SEC Basketball: Power Ranking Every Team as Conference Play Approaches

Say what you will about the SEC, but the conference might produce a pair of national champions this season.

Alabama is just weeks away from participating in the inaugural College Football Playoff, and the Kentucky Wildcats will enter conference play looking like a team that has the goods to cut down the nets at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis next year.

The Wildcats are obviously the class of the field and locks to make the field of 68, but what about the rest?

Arkansas and LSU have the look of teams ready to break through, and Florida has shown signs of righting the ship after navigating a difficult nonconference slate.

The beautiful thing about the SEC this season is its unpredictability. It's Kentucky and then everyone else, which should provide some excitement as second-tier teams compete for spots at the table. 

Here we take a look at all that's gone right and wrong for each team heading into January and try to figure out if things will get better or worse.

These are your power rankings for the Southeastern Conference!

14. Mississippi State Bulldogs (5-5)

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What's Gone Right This Season

The Bulldogs got off to a hot start, winning their first five games including a 25-point thrashing of Saint Louis.

A trio of upperclassmen, Roquez Johnson, Fred Thomas and Gavin Ware, have upped their scoring averages, picking up the slack for Craig Sword, who led the team a year ago. The Wildcats' rebounding, a dismal 225th in the nation a season ago, has substantially improved.

What's Gone Wrong This Season

Since starting 5-0, pretty much nothing has gone right for a team that returned all five starters.

Five consecutive losses, punctuated by home defeats to Arkansas State and USC Upstate, show this team is already well ahead of last season's futile pace.

Sword, last year's leading scorer at just under 14 points per game, missed the first four games due to injury. He was finally cleared before the Bulldogs faced Saint Louis, but he's averaging a pedestrian 1.8 points in just 14 minutes per game since.

Movement Potential

The key was to get off to a quick start in nonconference play, like last year, and try and hang around with a few quality wins in the SEC to get back on the right side of .500. Losing at home to Arkansas State and USC Upstate—in all fairness a dangerous squad—isn't a good way to accomplish that goal.

Sword’s underwhelming return, combined with struggling big men Fallou Ndoye and Oliver Brown, who were expected to be building blocks down low, make Mississippi State a team likely to hang around the bottom of the conference again. Another long season lies ahead.

13. Missouri Tigers (5-6)

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What's Gone Right This Season

Jakeenan Gant was finally cleared to join the Tigers in mid-December, joining a team desperately in need of an offensive boost.

The freshman forward, ranked No. 52 in this season's incoming class by Rivals.com (h/t The Kansas City Star), made his season debut against Xavier, scoring 13 points in a loss. He's not the entire solution for a team that's 0-5 against the RPI top 100 in nonconference play, but he's a start.

What's Gone Wrong This Season

Where do we begin?

The Tigers season got off to disastrous start with a 69-61 home loss to in-state Missouri-Kansas City, and things have hardly gotten better.

Double-digit losses to Purdue, Oklahoma and Xavier have many people wondering when the Missouri that was supposed to give the SEC another basketball power is going to show up. A close, last-second loss to Illinois over the weekend definitely won't help this team regain its mojo.

Movement Potential

Mizzou just isn't a very good offensive team right now after losing both Jabari Brown and Jordan Clarkson.

Coach Kim Anderson was hired last spring to change the team mindset, emphasizing defense over offense. Neither is working particularly well right now, with the Tigers down around the 200s in the nation in both scoring offense and defense.

The Tigers miss a ton of shots from inside the paint, something you'd figured should improve, and lots of players are still trying to find their way in a new system with new roles. They'll get better, but the program's run of 20-plus-win seasons will end.

12. Auburn Tigers (5-5)

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What's Gone Right This Season

The Tigers got their new coach Bruce Pearl an emotional first win, coming from behind to take down Milwaukee, which he led to the NCAA tournament in 2003 and 2005, on opening night.

