2023-24 SEC Basketball Power Rankings: Week 10

George Bagwell gives his SEC basketball power rankings heading into week 10 of the 2023 season.

Matchup of the week: #16 Auburn vs. Texas A&M 

Sneaky good matchup of the week: Georgia vs. #5 Tennessee 

All games listed are EST.

We are so back. Love you, SEC basketball. All the excitement has returned, and the new year brings new hope to a few programs (LSU, South Carolina, Georgia, Auburn, and others), glued feet for some (Mississippi State, Missouri, Vanderbilt, and others), a head-scratching result for another (Aggies), and man-made horrors beyond human comprehension for one special team (Arkansas).

I’m partial to the new hope, but y’all do y’all. We finally get a new team in the #1 spot, but no guarantees on how long they’ll stay there. My guess is two weeks, but we’ll see. By chance, does anyone else remember last time Mike White played a top-6 Tennessee team as an unranked team at home in mid-January in the midst of a waxing crescent lunar cycle with a Nigerian center, an underclassman guard from Knoxville, after playing a true road game against Leonard Hamilton in the non-conference slate and immediately following a game in which a previous mid-major transfer led the team in scoring? I remember. For those that don’t want to click on the link, they won 75-49. Fun fact, three of those players from that Florida team are literally still playing college basketball. It’s 2024. But I digress, as I always do. 

The best part about the first week of SEC basketball? The second week of SEC basketball! I am so excited, SEC Basketball Power Rankings family. We are entering a week in which every team plays twice! This is like being a kid on Christmas, or a peanut on National Hazelnut Day, or a lobster in the Titanic kitchen, or the author walking into a local Waffle House at 1 a.m.. Enjoy this week’s slate, highlighted by Auburn-Texas A&M, Georgia-Tennessee (as we know), Tennessee-Mississippi State, Florida-Ole Miss, Alabama-South Carolina, and LSU-Vanderbilt. 

1) Tennessee Volunteers

Last week’s ranking: 3 (+2)

Record: 11-3 (1-0)

Last week: W vs. Norfolk State (87-50), W vs. Ole Miss (90-64)

Next week: at Mississippi State (Jan. 10 – 7 p.m.), at Georgia (Jan. 13 – Noon)

Quality wins: at Wisconsin, Illinois, NC State, Ole Miss

Bad losses: N/A

Tennessee, welcome to the top. The Vols defeated Norfolk State early in the week, but that wasn’t the reason for the jump, but rather what they did on January 6. The Rebels stormed into Knoxville trying to overturn a streak of tough results, (Tennessee had won eight of the last nine meetings) but the Vols played their brand of basketball and not only held off the Rebels but beat them quite handily, dropping 90 in a 26-point victory. Jonas Aidoo scored 24 points to lead the team, and both he (24 points, 10 rebounds) and Zakai Zeigler (17 points, 10 assists) recorded a double-double. Despite two 7+-footers in the Ole Miss rotation, Tennessee absolutely massacred the Rebels on the boards by a margin of 47-24. That’s elite, y’all.

Looking ahead, the Vols are taking a road trip, going from Starkville to Athens. While things are looking real good for Tennessee at the moment, it’s important not to fall victim to a trap game. Both the Bulldogs and the…Bulldogs are tough opponents, with the Bulldogs (Starkville variety) going on the road to Columbia (Carolina variety) in a tough environment last week and the Bulldogs (Athens variety) going on the road to Columbia in a tough environment last week. One of the Bulldog teams won in Columbia last week, but it wasn’t the one that was favored. Mike White will have his team ready this week, and it could be a great game. While Tennessee will likely be favored in both of their games, it’s the SEC. Anything can happen. 

2) Kentucky Wildcats

Last week’s ranking: 2 (-)

Record: 11-2 (1-0)

Last week: W at Florida (87-85)

Next week: vs. Missouri (Jan. 9 – 7 p.m.), at Texas A&M (Jan. 13 – 2 p.m.)

