{"id":464939,"date":"2025-12-10T14:09:14","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T14:09:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/464939\/"},"modified":"2025-12-10T14:09:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T14:09:14","slug":"college-basketball-sec-rankings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/464939\/","title":{"rendered":"College Basketball SEC Rankings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last year, the SEC set what may go down as an unbreakable record \u2013 they put 14 teams into the NCAA Tournament. Given the results in non-conference play this season, particularly the ACC\/SEC Challenge, I don\u2019t think that\u2019s going to be a possibility this season. But they could still end up as the best conference in the land when everything is said and done.<\/p>\n

NCAA Basketball: SEC Rankings
\n1. Alabama
\n\"\"Photo Credit: David Leong-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

I give so much credit to Nate Oats for playing the non-conference schedule that he has played. Alabama has taken on St. John\u2019s, Purdue, Illinois, Maryland, and Clemson, and still has to play Arizona and South Florida. The crazy part is that this team has rarely been at full strength \u2013 they\u2019ve dealt with multiple injuries, and they legitimately go 10 deep.<\/p>\n

2. Vanderbilt
\n\"\"Photo Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

I know, right? Who would have thought back in October that Vanderbilt would be the highest-ranked SEC team in the AP poll at the start of December? Certainly not me. But credit to Mark Byington \u2013 he\u2019s gotten a lot of players to play the best ball of their career, whether that career started at Vanderbilt or anywhere else.<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re done here, check out the top NBA prospects<\/a> that played in the 2025 ACC\/SEC Challenge!<\/p>\n

3. Tennessee
\n\"\"Photo Credit: Rich Barnes-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

I really like freshman Nate Ament, but he\u2019s showing a discouraging trend. He\u2019s playing considerably worse against good competition than he was at the start of the season against Quadrant 3 and 4 opponents. It\u2019s concerning because there are no Quad 3 or 4 opponents in SEC play, and Ament getting right would make this team a legitimate Final Four contender.<\/p>\n

4. Florida<\/p>\n

\"Boogie<\/p>\n

The Gators are still the defending champs and boast one of the best and deepest frontcourt units in the country, but this team has a guard problem right now. They are going to have to get more out of Xaivian Lee and Boogie Fland if they want to repeat as National Champions.<\/p>\n

5. Arkansas
\n\"\"Photo Credit: Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

John Calipari\u2019s Razorbacks are feeling a lot like his Kentucky teams used to. They have played a very difficult non-conference schedule and have represented themselves fairly well. If the freshman class, including Acuff and Thomas, continues to develop, they may make it back to the Sweet Sixteen and even further.<\/p>\n

6. Auburn
\n\"\"Photo Credit: John Reed-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

It has been a fairly rough start for Steven Pearl in his first season as Auburn Head Coach. They\u2019ve played an incredibly difficult schedule, and it won\u2019t get any easier in SEC play. Still, the pieces are there for a great season \u2013 Keyshawn Hall is playing great, and Kamari Murphy is a problem. They need Tahaad Pettiford to start playing like 2024-2025 Tahaad Pettiford.<\/p>\n

7. Georgia
\n\"\"Photo Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The Bulldogs have been a pleasant surprise to start the season, as no one has beaten them over 40 minutes of basketball to this point. Jeremiah Wilkinson has been a revelation, and Blue Cain is showing the country that he is more than just a shooter. Look out for the Bulldogs.<\/p>\n

8. Kentucky<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It goes to show just how high the standard is for Kentucky that they are considered one of the biggest disappointments in the entire country, but still projected to finish in the top half of this league. Yes, Mark Pope\u2019s group has disappointed, but they\u2019ve dealt with a ton of injuries and just reek of a team that hasn\u2019t practiced together all that much. Give it time.<\/p>\n

9. Ole Miss
\n\"\"Photo Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The Rebels sit here in the 9 spot \u2013 for now. They are currently in the midst of a four-game slide, but every game was competitive and none of which were bad losses. International recruit Ilias Kamardine has been carrying the offense, and it will be interesting to see what he does over the course of the season<\/p>\n

10. Texas
\n\"\"Photo Credit: Dustin Safranek-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Man, the bottom half of the SEC really does not have a lot of quality non-conference wins. The best one? It might be Texas\u2019 win over NC State in Maui. But Sean Miller\u2019s roster construction certainly has some questions \u2013 this team lacks a true point guard. Yet, they rarely turn it over. Will this haunt them in SEC play?<\/p>\n

For more great college basketball analysis, check out DrRoto.com<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last year, the SEC set what may go down as an unbreakable record \u2013 they put 14 teams…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":464940,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3723],"tags":[7998,598,1398,7,217,950,6721,3075,231,772,1544,9345,1797,2398,20705],"class_list":{"0":"post-464939","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-basketball","8":"tag-alabama-crimson-tide","9":"tag-arkansas-razorbacks","10":"tag-auburn-tigers","11":"tag-basketball","12":"tag-college-basketball","13":"tag-florida-gators","14":"tag-georgia-bulldogs","15":"tag-kentucky-wildcats","16":"tag-ncaa","17":"tag-ncaa-basketball","18":"tag-ncaab","19":"tag-ole-miss-rebels","20":"tag-tennessee-volunteers","21":"tag-texas-longhorns","22":"tag-vanderbilt-commodores"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464939\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/464940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}