Alabama Basketball: Final SEC Preseason Power Rankings

• No. 4 – Alabama Crimson Tide – The Crimson Tide is absolutely a challenger to become the SEC’s best team. Nate Oats has done an outstanding job adding new talent. Jahvon Quinerly and Keon Ellis will be two of the league’s best.  With all the new players and the core group of returners, the Tide could become better than last season. Getting to that point may require some patience as newcomers and little-used returnees get their footing, while the team gels. The biggest, early contribution from a new player, should come from JD Davison.

Alabama basketball fans displeased with this prediction can note the respected Ken Pomeroy also currently ranks the Tide at No. 4 in the SEC.

• No. 5 – Auburn Tigers – The No. 5 through No. No. 8 teams are so close together, it is hard to separate them at all. Auburn gets a slight edge on the basis of former 5-Star, Jabari Smith Jr. Smith has the potential to be one of the best (maybe the best) big man in the league.
• No. 6 – Florida Gators – After losing Tre Mann and Scottie Lewis to the NBA, the Gators are likely to have a longer rebuild than the Crimson Tide. By January, they can be good enough to win games against top teams.
• No. 7 -Mississippi State Bulldogs – Ben Howland has his best offensive player back in Iverson Molinar. Howland improved his roster considerably through the transfer portal.
• No. 8 – LSU Bengal Tigers – The way Will Wade acquires players, LSU should be ranked in the top three. Wade’s main problem is he lost more production than any other SEC team.

The Bottom Tier of the SEC

• No. 9 – Ole Miss
• No. 10 – Texas A&M Aggies
• No. 11 – Vanderbilt Commodores
• No. 12 – Missouri Tigers
• No. 13 – South Carolina Gamecocks
• No. 14 – Georgia Bulldogs

Note: Much of the data in this post came from sports-reference.com.

On a scale of how sure am I about these predictions – I am sure Georgia will be the worst team in the league. For the other 13 teams, nothing will surprise me. For example, a road game at either Columbia will be a challenge.