Quality wins: North Carolina, at Florida, Miami (Fla)

Bad losses: UNCW

Call me crazy (please do) but it’s not a stretch to say last weekend’s win over Florida was Kentucky’s best win of the year. Think about it, on the road, in the first weekend of conference games, coming off two straight non-competitive games with a roster composed mostly of underclassmen, facing a double-digit deficit, and still getting the job done. That’s honestly more impressive than the neutral site win over UNC and the home win against Miami. Kentucky is in a groove, and with credit to a good Florida team, Kentucky showed in the second half of that game who the more talented team was. Aaron Bradshaw is legit. Reed Sheppard in legit. So is Antonio Reeves, Tre Mitchell, Rob Dillingham, and others. Don’t doubt Coach Cal. This team didn’t even play all that well, but they got the job done, and that’s what matters,

This week, Kentucky has a, some would say, easy home game against Missouri, followed by a less-easy road trip to College Station to take on a Texas A&M team that’s capable of bullying any program on the boards. No promises, but if Kentucky loses either game, they’ll likely fall from the top-2 spots. But, no promises, again, Tennessee loses a game and Kentucky sweeps, the Wildcats could end up on top of the mountain. We’ll see what happens. 

3) Auburn Tigers

Last week’s ranking: 4 (+1)

Record: 12-2 (1-0)

Last week: W vs. Penn (88-68), W at Arkansas (83-51)

Next week: vs. Texas A&M (Jan. 9 – 9 p.m.), vs. LSU (Jan. 13 – 6 p.m.)

Quality wins: St. Bonaventure, Virginia Tech, Indiana

Bad losses: N/A

In the website’s weekly poll, I actually included Auburn in the #10 spot in my submission. I hate to say it with the App State perimeter performance fresh in my mind, but am I actually starting to trust this team? My answer, which is in the process of boggling that same mind, (side note, but is “boggling” ever used in other contexts? Get back to me with an answer, readers.) is yes. Auburn looks great, they look efficient, and it’s a team effort with very little, and I repeat, very little dumb mistakes from the frontcourt. That’s something that should give the public some trust in this team. 

(Sorry to again stray off topic, but I need to know if boggling is a real thing. I badly want someone to ask what my plans are next week and to be able to reply “boggling” with the utmost confidence and accuracy.) Aden Holloway is averaging less than 1.0 turnover per game, which, for a freshman guard, is absolutely fantastic. Johni Broome is playing at an all-SEC level, and this segment wouldn’t be complete without congratulating Jaylin Williams and Chad Baker-Mazara, who have played quite well. It’ll be two straight home games at Neville this week for the Tigers, with matchups against Texas A&M and LSU. Both teams haven’t exactly been world-beaters this year, but LSU had a pulse last weekend, at least in the second half, something Texas A&M can’t say. But lest we forget, the Aggies were the ones to break Auburn’s home win streak last year, and they’ve only lost one home game since then. 

4) South Carolina Gamecocks

Last week’s ranking: 6 (+2)

Record: 13-1 (1-0)

Last week: W vs. Mississippi State (68-62)

Next week: at Alabama (Jan. 9 – 7 p.m.), at Missouri (Jan. 13 – 3:30 p.m.)

Best wins: Virginia Tech, Grand Canyon, Mississippi State

Bad losses: N/A

For those not on South Carolina basketball Twitter, the new thing is Lamont Paris’s quarter-zip attire. I love it as a foil to Kim Mulkey’s style decisions, (not that it has to be) and its elite meme potential. Speaking of elite potential, how about these Gamecocks? They now have the third-longest winning streak in the conference, and are one of five teams in the SEC without a home loss. Some doubters were doing their thing, doubting, when South Carolina went down by 8 early on, but the ‘Cocks showed some grit, coming back, making adjustments, and allowing Meechie Johnson to take over in the second half as Paris’s group ended up surviving a near-disaster collapse (including a 4-point play from Josh Hubbard) to start 1-0 in SEC games. Perhaps most impressive was the rebounding margin, as the smaller-sized ‘Cocks actually won the battle of the boards 35-26. That’s grit, y’all. 