Auburn has a couple of quality wins. It beat a pretty solid Oregon State team in the consolation game of the MGM Grand Main Event tournament in Las Vegas and came from 13 down at the half to beat Xavier 89-88 in double overtime. 

What's Gone Wrong This Season

Pretty much everything else.

The Tigers don't shoot (.417 percent from the field) or rebound (250th in the nation) effectively, a terrible combination for a team trying to improve on last year's 14-16 campaign. 

Senior guard Antoine Mason has missed six games already due to injury, including losses at home to Coastal Carolina and a dismal 35-point defeat to Tulsa, where the team shot 2-of-22 from behind the arc.

Movement Potential

Auburn could move up the SEC standings, but contending in the conference or for a tournament bid is definitely out of reach this season.

The Tigers have a couple of nice pieces, including leading scorer K.T. Harrell and Mason, who can each give you 20-plus a night. That could make them a dangerous out down the stretch, but they're a work-in-progress team, as expected.

The addition of freshman center Trayvon Reed, who earlier this month was cleared to join the team after settling a criminal matter that cost him his spot at Maryland, will provide some much-needed size and a player to watch develop as the season goes along.

11. Tennessee Volunteers (6-4)

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What's Gone Right This Season

All things considered, it hasn’t been a bad start for the Volunteers.

New head coach Donnie Tyndall took over the team from Cuonzo Martin, who took the job at Cal, and had to cobble together a roster left without any of the stars from last season’s Sweet 16 appearance.

The Volunteers own a couple of quality nonconference wins, including a nice one-point victory over No. 23 Butler at home, and don’t have anything you’d consider a really bad loss.

What's Gone Wrong This Season

Growing pains.

It’s hard for a team like Tennessee to lose Jordan McRae, Jeronne Maymon and Jarnell Stokes and not take a step back.

The Vols' lack of interior presence and size has really limited them this season. Without those two wide-bodied bangers in the paint, Tyndall’s club, a top-10 rebounding team a season ago, has plummeted to the depths, currently ranking 270th in the nation at grabbing boards.

Movement Potential 

The Butler win leaves you optimistic, but the life-and-death struggle against Tennessee Tech this past weekend brings you back to reality.

Josh Richardson has really upped his game, averaging 16.9 points per game after contributing just over 10 last season, and JUCO-transfer Kevin Punter has helped him by easing the scoring burden. Then you have a bunch of young, unproven players fighting for minutes.

It’s going to be a very up-and-down season in Knoxville. There’s just no way around it.

10. Vanderbilt Commodores (8-3)

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What's Gone Right This Season

Vandy has exceeded expectations in the early going.

Riley LaChance's emergence as a true perimeter threat has given the Commodores a strong inside-outside threat with returning SEC All-Freshman center Damian Jones. The two are a big part of why Vandy is the only SEC team shooting above 50 percent from the field.

They played well in their toughest non-conference games, taking down Purdue by 10 at home and losing a narrow one on the road at Georgia Tech that they should've won.

What's Gone Wrong This Season

The Commodores are still jelling as a unit and finding their identity on the court. They obviously have a ton of young talent—Wade Baldwin and Shelton Mitchell were highly touted recruits for coach Kevin Stallings—but developing a winning attitude takes time. 

They dominated every offensive category against Georgia Tech but still dropped a heartbreaking five-point game. Their defense has been a bit suspect at times, and they have to work on maintaining consistent energy and hustle down the stretch in close games.

Movement Potential 

Are the Commodores ahead of schedule, or have they just beaten up on a bunch of softies?

The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. This team is built for the future, but there's nothing that says they won't be competitive in a down SEC this year as well.

If LaChance and Jones can maintain consistent production and either Baldwin or Mitchell can up his game, Vandy could find itself in the upper half of the conference a year early.

9. Georgia Bulldogs (6-3)

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What's Gone Right This Season

The Bulldogs returned all five leading scorers from a 20-win team last season and play like a veteran group that likes to run in transition and can rebound. 

