By midweek, the SEC regular season will be one-third complete for 12 SEC basketball teams. The other four teams will not play their sixth SEC game until Saturday Jan. 25.
It is too early to predict which team will win the SEC regular season title. But, it is not too early to start grouping all 16 teams based on each team's chance to become the SEC Champion.
The following groupings are subjective, but not without considering data. Five sources for Team Rankings (or Ratings) are used and averaged for each team. The five sources are the NCAA NET, ESPN's BPI, Ken Pomeroy, Evan Miya, and Kevin Pauga's KPI.
SEC Basketball Regular Season Champion Contenders
- Auburn Tigers (17-1 and 5-0 in SEC) Average national ranking is No. 2 (1.8). Joe Lunardi's NCAA Tournament bracket projection has the Tigers as a 1-seed
- Alabama Crimson Tide (15-3 and 4-1) Average ranking is No. 6; projected by Lunardi as a Big Dance 1-seed
- Tennessee Vols (16-2 and 3-2) Average ranking is No. 7 (6.8); projected by Lunardi as a 2-seed
- Florida Gators (16-2 and 3-2) Average ranking is No. 8 (7.8); NCAA 2-seed
- Kentucky Wildcats (14-4 and 3-2) Average ranking is No. 16 (16.4); NCAA 3-seed
- Ole Miss Rebels (15-3 and 4-1) Average ranking No. 16 (16.4); no updated NCAA seeding after Saturday night's loss to Mississippi State