Start saying “Meechie Johnson” and “SEC Player of the Year” in the same sentence. Just like I just did. The guard from Cleveland now has six 20+ point games in just his past ten games, and he’s the heartbeat and soul of the Gamecock offense. Shooting? Check. Rebounding? Check. Passing? Check. Grit? Absolutely, one could even say he has that canine inside of him. Myles Stute also earns a gold star for how he played on Saturday. Good job, Mr. Stute. This week, Carolina has a road trip against Alabama and Missouri. It’s not out of the question, I hope, to suggest the Gamecocks could start 3-0 in conference games, which would be tied for the best 3-game start in conference play in program history. This lethal South Carolina half-court offense will be a fun watch against another lethal offense (shoutout Danny Glover) with Alabama’s complete opposite, roadrunner-paced tempo.

5) Georgia Bulldogs

Last week’s ranking: 8 (+3)

Record: 11-3 (1-0)

Last week: W at Missouri (75-68)

Next week: vs. Arkansas (Jan. 10 – 9 p.m.), vs. #5 Tennessee (Jan. 13 – Noon)

Quality wins: Wake Forest, at Florida State, Georgia Tech

Bad losses: N/A

Shoutout Mike White. Shoutout Russel Tchewa. Shoutout Justin Hill. Shoutout Noah Thomasson. Shoutout Silas Demary Jr. and Jabri Abdur-Rahim. Shoutout RJ Sunahara and Melendez. Shoutout Jalen DeLoach and Blue Cain. That’s all the Bulldogs that recorded a minute in their win over Missouri in Columbia, plus their head coach. Winning on the road in the SEC is no joke, no matter the opponent unless it’s current-day Vanderbilt. Georgia held a big lead, choked that one then retook the lead, which shows, you guessed it, grit. The Bulldogs made 12 threes, drew 18 fouls, and won the rebounding battle. 

This week, Georgia returns home to play a suddenly quite bad Arkansas team and then immediately turns around to play one of the best teams in the nation and the clear-cut SEC basketball favorite in Tennessee. But we know that the last time Mike White (insert last time Mike White did the thing that goes along with my narrative) everything went great. The Dawgs are rolling, y’all. Buy this stock now, and Asa Newell is coming next year. Athens is looking up, up, and up. 

6) Florida Gators

Last week’s ranking: 9 (+3)

Record: 10-4 (0-1)

Last week: L vs. #6 Kentucky (87-85)

Next week: at Ole Miss (Jan. 10 – 9 p.m.), vs. Arkansas (Jan. 13 – 4 p.m.)

Quality wins: Pittsburgh

Bad losses: N/A

“Why does Florida move up three spots after a home loss?”, some may ask. “Don’t ask questions and just enjoy the rankings,” the author replies. But if I may, I must compare one Saturday performance with another. Ole Miss and Florida both played top-10 opponents. And while one team was on the road, the two teams played quite differently regardless. Florida held their own, pulled out to a nice lead, and made their opponent sweat. They had key players play well, (Walter Clayton Jr. and Zyon Pullin both had 23 apiece) and they made a statement that they can hang with the big dogs even in the loss. That’s not something Ole Miss can currently attest. 

Sure, Florida’s defense can use some work (51st nationally per KenPom) but it’s not bad, and the team is more balanced than similar SEC basketball programs. (Looking at you, Nate Oats, Mississippi State, and Texas A&M). These Gators are some cool cats, and these cool cats are playing two winnable games this week in a prime bounce-back opportunity. Games against that team I just mentioned, (Ole Miss) and then, again, suddenly-run-aground Arkansas F. Razorbacks. (I’m using their full name because they’re in a bit of trouble. You can guess the middle name.)

7) Mississippi State Bulldogs

Last week’s ranking: 7 (-)

Record: 11-3 (0-1)

Last week: L at South Carolina (68-62)

Next week: vs. #5 Tennessee (Jan. 10 – 7 p.m.), vs. Alabama (Jan. 13 – 8:30 p.m.)

