SEC Power Rankings after Week 6 of the college basketball season
We have finally almost made it to the end of the 2023 non-conference slate of the college basketball season.
With conference play set to kick off as soon as the calendar flips to 2024, it is time to see where each team ranks in the SEC Power Rankings before they start “beating each other up” as Auburn coach Bruce Pearl would say.
It was a pretty fantastic week for most teams across the conference. Many programs claimed major Power 5 victories, while the rest of the SEC took care of business against lesser competition.
Here is where each team ranks in our penultimate 2023 Power Ranking.
Vanderbilt
Last Week: 0-1
Regular Season: 4-6
The Vanderbilt Commodores have a very low floor this season because of the lack of talent behind guard Ezra Manjon.
When Jerry Stackhouse’s team faces a solid opponent with a great defense, things aren’t going to go well more often than not.
That is exactly what happened against the Texas Tech Red Raiders this week in the USLBM Coast-to-Coast Challenge. Ezra Manjon was bottled up all night, scoring just 6 points.
The Commodores fell 76-54 in the contest, giving us a good glimpse of what to expect from this squad in SEC play.
LSU
Last Week: 1-1
Regular Season: 6-5
The LSU Tigers‘ 96-85 loss to the Texas Longhorns last week proved this team has just enough talent to compete with the better teams in the nation.
Unfortunately it took 33 points from guard Jordan Wright for the Tigers to even have a chance in this one.
LSU just isn’t that great of an overall basketball team. Jordan Wright and forward Will Baker are good enough to keep them competitive in most games, but the lack of depth behind those two makes the Tigers a non-threat in the SEC.
Arkansas
Last Week: 1-0
Regular Season: 7-4
Head coach Eric Musselman shouldn’t push the panic button just yet, but it may be getting close to disaster time for the Arkansas Razorbacks.
This team hasn’t looked all that impressive away from their win over a Duke team that is in shambles right now.
Arkansas has struggled to score outside of the backcourt of Tramon Mark and Khalif Battle. That hindrance almost led to them lose a home game against Lipscomb this week.
The Razorbacks managed to squek by with an unimpressive 3-point win, but they’ll need to clean up their play ahead of a grueling SEC schedule.
Georgia
Last Week: 1-0
Regular Season: 7-3
The Georgia Bulldogs have continued their strong start to the season.
Unfortunately UGA has yet to really play anybody so the 7-3 record falls isn’t much to get excited about.
The backcourt of Noah Thomasson and Jabri Abdur-Rahim is still accounting for 25 points per game, but don’t expect them to carry the Bulldogs to many major SEC wins.
Florida
Last Week: 1-0
Regular Season: 7-3
Florida’s start to the college basketball season has been a near carbon-copy of Georgia’s,
The only differences between the two squads right now are Florida seemingly has more talent and has lost their big games by closer margins (UVA by 3, Baylor by 5).
All five Florida starters are still averaging double figures, but this team is going to have to win some games as underdogs once SEC play starts if they hope to make a case for the NCAA Tournament.
Missouri
Last Week: 0-1
Regular Season: 7-4
Missouri had a great chance to pick up a solid win over Big East opponent Seton Hall this week.
The Tigers blew that chance.
Missouri is now 3-3 on the season against Power 5 teams and has a tough test coming up against highly-ranked Illinois.
If the Tigers can get a win over Terrance Shannon Jr. and the Fighting Illini they may have a chance to make some noise all year long.
South Carolina
Last Week: 1-0
Regular Season: 9-1
The South Carolina Gamecocks deserve some credit. This team has mostly beaten everyone in front of them.
The issue is, they aren’t doing it in convicing fashion.
Junior guard Meechie Johnson and senior forward B.J Mack have basically willed the Gamecocks to narrow victories over 2-win Depaul, 6-5 East Carolina, and mid-majors Charleston Southern and VMI.
South Carolina is talented, but they aren’t 9-1 talented. Don’t be fooled by the record.
Mississippi State
Last Week: 2-0
Regular Season: 9-2
Mississippi State is back to its winning ways after two straight losses to end November.
The Bulldogs narrowly escaped Murray State before beating down North Texas this week to extend their win streak to 3 games.
Josh Hubbard and Co. still haven’t played anybody of note, but an their next game in New Jersey against the 7-3 Rutgers Scarlet Knights should give us an indication of how good the Bulldogs actually are.
Alabama
Last Week: 0-1
Regular Season: 6-4
Close may count in Horseshoes and hand grenades. Unfortunately for the Alabama Crimson Tide, it doesn’t mean much in college basketball.
Nate Oats’ team once again proved it can beat anyone in the country this week by going toe-to-toe with top-10 team Creighton.
Alabama also proved again that they can’t get over the hump to secure a win, at least for now.
Mark Sears, Aaron Estrada, and Grant Nelson are arguably the best pure-scoring trio in the country, but them and the rest of the Crimson Tide need to figure out how to get stops on the defensive end if they hope to play deep into March.
Texas A&M
Last Week: 0-1
Regular Season: 7-4
Texas A&M has to be the most frustrating team in the SEC this season.
When the Aggies defend well, they struggle to score. When they score, they don’t defend.
It’s a cycle that needs to be broken if head coach Buzz Williams is going to take his team far into March. The good news for the Aggies?
They’ll have two “get-right” games to end the non-conference schedule against Houston Christian and Prairie View A&M before a nice warmup against LSU to open SEC play.
Auburn
Last Week: 2-0
Regular Season: 8-2
I’m not sure why the Auburn Tigers keep getting overlooked in the Coaches & AP Polls, but this team is really good.
The Tigers have played five Power 5 programs this season, three of whom made the NCAA Tournament last year.
They’ve gone 4-1 in those games, with the lone loss against the 9-1 Baylor Bears in the first game of the season. Auburn has an average margin of victory of 21 points in the other four.
The loss to Appalachian State is bad, but Bruce Pearl and the Auburn Tigers have been great besides that one slip up.
Tennessee Volunteers
Last Week: 2-0
Regular Season: 8-3
Tennessee has quietly won 4 games in a row since a 3-game losing streak against some of the top teams in the nation.
Dalton Knecht and Josiah-Jordan James continue to lead the way offensively for a team that prides itself on defense.
This team is back on track and should be a contender for a SEC crown once the season comes to a close.
Kentucky
Last Week: 1-0
Regular Season: 8-2
Kentucky jumps up a spot in the rankings this week after taking down the North Carolina Tar Heels in the CBS Sports Classic on Saturday.
Antonio Reeves, Rob Dillingham, and the rest the young Wildcats are as talented as anybody in the nation, but the question will continue to be if they can gel as a team and defend in time for tournament play.
If they can do that, the sky is the limit in Lexington.
Ole Miss
Last Week: 1-0
Regular Season 10-0
It is looking more and more likely that Chris Beard and the Ole Miss Rebels finish the non-conference portion of the season undefeated.
If they manage that, a .500 or better record in SEC play should make them a lock for the NCAA Tournament in March.
Unfortunately it is near impossible to predict how they’ll fair in the SEC because of a laughably soft out of conference schedule.
