George Bagwell gives his SEC basketball power rankings heading into week 9 of the 2025-26 season.
Week 8 team of the week: Tennessee Volunteers
Week 8 game of the week: #14 Arkansas vs. #8 Houston
Week 8 player of the week: Darius Acuff Jr., Arkansas
Week 9 matchup of the week: #18 Arkansas vs. #19 Tennessee – Jan. 3 at 3 p.m.
Week 9 under-the-radar matchup of the week: Missouri vs. #22 Missouri – Jan. 3 at 8:30 p.m.
All games listed are EST.
1) Vanderbilt Commodores
Last week’s ranking: 1 (-)
Record: 13-0
Last week: W at Memphis (77-70), W at Wake Forest (98-67), W vs. New Haven (96-53)
Next week: at South Carolina (Jan. 3 – 2 p.m.)
Quality wins: at UCF, vs. VCU, vs. Saint Mary’s, vs. SMU, at Wake Forest
Bad losses:
New Year’s Resolution: Don’t change a thing
The Commodores are the only undefeated team left in the SEC. As a matter of fact, they’re one of just six unbeatens left in the whole of D-I basketball. As far as the author is concerned, the ‘Dores need to just keep winning.
2) Tennessee Volunteers
Last week’s ranking: 2 (-)
Record: 9-3
Last week: W vs. #11 Louisville (83-62), W vs. Gardner-Webb (94-52)
Next week: vs. SC State (Dec. 30 – 8 p.m.), at #18 Arkansas (Jan. 3 – 3 p.m.)
Quality wins: vs. Houston, vs. Louisville
Bad losses:
New Year’s Resolution: Keep making the most of second chances
Tennessee is currently first in the nation in percentage of points coming from second chances (21.5%). Partially due for credit is Jaylen Carey, who’s averaging 3.0 offensive rebounds per game. Who did Carey play for last year? Cross-state rival Vanderbilt.
3) Arkansas Razorbacks
Last week’s ranking: 3 (-)
Record: 10-3
Last week: W vs. Queens (108-80), L vs. #8 Houston (94-85), W vs. James Madison (103-74)
Next week: vs. #19 Tennessee (Jan. 3 – 3 p.m.),
Quality wins: vs. Louisville, vs. Texas Tech
Bad losses:
New Year’s Resolution: Keep up the pace
Arkansas is doing an elite job of prioritizing the fast break. The Hogs are second nationally with 21.4 fast break points per game. Putting the foot on the gas has helped propel Arkansas to an average of 89.5 PPG, fifth in the conference.
4) Alabama Crimson Tide
Last week’s ranking: 4 (-)
Record: 10-3
Last week: W vs. South Florida (104-93), W vs. Kennesaw State (92-81), W vs. Yale (102-78)
Next week: vs. Kentucky (Jan. 3 – 12 p.m.)
Quality wins: at St. John’s, vs. Illinois, vs. Clemson
Bad losses:
New Year’s Resolution: Play disciplined
Alabama doesn’t have the best defense in the SEC. In fact, they’re probably in the bottom half of the conference on the defensive end. While the Tide isn’t complete Swiss cheese on that end, the amount of fouls drawn by opponents certainly isn’t helping their cause. Alabama’s averaging 18.8 fouls per game. Is that bad? It ain’t good.
5) Georgia Bulldogs
Last week’s ranking: 5 (-)
Record: 12-1
Last week: W vs. Western Carolina (112-82), W vs. West Georgia (103-74), W vs. LIU (89-74)
Next week: vs. Auburn (Jan. 3 – 1 p.m.)
Quality wins:
Bad losses:
New Year’s Resolution: Pick up a quality win
The metrics love Georgia. The fans love Georgia. The pollsters love Georgia. But the truth remains: the Bulldogs haven’t beaten a solid team since last year’s regular season finale. They’ve got a chance to beat a tournament team this weekend when they face off at home against Auburn, and there’s a good chance they get it done.