Quality wins: Northwestern, Washington State

Bad losses: Southern 

Mississippi State does not move after a tough road loss to the ‘Cocks. Sure, getting outclassed on the boards 35-26 by a team that didn’t have a single player over 6-8 record a rebound may raise some alarm bells, but I think at this point that it’s clear that South Carolina is a quality, NCAA Tournament-caliber basketball team and an opening day loss on the road in Columbia isn’t a horrible loss by any stretch of the imagination. It would have been last year, sure, but not in 2024. Chris Jans’s team looked good for maybe half of the game and looked not horrible for the other half. They weren’t bad by any means, just not great. But guess what, Bulldog fans. The sun came up the next day. And Tolu Smith is healthy. The defense is still considered elite by the author. Better days are ahead, and they’re coming up real soon. 

Like, this week soon? We’ll see. The Bulldogs have home games against Tennessee (probable underDawgs) and Alabama (possible favorites). Mississippi State has a real chance to just absolutely slow the game down and force ‘Bama to play Jans’s style of game. Personally, if Mississippi State wins, I am not calling it an upset. And for what it’s worth, yes, the Bulldogs do have a chance to beat Tennessee. Josh Hubbard has that effect. 

8) Ole Miss Rebels

Last week’s ranking: 1 (-7)

Record: 13-1 (0-1)

Last week: L at #5 Tennessee (90-64)

Next week: vs. Florida (Jan. 10 – 9 p.m.), vs. Vanderbilt (Jan. 13 – 1 p.m.)

Quality wins: Memphis, NC State

Bad losses: N/A

Finally, I get to move Ole Miss back down to where they probably deserve to be. Don’t get me wrong, it was fun to keep them at #1 for a little bit, but when I originally put them there, I was expecting a one-week or two-week stay, not a month. Ole Miss was essentially squatting in my penthouse apartment before I got Tennessee to evict them. Game respects game, I suppose. I went digging for silver linings and all I got was copper. But that’s better than nothing. Jaemyn Brakefield scored 22 points (more than 33% of the team’s total offense) on 7-for-8 shooting. Congratulations to the forward, who was very efficient on a day in which the team’s guards had a 31.8 FG%. 

But alas, the season is not over. Games are yet to be played, and this team could still make the tournament. Why overreact to a team’s first loss of the year in January when literally every other team in the conference already had a loss on their record in 2023? Why pretend like the world is ending because of a singular road loss against one of the best teams in the nation? Because it’s SEC Basketball Power Rankings, y’all. That’s what we do. It is not personal. It’s business, and we’re standing on it. Oxford will be loud against Florida and Vandy this week, in a great time for a mini-homestand. A 1-1 record seems likely this week, but don’t be surprised with a 2-0 week or, gasp, even a 0-2 week, because we really don’t know what to expect from this team just yet. That seems weird to type in January, but it’s true. 

9) Alabama Crimson Tide

Last week’s ranking: 10 (+1)

Record: 9-5 (1-0)

Last week: W at Vanderbilt (78-75)

Next week: vs. South Carolina (Jan. 9 – 7 p.m.), at Mississippi State (Jan. 13 – 8:30 p.m.)

Quality wins: Oregon, Indiana State

Bad losses: N/A

I don’t get the Alabama love. I’m sorry, but I just don’t. I’m supposed to move any SEC team up these rankings after beating Vanderbilt by 3 points? No thank you. (I realize the Crimson Tide have moved up one spot, but I assure you it is not related to their performance, but rather the face-plant in College Station.)

There are two separate major aspects of the sport of basketball. There is offense, which Alabama has seemingly figured out, and there is defense, which they clearly haven’t. If you’re giving an exam to a student, hypothetically, and they get every answer on the front page right but don’t bother flipping the page over to the back to see the second page of questions, they don’t get a 90 or 80. They get a 50. Currently, in my book, Alabama has about a 55. I’m waiting for them to even finish answering the back page so I can grade them completely.

75 points to Vandy? What are we doing, y’all? Vanderbilt dropped 62 on Presbyterian, 62 on Western Carolina, 62 on Boston College, 60 on San Francisco, and 52 on Texas Tech. This is the same team that Alabama just let score 75 points! What is going on? This is not a top-25 defense. This is not a top-50 defense. It’s not even a top-100 defense. “Name 100 defenses better than Alabama.” I will, trust. 

