The Alabama Crimson Tide prevailed in Baton Rouge on Saturday, but the SEC road was not so kind to other top SEC teams. Tennessee lost to Texas A&M in College Station, 85-69. Auburn also took a thumping, losing to Florida in Gainesville, 81-65.
As expected, South Carolina had an easy time with Vanderbilt in Columbia, winning 75-60. The Crimson Tide and the Gamecocks now lead the SEC regular season standings with 9-2 SEC records. Some Bama fans may think Alabama leads the SEC standing because the Crimson Tide beat South Carolina earlier in the season. But those head to head to matchups only factor in SEC Tournament seeding. Check out the current SEC standings based on Saturday's results.
Current SEC Standings
- Alabama Crimson Tide 9-2 (17-7 overall)
- South Carolina Gamecocks 9-2 (21-3)
- Auburn Tigers 8-3 (19-5)
- Tennessee Volunteers 7-3 (17-6)
- Florida Gators 6-4 (16-7)
- Kentucky Wildcats 6-4 (16-7) - The Cats hosted Gonzaga on Saturday and suffered their third consecutive loss in Rupp Arena.
- Texas A&M Aggies 6-4 (15-8)
- Ole Miss Rebels 5-5 (18-5)
- Mississippi State 5-6 (16-8)
- LSU Bengal Tigers (4-6) (12-11)
- Georgia Bulldogs 4-7 (14-10)
- Arkansas Razorbacks 3-7 (12-11)
- Vanderbilt Commodores 1-9 (6-17)
- Missouri Tigers 0-11 (8-16)
The new NCAA NET ranking will be released on Sunday. Ken Pomeroy's national ratings have already been updated. At the top of the KenPom for the SEC is Auburn at No. 5, followed by Alabama at No. 6 and Tennessee at No. 7. The next highest-ranked SEc teams are Florida at No. 26 and Kentucky at No. 27. Mississippi State is No. 34; Texas A&M is No. 38; Ole Miss is No. 60; Georgia is No. 84; LSU is No. 86; Arkansas is No. 117; Missouri is No. 143 and the Vanderbilt Commodores lag far behind at No. 212.
Will the Alabama Crimson Tide win the SEC?
Ken Pomeroy projects no SEC team will win the regular season title outright. Warren Nolan has Alabama finishing at 15-3 and edging the 14-4, Auburn Tigers and the Tennessee Vols for the SEC Regular Season Championship. According to Nolan's calculation, the Crimson Tide's third SEC loss will be by one point against Kentucky in Lexington.
The Crimson Tide gets a respite with no midweek game. Next up for Alabama is Texas A&M, in Tuscaloosa on Feb. 17. The Aggies' win over Tennessee was no fluke. They have won five of their last six SEC games, after starting the conference schedule 1-3.