George Bagwell gives his SEC basketball power rankings heading into week 16 of the 2025-26 season.
Week 15 team of the week: Florida Gators
Week 15 game of the week: Missouri defeated Texas A&M, 86-85
Week 15 player of the week: Josh Hubbard, Mississippi State
Week 16 matchup of the week: #25 Alabama vs. #20 Arkansas – Feb. 18 at 7 p.m.
Week 16 under-the-radar matchup of the week: Oklahoma vs. Texas A&M – Feb. 21 at 8:30 p.m.
All games listed are EST.
1) Florida Gators
Last week’s ranking: 1 (-)
Record: 19-6 (10-2)
Last week: W at Georgia (86-66), W vs. #25 Kentucky (92-83)
Next week: vs. South Carolina (Feb. 17 – 7 p.m.), at Ole Miss (Feb. 21 – 12 p.m.)
Quality wins: at Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Georgia (x2), Miami-Fla, Alabama, at Texas A&M, Kentucky
Bad losses:
Florida remains in first place following an impressive week: a blowout road victory over Georgia and putting over 90 points on Kentucky at home. That’s good enough to keep the top spot in both the SEC Basketball Power Rankings and the SEC standings. They shouldn’t have to do much heavy lifting this week with South Carolina and Ole Miss on the schedule.
2) Arkansas Razorbacks
Last week’s ranking: 3 (+1)
Record: 19-6 (9-3)
Last week: W at LSU (91-62), W vs. Auburn (88-75)
Next week: at #25 Alabama (Feb. 18 – 7 p.m.), vs. Missouri (Feb. 21 – 4 p.m.)
Quality wins: Texas Tech, Louisville, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Auburn
Bad losses:
Arkansas is slowly but surely moving up as they continue to add wins to their total. Last week, the victims were completely outmatched by the Razorbacks, but both Tigers teams are flailing at the moment: they’re a combined 0-7 in their past seven games. Coach Cal’s group will play a bit of a tougher team this week, ranked Alabama on the road. They still should have the potential to emerge victorious, however.
3) Kentucky Wildcats
Last week’s ranking: 2 (-1)
Record: 17-8 (8-4)
Last week: L at #14 Florida (92-83)
Next week: vs. Georgia (Feb. 17 – 9 p.m.), at Auburn (Feb. 21 – 8:30 p.m.)
Quality wins: St. John’s, Tennessee (x2), Texas, Indiana, at Arkansas
Bad losses:
Kentucky couldn’t get it done against Florida in what would’ve given the SEC standings a three-way tie had the Wildcats pulled it off. But Kentucky committed 26 fouls, so all hope was lost. It’ll be a true uphill climb for Kentucky to hoist the regular season title now. Of course, there’s still plenty more to play for, including SEC tournament seeding and NCAA tournament seeding. This week for Kentucky, they’re playing Georgia at home and Auburn on the road. They should win both games.
4) Tennessee Volunteers
Last week’s ranking: 5 (+1)
Record: 18-7 (8-4)
Last week: W at Mississippi State (73-64), W vs. LSU (73-63)
Next week: vs. Oklahoma (Feb. 18 – 7 p.m.), at #19 Vanderbilt (Feb. 21 – 2 p.m.)
Quality wins: Houston, at Alabama, Louisville, Texas A&M, Texas, at Georgia, Auburn
Bad losses:
Tennessee continued their winnings ways last week, tossing aside Mississippi State and LSU. The Volunteers have now won six of their past seven contests and are on a roll. Does that roll continue into this week? Rick Barnes’s group has to play an Oklahoma squad that suddenly isn’t bad, followed by a road trip to in-state rivals Vanderbilt. It would be a highly impressive feat for Tennessee to emerge with 20 wins on the season by next week’s power rankings.
5) Vanderbilt Commodores
Last week’s ranking: 4 (-1)
Record: 21-4 (8-4)
Last week: W at Auburn (84-76), W vs. Texas A&M (82-69)
Next week: at Missouri (Feb. 18 – 9 p.m.), vs. Tennessee (Feb. 21 – 2 p.m.)
Quality wins: Alabama, Saint Mary’s, at UCF, SMU, VCU, Kentucky, Texas A&M, at Auburn
Bad losses: Oklahoma
Vanderbilt seems to be back to their winning ways. Outside of an aberration against Oklahoma at home, the Commodores have won every game over the past three weeks, including two this past week against Auburn and Texas A&M. That’s one victory against a tournament team, not too shabby. This week, Vanderbilt is forced to travel to Columbia to play Missouri on the road, where they haven’t won since…ever? That’s right, Vanderbilt has never beaten Missouri on the road, ever. They’re 0-8 on the road against Missouri in school history.
6) Alabama Crimson Tide
Last week’s ranking: 8 (+2)
Record: 18-7 (8-4)
Last week: W at Ole Miss (93-74), W vs. South Carolina (89-75)
Next week: vs. #20 Arkansas (Feb. 18 – 7 p.m.), at LSU (Feb. 21 – 6 p.m.)
Quality wins: at St. John’s, Illinois, Clemson, Kentucky, Missouri, Texas A&M
Bad losses:
A team can really move up only so much after beating Ole Miss and South Carolina. At a certain point, that’s just expected. But we at SEC Basketball Power Rankings can’t afford to but an 18-7 team over a 16-9 team, that’s not feasible. So Alabama slides in at #6 in this week’s edition of SEC Basketball Power Rankings. Will they rise after this week? Not unless they beat Arkansas at home. Beating Arkansas is a prerequisite for moving up in a very crowded SEC Basketball Power Rankings cluster.
7) Texas Longhorns
Last week’s ranking: 7 (-)
Record: 16-9 (7-5)
Last week: W at Missouri (85-68)
Next week: vs. LSU (Feb. 17 – 9 p.m.), at Georgia (Feb. 21 – 3:30 p.m.)