Kenny Gaines has improved his shooting touch despite being hobbled in an early December win over Colorado, and the Bulldogs impressively dominated a talented Seton Hall team on Sunday night.

The Bulldogs had fresher legs, having been off the court for two weeks since their last game, as they outrebounded the Pirates by 19 and outscored them 16-0 on the fast break.

What's Gone Wrong This Season

Losses to in-state rival Georgia Tech and No. 8 Gonzaga are forgivable. You can't even really fault the Bulldogs for dropping a close one in the NIT Season Tip-Off against Richard Pitino's Minnesota.

Where Georgia is weak is from behind the arc. It doesn't shoot the three well at all—30.9 percent from the outside to be exact—and struggled badly from long range in all its losses, two of which were close, winnable games.

Movement Potential 

This is going to sound like a cop-out, but whether or not the Bulldogs can move up or down has yet to be determined. They just haven't played enough yet or with enough consistency to get a real feel. The Seton Hall win makes us feel good, but let's wait just a bit longer.

The next couple of weeks will be crucial for Mark Fox and his team. They travel to Kansas State on New Year's Eve and open up conference play at home against Arkansas before traveling to LSU and Vanderbilt.

8. South Carolina Gamecocks (7-3)

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What's Gone Right This Season

Frank Martin's Gamecocks shellacked previously unbeaten Oklahoma State, holding the Cowboys under 25 percent from the field in a 75-49 pasting on Dec. 6. A rivalry-win blowout over Clemson, which only scored 17 second-half points, gives the team bragging rights.

South Carolina is one of the best rebounding teams in the country to this point in the season, averaging over 41 boards a contest, and it gets quality contributions from everyone in the rotation. Of the nine players who see significant minutes, all average between five and 13 points per game.

What's Gone Wrong This Season

If you're going to run over Oklahoma State by 26 points, is it too much to ask that you don't lose back-to-back neutral-site games—both in Charleston, South Carolina, so not exactly the most neutral of sites—to Charlotte and Akron?

Senior guard Tyrone Johnson averaged double digits last year before suffering a season-ending foot injury. He's dropping just a shade under nine per game this season, a number that, should it not improve, would be disappointing.

Movement Potential

The Oklahoma State win is easily one of the most impressive nonconference wins from an SEC team this season and shows this team has some potential.

With just 14 wins in each of his two seasons in Columbia after a successful stint at Kansas State, the pressure is on Martin to improve. We should know pretty early in the new year whether this team can be a mover when it faces Iowa State on Jan. 3 at the Barclays Center and then hosts Florida four days later.

7. Texas A&M Aggies (7-3)

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What's Gone Right This Season

The Aggies have gotten a bunch of production out of a couple of transfers from in-state schools.

Jalen Jones, who missed last season after coming over from SMU, and Danuel House, granted an unorthodox transfer waiver earlier this season after leaving Houston, are A&M’s leading scorers in their first seasons with the program.

A win over New Mexico is the best thing on the Aggies resume to this point. The Lobos lost their three leading scorers from a season ago but still figure to be competitive in the Mountain West Conference.

What's Gone Wrong This Season

Call it revenge of the Big 12.

The Aggies had chances to get signature wins at Baylor and in Kansas City, Missouri, against Kansas State, but they failed both times.

Free-throw shooting was a problem in both of those games—The Aggies missed a combined 16 shots from the stripe—and has been all season. A&M currently ranks 319th in the nation at just over 62 percent from the line. That needs to get better.

Movement Potential 

Beating Kansas State would've provided a big confidence boost for the team and helped assuage the critics. 

As it stands, the Aggies remain something of a wild card. They shoot the ball pretty well but need to do a better job of cleaning up the boards once the money games begin in January. While not entirely sold on them, we shouldn't dismiss them, either. 

Let's talk after they visit Tuscaloosa on Jan. 6. Four days later looms a visit from Kentucky to College Station, and then we should have a better idea.

