George Bagwell gives his SEC basketball power rankings heading into week 7 of the 2025-26 season.
Week 6 team of the week: Arkansas Razorbacks
Week 6 game of the week: Arkansas vs. Texas Tech
Week 6 player of the week: Ja’Borri McGhee, Mississippi State
Week 7 matchup of the week: Arkansas vs. Houston – Dec. 20 at 5:30 p.m.
Week 7 under-the-radar matchup of the week: South Carolina vs. Clemson – Dec. 15 at 7 p.m.
All games listed are EST.
1) Vanderbilt Commodores
Last week’s ranking: 1 (-)
Record: 10-0
Last week: W vs. Central Arkansas (83-72)
Next week: at Memphis (Dec. 17 – 7 p.m.), at Wake Forest (Dec. 21 – 1 p.m.)
Quality wins: at UCF, vs. VCU, vs. Saint Mary’s, vs. SMU
Bad losses:
Vanderbilt wasn’t at their best last week, but they at least won a game. That can’t be said for two of the top four teams, so the Commodores remain in first despite a C- showing against Central Arkansas. It’s time for the ‘Dores to hit the road this week as they travel to in-state Memphis then to North Carolina to take on Wake Forest. They should be able to win both games, but a loss could demote Vandy from the top spot.
2) Arkansas Razorbacks
Last week’s ranking: 3 (+1)
Record: 8-2
Last week: W vs. #16 Texas Tech (93-86)
Next week: vs. Queens (Dec. 16 – 9 p.m.), vs. #7 Houston (Dec. 20 – 5:30 p.m.)
Quality wins: vs. Louisville, vs. Texas Tech
Bad losses:
Coach Cal is back and Alabama is down. The Razorbacks are into the top two of the SEC Basketball Power Rankings. A win over Texas Tech was big for Arkansas’s resume, as the Hogs came back from being down 10 early with three 20-point efforts from three different players. Perhaps of note, the game was a rematch of last year’s Sweet Sixteen loss to the Red Raiders. This time, Arkansas got the victory and a much-deserved bump in the SEC Basketball Power Rankings. And look out, if Vanderbilt falters this week and Cal’s group can defeat Houston, we might have a new number one this time next week. No promises, though.
3) Alabama Crimson Tide
Last week’s ranking: 2 (-1)
Record: 7-3
Last week: L vs. #1 Arizona (96-75)
Next week: vs. South Florida (Dec. 17 – 8 p.m.), vs. Kennesaw State (Dec. 21 – 2 p.m.)
Quality wins: at St. John’s, vs. Illinois, vs. Clemson
Bad losses:
For all intents and purposes, Saturday’s loss to Arizona was a home game. Metrics and the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee will refer to it as a “neutral site” contest, but since the game was held in Birmingham, Alabama, it’s considered a home loss by the SEC Basketball Power Rankings Selection Committee. A loss to arguably the best team in the nation? Yes, but a 21-point loss regardless. What happened to blue-collar basketball? The Tide got out-rebounded by a 52-32 margin and committed 15 turnovers. They only forced four. Is that bad? It ain’t good.
What follows is a selected list of teams with a better defensive efficiency (per KenPom) than Alabama: Marist, McNeese, Hawaii, Northern Iowa, UC Irvine, two different teams from Utah, and eight other SEC teams. And keep in mind that it’s taking account of strength of schedule. Unadjusted, Alabama’s defensive efficiency is 160th.
4) Tennessee Volunteers
Last week’s ranking: 4 (-)
Record: 7-3
Last week: OFF
Next week: vs. #11 Louisville (Dec. 16 – 7 p.m.), vs. Gardner-Webb (Dec. 21 – 3 p.m.)
Quality wins: vs. Houston
Bad losses:
We’ll keep it short with Tennessee this week since they didn’t have a game scheduled last week and thus couldn’t move up or down in the SEC Basketball Power Rankings. This week, they do have a chance to move up if they can get past Louisville. The Cardinals only have one defeat on the year, that being against the #2 team in these rankings.
5) Georgia Bulldogs
Last week’s ranking: 7 (+2)
Record: 9-1
Last week: W vs. Cincinnati (84-65)
Next week: vs. Western Carolina (Dec. 18 – 7 p.m.)