This week, we’ve got two great opportunities to grade Alabama against half-court offenses. South Carolina (329th in tempo) and Mississippi State (186th in tempo) come to town. Technically, the Mississippi State game is in Starkville, so Bama is coming to their town, but it’s a phrase. It works. I wouldn’t be surprised by any result this week, and that’s not a cop-out. I just never know what to expect from a team with such a great offense coupled with a Swiss-cheese defense. 

10) LSU Tigers

Last week’s ranking: 13 (+3)

Record: 9-5 (1-0)

Last week: W at Texas A&M (68-53)

Next week: vs. Vanderbilt (Jan. 9 – 9 p.m.), at #16 Auburn (Jan. 13 – 6 p.m.)

Quality wins: Wake Forest

Bad losses: Nicholls State

The author may be the only SEC Basketball Power Ranking compiler with LSU ahead of Texas A&M this week, but the ball is literally not in my court. They’ve got identical overall records and one of the two teams (not LSU) has a double-digit home loss to the other. Furthermore, LSU’s win over Wake Forest is arguably better than any victory Texas A&M has, or at least equal to the Ohio State victory. Additionally, I am addicted to recency bias and this is my fix. If power rankings were strictly a metric-based activity, (it’s not) then clearly the Aggies would be above the current spot (#11, sorry for the spoiler) that they are in. But it’s not metrics, it’s just “power”. Merriam-Webster defines power rankings as “a subjective way to order a group of similar entities with no rules, parameters, or other regulations.” Don’t look that up, just take my word for it. 

Jordan Wright is quietly having a really good season. I don’t mean to suggest that he wasn’t expected to play well, because he’s always been a very good player, but he dropped a 20-10 double-double on Texas A&M, dropped 30 in one half on Texas, and is now averaging 20.0 PPG against teams from Texas. Speaking about Texas teams, that win against Lamar (who is actually quite good, believe me) seems to have been the turning point with this team, and I am starting to trust now that Jalen Cook is starting to get back in the flow after being granted a bit of eligibility as a treat from the NCAA. LSU will likely start the SEC slate 2-0 with a home game against Vanderbilt this week. Crazy world we live in. But they’ve got a road Auburn game in Neville this week, which, if they pull that off, will likely result in a top-8 LSU ranking next week. That seemed insane to even think about just a short 2-3 weeks ago. Bookmark this. 

11) Texas A&M Aggies

Last week’s ranking: 5 (-6)

Record: 9-5 (0-1) 

Last week: L vs. LSU (53-68)

Next week: at #16 Auburn (Jan. 9 – 9 p.m.), vs. #5 Kentucky (Jan. 13 – 2 p.m.)

Quality wins: at Ohio State, Iowa State, at SMU

Bad losses: LSU

Talk about head-scratchers. It’s not like it was an impossible upset to predict, (Jalen Cook’s emergence + the Aggies’ performances vs. Virginia and Memphis) but let’s not act like any sane and reasonable person stood up and announced prior to last weekend’s game that the winning margin would be 15 points for a team not named Texas A&M.

Maybe somewhere along the Mississippi, a drunk uncle became, momentarily, Cajun Nostradamus for a blissful 40 minutes. Not me, though. My words last week were as follows: “Honestly, it’s the easiest game of the week for an SEC basketball team, or should be, at least.” I suppose the author is not the Po’Boy Prognosticator. He is not the Perdu Predictor. He is not the Frisson Forecaster. Kudos to the Bayou Bengals, who assuredly laugh at my doubt. But the Aggies suddenly find themselves 9-5 with a bad loss on their resume within the first weekend of SEC games and just one spot away from the bottom three in the SEC Basketball Power Rankings.

My, how time can change things. Hear me out. These Aggies could start 9-7 and 0-3 in conference games. That’s what (maybe) happens when they play Auburn on the road and Kentucky at home this week. They might bounce back, we know that. This team is gritty and awesome on the offensive boards, and they’ve got the most talented player in the conference in Wade Taylor IV. They’ve got a great coach, too, and Henry Coleman III to go along with Tyrece Radford as well. Don’t sell all the stock yet, y’all. This team might not pull off an upset next week, but it just might. (Insert Matthew McConaughey GIF. Not that one, but the “Be a lot cooler if you did.”)