6. Alabama Crimson Tide (8-3)

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What's Gone Right This Season

Alabama didn’t win a single game on the road last season but came really close last week against one of the best teams in the nation.

The Crimson Tide led No. 11 Wichita State by 11 points with 5:50 remaining but couldn’t finish the deal. You can take the glass-half-empty approach to that, or you can give the team credit for playing well in such a hostile environment against an elite team.

Alabama’s best win came in the third-place game of the CBE Classic against Arizona State.

What's Gone Wrong This Season

You can't really complain about an 8-3 record, but wow, the Tide must look at the Wichita State film and see one that got away. That's the type of win that changes everything, and it was right there in front of them for the taking.

The Shockers' late-game ball pressure and Alabama's lack of a clutch ball-handler were decisive. Four turnovers capped a string of seven straight empty possessions late in the game, extending the Shockers' home winning streak and breaking Alabama's heart.

Movement Potential 

None of Alabama's losses are inexcusable, but none of its wins jump off the page, either. 

Levi Randolph and Shannon Hale, a pair of holdovers from last year's squad, have been solid, but the Tide will need more production from their new faces to move out of the conference's middle tier.

Tulane transfer point guard Ricky Tarrant needs to get back into the flow when it comes to distributing the ball. He's averaging about half as many assists per game as he did with the Green Wave.

5. Ole Miss Rebels (8-3)

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What's Gone Right This Season

The Rebels have a trio of extremely impressive nonconference scalps.

They won the inaugural Emerald Coast Classic in Florida with wins on consecutive nights over then-No. 23 Creighton and Cincinnati, following that up with a road win at Oregon a little over a week later.

Transfer guard Stefan Moody—a former Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year at Florida Atlantic—has stepped right in to lead the team in scoring at just under 15 points a night.

What's Gone Wrong This Season

You’d have thought the season was over if you measured the mood in Oxford after a season-opening home loss to Charleston Southern.

That was bad. Real bad.

The Rebels need to do a better job defending their home floor. All three of their losses—Charleston Southern, TCU and Western Kentucky—have come at C.M. Tad Smith Coliseum; they should’ve won all of those games, on paper at least.

Movement Potential 

It's really going to come down to whether or not Jarvis Summers can solve his shooting woes and lead this team in conference play. The Marshall Henderson era is over, but Summers was expected to help keep the Rebels afloat, and instead he's gone the other direction.

His scoring average has dropped over five points per game from a season ago, and his field-goal numbers look even worse (just under 34 percent this year as opposed to nearly 50 percent last year).

Summers has been just plain awful in the Rebels' three losses. If he gets on track, Ole Miss should contend for a postseason berth.

4. Florida Gators (7-4)

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What's Gone Right This Season

The Gators graduated a ton of talent from a team that went undefeated in the SEC last season, so a bit of an adjustment period was to be expected.

Dorian Finney-Smith and Michael Frazier Jr. have stepped into the void and shown flashes of a solid inside-outside combination. Both have significantly upped their scoring averages from a season ago, and Frazier remains dangerous behind the arc.

KenPom ranks the Gators, one of the most maligned teams in the nation, No. 14 in the latest rankings, so everyone can relax just a bit.

What's Gone Wrong This Season

Close games have killed Billy Donovan’s club.

The Gators were a senior-dominated team a season ago, and those kids knew how make the plays down the stretch in close games to secure the win. With the exception of a double-digit loss to an angry North Carolina team, Florida has lost its other three games by a combined nine points against solid opposition.

Movement Potential

Florida has won its last four games—yes, against mostly cupcakes—and has shown it has room for growth, particularly on the offensive end.

Finney-Smith has found his game after being hobbled with injuries in the early going, and Frazier is lighting it up from three. Kasey Hill is distributing the ball better, as is Chris Walker.

Walker came to Gainesville last year with a huge amount of hype and expectations that he’s struggled to meet. He hasn’t found consistency or earned his coach’s trust yet this season, but if he puts it all together, this could be a very dangerous team in the new year.

