The SEC basketball conference season begins on Jan. 3 with Alabama Basketball hosting the Kentucky Wildcats at 11:00 AM CST. Based on pre-conference play, eight SEC basketball teams are in contention as the league's best. Based on the rankings below, only six, and maybe just five, are legit contenders to be the SEC's best.
The current buzz nationally is that the SEC is down this season. ESPN's BPI has no SEC teams in its top 10. Florida is No. 12 in the BPI, followed by Vanderbilt at No. 13, Tennessee at No. 14, Kentucky at No. 16, and the Alabama Crimson Tide at No. 18.
The surprising Vanderbilt Commodores are currently Ken Pomeroy's highest-ranked SEC team. The Dores are undefeated and will host the Crimson Tide in Alabama's second SEC game. Pomeroy has Vandy ranked No. 8 nationally, with Florida No. 12, Tennessee No. 15, Alabama No. 17, and Kentucky No. 19.
KPom has the Alabama basketball offense ranked No. 3, and the Crimson Tide defense ranked No. 68. Based on KPom's ratings, Vanderbilt has the SEC's most balanced team at No. 8 offensively and No. 14 defensively.
Early SEC Basketball Power Ranking of top teams
- No. 1 - Vanderbilt Commodores (13-0) - The Commodores have three of the SEC's top 18 scorers. No other SEC team has more than two. The best Vandy win was a 96-71 blowout of St. Mary's.
- No. 2 - Florida Gators (9-4) - The Gators lost to UConn and Duke by a total of five points. The best Florida win is 82-68 over Miami.
- No. 3 - Tennessee Vols (9-3) - Tennessee has a 76-73 win over Houston and an 83-62 win over Louisville. They lost to Illinois 75-62. The Vols have one more non-conference game on Dec. 30. They will win easily.
- No. 4 - Alabama Crimson Tide (10-3) -Alabama's defense and rebounding must improve. The best win is 90-86 over Illinois. The bad, 96-75 loss to Arizona cannot be ignored.
- No. 5 - Kentucky Wildcats (9-4) - The Cats spent massively on a mediocre shooting team. Some Kentucky fans have turned on Mark Pope, but not all the cash was wasted. After being blown out by Gonzaga 94-59, UK has won four straight and is improving.
- No. 6 - Arkansas Razorbacks (10-3) - The Hogs have two good wins against Louisville and Texas Tech and no bad losses.
- No. 7 - Georgia Bulldogs (12-1) - The one loss came in overtime against Clemson. Georgia has zero good wins from its weak non-conference schedule.
- No. 8 - LSU Tigers (12-1) - Like the Bulldogs, the Bengal Tigers have zero good wins. Auburn, with its 8-4 record and multiple embarrassing losses, might be better than LSU.