By Chris Marler
If January was a gauntlet for SEC basketball then February is about to be the Thunder Dome. It’s the halfway point for conference play and every team in the league is set to play at least half of their remaining games against AP Ranked opponents. Read that again.
There are 14 SEC teams in the top 50 NET Rankings and 13 teams projected to make the NCAA Tournament. When the AP Rankings come out, the league should have no less than half its teams ranked in the Top 25. All those accolades pale in comparison to our weekly SEC Power Rankings. With that being said, here are this week’s SEC Basketball Power Rankings.
Starting Five
- Auburn
Auburn is up to 12 Quad 1 wins this season. That’s still the most of any team in the country and more than double 361 of the 364 remaining teams. There are almost no words to describe just how impressively dominant that is. It’s only February and there’s a lot of season left, but right now this Auburn team is on a historical pace to be one of the best teams, if not the best team, in SEC history.
- Alabama
Alabama got back to doing what they do best, lighting up the scoreboard and running teams out of the gym. They went undefeated with wins over Mississippi State on the road and Georgia at home. They lead the nation in scoring with over 90 points per game and have wins over seven ranked teams this season. They are also 14-3 in games against Quad 1 and Quad 2 opponents, combined.
- Missouri
Missouri was a really fun and cute story a few weeks ago. A team that went 0-18 in conference play a season ago turning things around. When they ended their losing streak in SEC play to LSU, it felt like a great redemption moment. Not a story, a moment. It was cute. It’s not cute anymore.
It’s time to talk about Missouri as one of the best teams in the conference. Yes, they have two losses in conference play including a double digit blowout at the hands of Auburn. However, they also have two of the most impressive wins of any team in the league with road wins at Florida and Mississippi State.
- Tennessee
Tennessee is a rubik’s cube. They are asking a significant other what they want for dinner. Tennessee is an enigma plain and simple. The Vols destroyed Florida on Saturday. The Vols lost to the Gators by 30 a month ago. It was the third largest loss by a No. 1 team in the last 75 years.
Fast forward to Saturday when they welcomed the Gators to Knoxville and dominated them from start to finish. The Vols won by 20, but it’s what they did to Florida that was most impressive. The Gators hadn’t scored less than 70 points in a game all season. Tennessee held them to 44.
- Florida
A week ago the Gators were No. 2 on this list. They are still one of the best teams in the conference and one of the most dangerous teams in the country. However, it’s hard to have them higher on this list considering the other teams in the top five both beat them. Florida will be fine and rebound from the humiliating loss to Tennessee on Saturday.
However, being held to 44 points has to be a concern and a blow to the confidence this team had prior to their trip to Rocky Top.
The Bench
- Texas A&M
- Kentucky
- Ole Miss
- Vanderbilt
- Mississippi State
- Texas
- Oklahoma
- Arkansas
- Georgia
- South Carolina
- LSU