3. Arkansas Razorbacks (9-2)

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What's Gone Right This Season

The Razorbacks have taken care of business at home, winning all seven of their contests in the friendly confines of Bud Walton Arena, building their success on distributing the ball effectively and putting up a ton of points.

Bobby Portis is a stud, averaging over 16 points and seven boards a game for a team with wins at SMU and over a Dayton team that returned two of its three leading scorers from last season’s Elite Eight squad.

What's Gone Wrong This Season

Arkansas got thumped in a visit to No. 13 Iowa State early in December, following that up with a second consecutive defeat three days later against Clemson.

Losing to the Cyclones in Ames is certainly forgivable, but the Tigers are average and came into the contest just days removed from blowing a lead in the closing minutes and losing at home to Rutgers.

Movement Potential 

With the SEC seemingly destined to be a three-bid league this season—four if they really push it—the Razorbacks are definite contenders for the title of best team not named Kentucky, which should mean a tourney berth.

With Portis leading an explosive offensive attack and a quality road win already in its pocket, you can expect Arkansas to be in the mix for 20-plus wins and a trip to March Madness for the first time since 2007-08.

2. LSU Tigers (9-2)

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What's Gone Right This Season

LSU has won nine of its first 11 games, including a quality 74-73 road win over No. 22 West Virginia. The Tigers have a pair of young big men, Jarell Martin and Jordan Mickey, averaging just under a double-double per game on one of the nation’s best rebounding teams.

What's Gone Wrong This Season

A 90-81 home loss to Old Dominion in the third game of the season doesn’t look nearly as bad now, but on the flip side, a road loss to Clemson does.

Clemson took it on the chin against in-state rival South Carolina last week, losing by 23 on the road, and has also fallen to Winthrop, Gardner-Webb and Rutgers.

Movement Potential 

Outside of Kentucky, you’re not going to find a better frontcourt in the SEC. Martin and Mickey have done a great job handling the scoring load left by the departure of Johnny O’Bryant to the NBA, and a trio of guards can knock down shots from the perimeter to add another offensive dimension.

The Tigers are a team on the rise, but depth could be an issue. They get double-digit scoring from each of their five starters on a nightly basis, but nobody else on the team averages more than three points. An injury, particularly to one of the big guys, could be devastating.

Right now, this is a tournament team.

1. Kentucky Wildcats (12-0)

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What's Gone Right This Season

Led by Wooden Award contender Willie Cauley-Stein, Kentucky has been the most dominant team in the nation over the first five weeks of the college basketball season. Nobody else even comes close.

The Wildcats have speed, strength, size and an almost unfair amount of depth. John Calipari’s team is so loaded with talent that he’s employed a unique platoon system, subbing in and out every player on the floor most times, without any significant drop-off in production.

Kentucky has won all its games by double digits (average margin of victory 29.08 points) including a 32-point thrashing of then-No. 5 Kansas in the Champions Classic and a 39-point demolition of UCLA, where it limited the Bruins to just seven first-half points.

What's Gone Wrong This Season

The loss of junior forward Alex Poythress for the year to an ACL tear in his left knee put a huge damper on the Wildcats' season. Not that you ever want to see a player go down, but the injury happening during routine practice makes it just a little harder to swallow.

Poythress was a huge part of Calipari’s blue platoon unit—the first group to take the floor—and his loss is going to take time to measure. This is an extremely talented but young bunch, and come crunch time we’ll see if the team misses his veteran leadership.

Movement Potential

Well, given the Wildcats are the undisputed class of their conference and the No. 1 team in the nation, you'd have to expect nowhere to go but down, right? 

But that's the wrong question. The real question is: Can anyone stop them?

The Wildcats face a huge challenge to close out their nonconference schedule, visiting in-state rival No. 4 Louisville on Dec. 27, but a win there could position them to enter March Madness with a perfect, undefeated record.

And the scary part is: They're only going to get better.