12) Arkansas Razorbacks

Last week’s ranking: 11 (-1)

Record: 9-5 (0-1)

Last week: L vs. Auburn (81-53)

Next week: at Georgia (Jan. 10 – 9 p.m.), at Florida (Jan. 13 – 4 p.m.)

Quality wins: Duke 

Bad losses: UNCG

“Has Arkansas turned a corner?”- the author, last week. The answer, according to Auburn basketball, is a resounding no. If they were walking on Delusion St. and turned onto Embarrassment Blvd., then maybe yes. I don’t know how to properly describe what happened in the biggest home loss ever in Fayetteville history, so guess what? I’m not. I make the rules, and Arkansas doesn’t deserve the written space typically granted to them. I instead will disperse Arkansas’ quota to other more deserving teams. The Hogs play Georgia and Florida on the road this week. That is all. 

13) Missouri Tigers

Last week’s ranking: 12 (-1)

Record: 8-6 (0-1)

Last week: L vs. Georgia (75-68)

Next week: at #6 Kentucky (Jan. 9 – 7 p.m.), vs. South Carolina (Jan. 13 – 3:30 p.m.)

Quality wins: at Pitt

Bad losses: Jackson State 

Mizzou almost had another Dennis Gates moment, taking back the lead in the second half at home against Georgia after trailing 35-18 earlier in the game, but the Tigers couldn’t hang on to that lead, relinquishing it and giving the win back to the Bulldogs. Sean East II scored his 1,000th point en route to an 18-6-8 statline, four starters all scored 13+ points and shot 40.0%+ from the field, but that just wasn’t enough. East II played all 40 minutes. Aidan Shaw went 7-of-8 shooting the rock. Jesus Carralero Martin blocked 3 shots. But it wasn’t enough. It just seems like such a missed opportunity to get some momentum. 

Now the Tigers have two games against teams in the top-4 of the SEC Basketball Power Rankings, and there’s a real chance this team ends up at .500 by the end of the weekend. That’s tough, considering this team went 25-10 last year. I can’t write too much about Mizzou. It just makes me kind of sad. I know the future’s bright. I get it, there’s a great recruiting class coming up because Dennis Gates is the man.

But the present is the present, and writing in the present about Missouri basketball makes me feel like a kid at the doctor’s office who just got a shot but the doctor’s office ran out of ice cream, so he’s just sitting there with a sore arm and a vague promise from his parents that they can stop by Dairy Queen later, but he doesn’t want Dairy Queen, he wants the doctor’s office ice cream cup. Every team deserves a free ice cream cup. It will be here. Some teams just have to be a bit more patient than others. It will get better, Mizzou fans. 

14) Vanderbilt Commodores

Last week’s ranking: 14 (-)

Record: 5-9 (0-1)

Last week: L vs. Alabama (75-78)

Next week: at LSU (Jan. 9 – 9 p.m.), at Ole Miss (Jan. 13 – 1 p.m.)

Quality wins: None

Bad losses: Presbyterian, Western Carolina, Boston College

For the second straight week after my Vanderbilt basketball obituary was printed into the world wide web, the ‘Dores have looked competitive. This week, it was a home matchup against an opponent that has predominantly defeated Vandy in recent history. Vanderbilt battled. They showed grit. They scored 75+ points for just the 5th time in 14 games this year.

Huge shoutout to Jason Rivera-Torres, who scored 20 points off the bench in 23 minutes. I’m actually keeping it all positive this week for Vanderbilt as a reward for playing well. Tyrin Lawrence and Ezra Manjon combined for 36. Vanderbilt forced 16 turnovers. Vanderbilt recorded more offensive rebounds than Alabama. Congratulations, Vanderbilt. We are in a great mood this week, Nashville. Onward to games at LSU and Ole Miss. These are winnable games, we think. Go play your hearts out Vanderbilt. We at SEC Basketball Power Rankings HQ respect and adore you.