Quality wins:
Bad losses:
Why the big jump for Georgia? For starters, Florida lost and Auburn looked average against a not-so-great SoCon opponent, while the Bulldogs secured a Power Five victory against a top-25 defense while putting up 84 points. The analytics love Georgia. They’re one of only three teams in the conference with a top-32 rating in KenPom’s offense and defensive ratings. Auburn? 73rd in defensive efficiency. Tennessee? 39th in offensive efficiency. Only Florida and Vanderbilt can boast what Georgia can.
6) Auburn Tigers
Last week’s ranking: 5 (-1)
Record: 8-3
Last week: W vs. Chattanooga (92-78)
Next week: vs. #6 Purdue (Dec. 20 – 6:30 p.m.)
Quality wins: vs. St. John’s, vs. N.C. State
Bad losses:
It might be time to worry about Auburn’s defense. Not in the sense of “this is a historically bad defense” but more so in the sense of “this team’s defense will cap their potential at a Sweet Sixteen run if that” type of defense. This week, the Tigers looked lost on certain switches, on cuts, and couldn’t force turnovers. It would be one thing if that happened against Purdue, who they play this week. But it happened against Chattanooga. The Tigers need to shore up their defense, which wasn’t an issue in the last four years of the Bruce Pearl era. Time to play the top-rated offense on KenPom this week!
7) Florida Gators
Last week’s ranking: 6 (-1)
Record: 6-4
Last week: L vs. #5 UConn (77-73), W vs. George Washington (80-70)
Next week: vs. Saint Francis (Dec. 17 – 6:30 p.m.), vs. Colgate (Dec. 21 – 12 p.m.)
Quality wins: vs. Miami FL
Bad losses:
It’s time for Florida to beat a ranked team. Please, Florida, I understand the schedule is tough, but let’s win against a good team. And we’re not forgetting about the loss to TCU. At a certain point, it’s worth wondering why the Gators are ahead of teams with one loss and the same amount of quality wins. We may have to take into account that next week when it’s time to rank teams again. In the meantime, the Gators are playing Saint Francis and Colgate. A real gauntlet.
8) LSU Tigers
Last week’s ranking: 8 (-)
Record: 9-1
Last week: W vs. SMU (89-77)
Next week: vs. Southeastern Louisiana (Dec. 19 – 8 p.m.)
Quality wins: vs. SMU
Bad losses:
LSU finally gets their first quality win of the season. In New Orleans, the Tigers took down SMU and put up 89 points in the effort. The offense was absolutely clicking, shooting 62% overall from the field and 47% from deep. Point guard Dedan Thomas Jr. totaled more assists (12) than the Mustangs (10). Coming off a disappointing performance against Texas Tech, it’s a very good sign that the Tigers were able to bounce back. With non-conference games against three mid-to-low-majors remaining, there’s a high probability that LSU ends up with a 12-1 record before SEC games start.
9) Kentucky Wildcats
Last week’s ranking: 9 (-)
Record: 7-4
Last week: W vs. North Carolina Central (103-67), W vs. Indiana (72-60)
Next week: vs. #22 St. John’s (Dec. 20 – 12:30 p.m.)
Quality wins: vs. Indiana
Bad losses:
Kentucky finally gets their first quality win of the season. Because the teams in front of Kentucky also took care of business, there’s not a lot of room for the Wildcats to move up. But it should be celebrated that Kentucky finally the metaphorical weight off their shoulders by defeating the Hoosiers after being down by seven points at half. Forgetting the fact that the Wildcats shot 20% from deep and only one starter reached double figures, the defense shined. They forced 18 Indiana turnovers, including 13 steals, five from Mouhamed Dioubate. Can that type of performance show up against St. John’s? We’ll found out this week.
10) Oklahoma Sooners
Last week’s ranking: 10 (-)
Record: 7-3
Last week: W vs. Oklahoma State (85-76)
Next week: vs. UMKC (Dec. 16 – 7 p.m.)
Quality wins: at Wake Forest, vs. Oklahoma State
Bad losses:
The Sooners handed Oklahoma State their first loss in Oklahoma City this past week. We’ll see if the Cowboys are for real and if that stays a quality win, but for now it’s quite good. The Sooners needed that victory to stay in the top 10 of the SEC Basketball Power Rankings, but Kentucky and LSU winning means Oklahoma stays in their spot. The early-season losses to Nebraska and Gonzaga are aging like wine as the season moves on. The Cornhuskers and Bulldogs are a combined 21-1.
11) Texas Longhorns
Last week’s ranking: 11 (-)
Record: 7-4
Last week: W vs. Southern (95-69), L at #5 UConn (71-63)
Next week: vs. Le Moyne (Dec. 16 – 8 p.m.)
