Who will win the SEC basketball championship? USA TODAY Sports Network experts predict
Tennessee has one regular-season SEC basketball championship under coach Rick Barnes. A poll of experts who cover the league for the USA TODAY Sports Network project the Volunteers will add another come the end of the 2023-24 regular season.
Tennessee finished in a three-way tie for fourth (alongside Missouri and Vanderbilt) in the regular-season standings in 2022-23, posting an 11-7 record. The Volunteers went 25-11 overall and reached the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament.
Alabama won both the regular-season and SEC Tournament titles last season.
Eight SEC teams made the NCAA Tournament field last season, tied with the Big Ten for most bids by one league. Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Missouri and Texas A&M joined Tennessee as the SEC's representatives. Two more teams from the conference, Florida and Vanderbilt, participated in the NIT.
Here is the predicted order of finish for the coming season by the USA TODAY Sports Network's panel of 13 experts:
Tennessee (8 first-place votes)
Texas A&M (3 first-place votes)
Arkansas (1 first-place vote)
Kentucky (1 first-place vote)
Alabama
Auburn
Missouri
Florida
Mississippi State
Vanderbilt
Ole Miss
Georgia
LSU
South Carolina
Poll participants: Emily Adams, Greenville News; Ryan Black, The Courier Journal; Kevin Brockway, Gainesville Sun; David Eckert, Clarion Ledger; Jackson Fuller, Southwest Times Record; Aria Gerson, Tennessean; Nick Kelly, Tuscaloosa News; Stefan Krajisnik, Clarion Ledger; Calum McAndrew, Columbia Daily Tribune; Koki Riley, Daily Advertiser; Richard Silva, Montgomery Advertiser; Marc Weiszer, Athens Banner-Herald; Mike Wilson, Knoxville News Sentinel.
More: All-SEC 2023-24 preseason basketball team and awards from USA TODAY Sports Network experts
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: SEC basketball: Order of finish projected by USA TODAY Sports Network