6) Florida Gators
Last week’s ranking: 6 (-)
Record: 9-4
Last week: W vs. Saint Francis (102-61), W vs. Colgate (90-60), W vs. Dartmouth (94-72)
Next week: at Missouri (Jan. 3 – 8:30 p.m.)
Quality wins: vs. Miami FL
Bad losses:
New Year’s Resolution: Start making threes
The Gators are defending champs, but you wouldn’t be able to tell from watching them. Florida is still ranked in the latest poll, but it’s not because of their perimeter shooting ability. The Gators, as of Monday, are only making 28.2% of their shots from deep. The past ten champions, Florida included, have all shot at least 35.5% from deep. The way this team is playing, the don’t have a chance to repeat.
7) Kentucky Wildcats
Last week’s ranking: 7 (-)
Record: 9-4
Last week: W vs. #22 St. John’s (78-66), W vs. Bellarmine (99-85)
Next week: at #14 Alabama (Jan. 3 – 12 p.m.)
Quality wins: vs. Indiana, vs. St. John’s
Bad losses:
New Year’s Resolution: Light a fire on defense
Kentucky’s opponents are seeing all types of open lanes this season. Currently, Wildcats opponents are sporting a 60.7% assist percentage. That puts Kentucky in the bottom 40 of D-I teams in that stat category. The past couple of games have seen improvement, but for Wildcats fans to feel at peace with their program, Kentucky will have to play better in all facets of the game, including defense.
8) LSU Tigers
Last week’s ranking: 8 (-)
Record: 12-1
Last week: W vs. Southeastern Louisiana (78-65), W vs. Prairie View A&M (104-90), W vs. Southern Miss (90-62)
Next week: at Texas A&M (Jan. 3 – 4 p.m.)
Quality wins: vs. SMU
Bad losses:
New Year’s Resolution: Pour it in the paint
The Tigers have been efficient inside the arc. LSU is shooting 61.0% on twos, and is averaging 42.8 paint points per game. That’s great, though they haven’t found much success beyond the arc. LSU is making 33.6% of their threes, not bad but pretty average. As long as they keep playing to their strengths, this team could sneak in to the tournament.
9) Auburn Tigers
Last week’s ranking: 9 (-)
Record: 9-4
Last week: L vs. #6 Purdue (88-60), W vs. Queens
Next week: at #23 Georgia (Jan. 3 – 1 p.m.)
Quality wins: vs. St. John’s, vs. N.C. State
Bad losses:
New Year’s Resolution: Learn to share the ball
Auburn has picked up two quality wins but has looked completely outmatched by elite programs, losing to Michigan, Purdue, and Arizona by an average margin of 29 points. Their closest result in that span was a 28-point loss to Purdue. That is not in any way indicative of a Final Four type of team, and part of that reason is an assist percentage of 48.7%. Only four SEC teams have an assist rate under 50%, and the Fighting Pearls are one of them.
10) Oklahoma Sooners
Last week’s ranking: 10 (-)
Record: 10-3
Last week: W vs. UMKC (89-67), W vs. Stetson (107-54), W vs. MVSU (93-69)
Next week: vs. Ole Miss (Jan. 3 – 3:30 p.m.)
Quality wins: at Wake Forest, vs. Oklahoma State
Bad losses:
New Year’s Resolution: Go back in time and beat Nebraska
Nebraska is one of six undefeated college basketball teams in D-I left. But Oklahoma had the Cornhuskers on the ropes earlier this season, only to fall behind under a barrage of threes. With a win in that game, the Sooners would be 11-2 and possibly ranked. We know they can’t turn back the clock, but what Oklahoma can do is make the most of their SEC schedule.
11) Texas A&M Aggies
Last week’s ranking: 11 (-)
Record: 10-3
Last week: W vs. East Texas A&M (118-77), W vs. Prairie View A&M (111-82)
Next week: vs. LSU (Jan. 3 – 4 p.m.)
