tournament, but they still have enough meat left on their schedule to make a strong case for themselves. This week, they face a rivalry game against Mizzou and a home game against Mississippi State.

The Mississippi State game will be a huge one, and one that may end up being one of the deciding factors for the NCAA Tournament selection committee.

9. Mississippi State (16-7, 4-6, Last week: 5)

The Bulldogs had two golden opportunities to pick up wins over ranked teams last week, and couldn’t take advantage of either, losing at home to LSU and Kentucky. Those games were great chances to pad their NCAA Tournament resume, but now it looks more like this Mississippi State team is similar to last year’s — lots of wins, but not many meaningful ones.

Games against Alabama and Arkansas are basically must-wins at this point, as Ben Howland needs to lead his team back to a .500 record in SEC play. Anything less and the Bulldogs might have their tournament resume questioned by the selection committee.

10. Florida (12-11, 4-6, Last week: 10)

The Gators are 1-4 in their past five games, and they’ve seemingly played their way out of the NCAA Tournament picture. They have 3 games against ranked teams left — 2 vs. LSU and 1 vs. Kentucky — and will need to make the most of them.

Games against Vanderbilt and Alabama this week are must-wins, but if the Gators can get hot, they can make some noise in the SEC Tournament.

11. Texas A&M (9-13, 2-8, Last week: 12)

No, Mizzou wasn’t at full strength on Saturday (missing Jeremiah Tilmon, Mark Smith and, of course, Jontay Porter), and yes, the Aggies had to overcome a double-digit deficit, but road wins aren’t easy. Therefore, Billy Kennedy’s team deserves credit for getting the job done in Columbia.

Junior G Wendell Mitchell had a huge week, scoring 43 total points — 20 against Mizzou and 23 in a loss against Ole Miss. He’s not only a shooter, either, as you can see in the intense put-back dunk below:

https://twitter.com/SECNetwork/status/1094397698088804352

The Aggies have a home game against Georgia and a road trip to South Carolina this week. We’ll see what they can do to continue their climb out of the SEC cellar.

12. Mizzou (11-11, 2-8, Last week: 11)

The Tigers have now have 3 losses in SEC games in which they’ve led by double digits. That’s not a great stat for Cuonzo Martin’s team (more hard-hitting analysis for you).

Yes, the Tigers were without some key players (see above), but losses like that are unacceptable no matter who is out and who is available. A rivalry game against Arkansas in Columbia on Tuesday night should have the Tigers playing hard, but regardless of who is healthy, they can’t blow it again if they take a double-digit lead.

13. Georgia (10-13, 1-9, Last week: 13)

The Bulldogs have lost 4 consecutive games and haven’t looked particularly good while doing it, either. Their SEC losing streak has now reached 8, and frustrations seem to be boiling over in Athens.

A trip to Texas A&M on Tuesday should be more competitive than other recent contests, but the Bulldogs need to pick up a second SEC victory soon or else they might not win again.

14. Vanderbilt (9-14, 0-10, Last week: 14)

The Commodores have now lost 11 consecutive games, and even though they only lost by 3 at Arkansas earlier in the week, this team is still a long way from its first SEC victory. Games at Florida and at home against Auburn aren’t likely to lead to a win this week, either.

With a brutal schedule moving forward, the Commodores’ best chance to avoid a winless SEC campaign could be at Texas A&M on March 2. Crazier things have happened, though, so no team can take the Commodores for granted.