Quality wins: vs. NC State
Bad losses:
Texas isn’t going to be penalized in the SEC Basketball Power Rankings for losing by eight to UConn. Florida did, because they were in the top six of the rankings and had less margin of error. But since Texas was 11th and had lower expectations, they stay in their same spot. The Longhorns could rise next week if they take care of business against Le Moyne and other teams fall.
12) Missouri Tigers
Last week’s ranking: 12 (-)
Record: 10-2
Last week: W vs. Alabama State (85-77), W vs. Bethune-Cookman (82-60)
Next week: OFF
Quality wins:
Bad losses:
Missouri continues to win, but the Tigers aren’t defeating Power Five opponents, save for Minnesota, who isn’t a tournament team. And they won’t have a chance this week, because they don’t play their next opponent until the week after. Missouri could be a tournament team, but they also might not even be an NIT team. We just haven’t seen them enough against good opponents to make that call.
13) Texas A&M Aggies
Last week’s ranking: 13 (-)
Record: 8-3
Last week: W vs. Jacksonville (112-75)
Next week: vs. East Texas A&M (Dec. 21 – 4 p.m.)
Quality wins:
Bad losses:
Texas A&M had another solid offensive performance, but it wasn’t against a Power Five opponent or even mid-major. It was against Jacksonville, and absolutely no disrespect to the Dolphins, but they aren’t going to move a team up the SEC Basketball Power Rankings. The Aggies hit 12 threes and scored 54 points in the paint, and that’s simply a solid performance. This weekend, unfortunately for Texas A&M, isn’t going to move the Aggies up either. They’re still looking for their first quality win, and it won’t be against East Texas A&M.
14) Ole Miss Rebels
Last week’s ranking: 14 (-)
Record: 6-4
Last week: W vs. Southern Miss (71-67)
Next week: vs. Alabama A&M (Dec. 17 – 8 p.m.), vs. NC State (Dec. 21 – 1 p.m.)
Quality wins:
Bad losses: vs. Utah
Yes, a win over a D-I opponent is a win over a D-I opponent. Saturday’s four-point victory over Southern Miss (arguably the fifth-best team in the Sun Belt) was Ole Miss’s first victory over a D-I opponent since Nov. 18. They haven’t beaten a Power Five opponent since March. It’s time to panic, Oxford. This isn’t an NCAA Tournament team, and at the moment, they’re not looking participating inviting to the NIT, either. If the Rebels can’t beat NC State this weekend, they’ll be staring a sub-.500 season in the face unless something magically changes against SEC competition.
15) South Carolina Gamecocks
Last week’s ranking: 15 (-)
Record: 7-3
Last week: W vs. The Citadel (71-55)
Next week: at Clemson (Dec. 16 – 7 p.m.)
Quality wins:
Bad losses:
South Carolina looked bad against The Citadel. The offense couldn’t make shots, and the team missed their first 19 three-point attempts of the game. Against an SEC opponent, that’s a recipe for a 40-point loss instead of a 16-point win. A loss on Saturday certainly would have relegated the Gamecocks to last place in these rankings, but since they haven’t recorded a bad loss, they’re still at a precarious #15 spot. Not the best place to be, but the Gamecocks have a chance to rise with a win over in-state rivals Clemson this week.
16) Mississippi State Bulldogs
Last week’s ranking: 16 (-)
Record: 5-5
Last week: W vs. Utah (82-74)
Next week: vs. Long Island (Dec. 16 – 7:30 p.m.), vs. Memphis (Dec. 20 – 4 p.m.)
Quality wins:
Bad losses: vs. San Francisco
Ja’Borri McGhee might have saved the Bulldogs’ season. That’s not to say a loss to Utah is inherently season-ending, (hopefully for Ole Miss) but a drop to 4-6 before SEC games even start would have been a recipe for disaster. Down 15 at one point in the second half, the Bulldogs fought back, partially thanks to McGhee’s career-high 29 points. It’s not enough to get them out of the cellar, unfortunately for Bulldogs fans, as Mississippi State is still the only team in the SEC without a winning record.
This week, the team plays Long Island and Memphis. Memphis still wouldn’t be considered a quality win, but it might be enough to move the Bulldogs into the 15 or even 14 spot in next week’s rankings if they can go 2-0. Just a reminder, the team hasn’t won back-to-back games since February. They have a chance to end that streak with a win against Long Island. (216th in the latest KenPom ratings.)