Quality wins:
Bad losses:
New Year’s Resolution: Stop the bench
The Aggies defense has been feasted on by opponent benches. That’s not hyperbole. Opponents of Texas A&M are averaging 29.3 bench points per game, allowing the team’s defensive metrics to slip a little bit. The Aggies still have yet to notch a quality win this season, but their first could come against LSU this weekend.
12) Texas Longhorns
Last week’s ranking: 12 (-)
Record: 9-4
Last week: W vs. Le Moyne (95-53), W vs. UMES (94-71)
Next week: vs. Mississippi State (Jan. 3 – 6 p.m.)
Quality wins: vs. NC State
Bad losses:
New Year’s Resolution: Force some action
Texas has some quality wins this season, and have yet to tally a truly damaging loss. But one thing they can really improve upon is creating havoc. They don’t steal the ball often, nor do they record a lot of blocks. Texas is one of just two SEC teams with a steal percentage less than 9.0% and a block percentage less than 8.0%, along with South Carolina. If a team is by themselves with South Carolina in a statistical category, it likely spells trouble.
13) Missouri Tigers
Last week’s ranking: 13 (-)
Record: 10-3
Last week: L vs. #20 Illinois (91-48)
Next week: vs. #22 Florida (Jan. 3 – 8:30 p.m.)
Quality wins:
Bad losses:
New Year’s Resolution: Keep their opponents out of the paint
Missouri, despite their faults this season, have done a phenomenal job of forcing opponents to score from outside the paint. Their opponents, of course, are able to score outside of the paint, but at least they’re not getting the ball into the net from close range. Only 30.8% of opponent points against Missouri are coming inside the paint this season. That might actually really benefit the Tigers in their next outing, as they’re going up against a Florida team that can’t make threes consistently.
14) Mississippi State Bulldogs
Last week’s ranking: 14 (-)
Record: 8-5
Last week: W vs. LIU (87-83), W vs. Memphis (71-66), W vs. Alabama State (94-56)
Next week: at Texas (Jan. 3 – 6 p.m.)
Quality wins:
Bad losses: vs. San Francisco
New Year’s Resolution: Focus on 2026
The perfect New Year’s resolution for Mississippi State would be to forget the first nine games of their season. After a 4-5 start, the Bulldogs may have turned a corner, and are now on a four-game winning streak. They have an excellent chance to move that mark to five games against Texas this weekend, avoiding a top conference opponent in the opener.
15) Ole Miss Rebels
Last week’s ranking: 15 (-)
Record: 8-5
Last week: W vs. Alabama A&M (80-66), L vs. NC State (76-62), W vs. Alcorn State (79-43)
Next week: at Oklahoma (Jan. 3 – 3:30 p.m.)
Quality wins:
Bad losses: vs. Utah
New Year’s Resolution: Pick up the pace
Ole Miss is playing with 0ne of the slowest tempos in the conference. In fact, according to KenPom, the Rebels are the slowest offense in the SEC. A slow offense can work for a program, yes. It’s not working for Chris Beard. His team is average from deep and slightly below average inside the arc on offense. With five losses even before SEC games start, the program needs at the very least a .500 record against SEC opponents to make the tournament, and with this offense, they’re not doing so.
16) South Carolina Gamecocks
Last week’s ranking: 16 (-)
Record: 8-4
Last week: L at Clemson (68-61), W vs. SC State (95-70)
Next week: vs. Albany (Dec. 30 – 6 p.m.), vs. #11 Vanderbilt (Jan. 3 – 2 p.m.)
Quality wins:
Bad losses:
New Year’s Resolution: Keep making free throws
There’s a decent amount of negative stats to pick from, but the Gamecocks are making their free throws at the moment. That’s great! South Carolina is LEADING THE SEC with a 78.6 FT% right now. We’ll leave them on a positive note.
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