Quality wins: at Alabama, Vanderbilt, Georgia, NC State, at Missouri
Bad losses: Mississippi State
Don’t look now, but Texas is on a roll. The Longhorns sport the second-longest streak in the SEC with four straight wins now, including an impressive road drubbing of Missouri in their last time out. Congrats, Texas. They’re likely around the 8-9 seed line right now in terms of the NCAA tournament, and gather two wins this week, one against LSU and another against a Georgia team they’ve already beat one, would go a long way towards seeding.
8) Missouri Tigers
Last week’s ranking: 9 (+1)
Record: 17-8 (7-5)
Last week: W at Texas A&M (86-85), L vs. Texas (85-68)
Next week: vs. #19 Vanderbilt (Feb. 18 – 9 p.m.), at #20 Arkansas (Feb. 21 – 4 p.m.)
Quality wins: at Kentucky, Florida, Auburn, at Texas A&M
Bad losses: Notre Dame
Missouri should be very glad they got a win over Texas A&M last week, because this week ahead is quite challenging. The Tigers first have to host a Vanderbilt team that’s been playing some of their best basketball lately, followed by a road trip to Fayetteville to play Arkansas and SEC Player of the Year favorite Darius Acuff Jr. That’s not the most forgiving week in the SEC, but if Missouri can eke out a win, it’ll be good for their resume.
9) Texas A&M Aggies
Last week’s ranking: 6 (-3)
Record: 17-8 (7-5)
Last week: L vs. Missouri (86-85), L at #19 Vanderbilt (82-69)
Next week: vs. Ole Miss (Feb. 18 – 7 p.m.), at Oklahoma (Feb. 21 – 8:30 p.m.)
Quality wins: at Auburn, at Texas, at Georgia
Bad losses:
What happened to the Texas A&M we all knew and loved? The Aggies have lost four games in a row, and don’t seem to have an answer for their skid. Of course, playing Ole Miss is as good an answer as any, but some serious questions are being raised about these Aggies, notably: are they choking away a tournament bid? Texas A&M doesn’t have the amount of quality wins that other teams in the conference can brag about, and that might hurt on Selection Sunday.
10) Georgia Bulldogs
Last week’s ranking: 11 (+1)
Record: 17-8 (5-7)
Last week: L vs. #14 Florida (86-66), L at Oklahoma (94-78)
Next week: at Kentucky (Feb. 17 – 9 p.m.), vs. Texas (Feb. 21 – 3:30 p.m.)
Quality wins: Arkansas, Auburn, at Missouri
Bad losses: Ole Miss, at Oklahoma
Georgia and Texas A&M are running into the same problem: fading down the stretch. The Bulldogs are 1-5 in their last six games, with their lone win coming against LSU. That’s not a quality win, and other than the victory over Arkansas, Georgia is missing some quality wins on their resume. It’s simply not enough at the moment to feel confident about a bid, and the Bulldogs need to start stacking some SEC wins quick. Maybe that comes this week against Kentucky or Texas.
11) Auburn Tigers
Last week’s ranking: 10 (-1)
Record: 14-11 (5-7)
Last week: L vs. #19 Vanderbilt (84-76), L at #21 Arkansas (88-75)
Next week: at Mississippi State (Feb. 18 – 9 p.m.), vs. Kentucky (Feb. 21 – 8:30 p.m.)
Quality wins: at Florida, St. John’s, Arkansas, NC State, Texas
Bad losses:
We said last week that we’d see y’all back here next edition with a 14-11 Auburn team. Lo and behold, here we are. A 14-11 team doesn’t make the tournament, and I don’t care what the schedule looked like. The Tigers need four wins in their last six games to have even a shot at making the tournament, and there is absolutely no reason for credentialed media (ESPN) to be suggesting this team is currently an 8-seed, one line behind 20-5 Villanova. It’s truly mind-boggling. In the last four editions of that bracketology, Auburn has remained an 8-seed despite their four-game losing streak.
12) Mississippi State Bulldogs
Last week’s ranking: 13 (+1)
Record: 12-13 (4-8)
Last week: L vs. Tennessee (73-64), W at Ole Miss (90-78)
Next week: vs. Auburn (Feb. 18 – 9 p.m.), at South Carolina (Feb. 21 – 1 p.m.)
Quality wins: at Texas
Bad losses: San Francisco, Kansas State
Looking back at this week’s events, it’s actually pretty funny that Mississippi State managed to lose to this year’s Kansas State team back in November. Of course, it didn’t end up factoring into Mississippi State’s tournament hopes, but that’s neither here nor there. We are here, actually, to celebrate the Bulldogs victory over Ole Miss, meaning the season series has now split. This team is also has four wins in conference, which is enough to get them out of the bottom four in these rankings.
13) Oklahoma Sooners
Last week’s ranking: 14 (+1)
Record: 13-12 (3-9)
Last week: W vs. Georgia (94-78)
Next week: at Tennessee (Feb. 18 – 7 p.m.), vs. Texas A&M (Feb. 21 – 8:30 p.m.)
Quality wins: at Vanderbilt, Georgia
Bad losses: Arizona State, at South Carolina, at Mississippi State
Give a round of applause to Oklahoma. The Sooners now can boast a longer active winning streak than Kentucky, having won two games in a row now. That hadn’t happened for Oklahoma since January 3. Is that bad? It ain’t good. But now the Sooners are back above .500, which, admittedly, we didn’t think would happen. This week, they play two teams with opposite momentum right now, Tennessee, who’s won six of seven, and Texas A&M, who has lost four in a row. We assume Oklahoma might take down the Aggies at home.
14) Ole Miss Rebels
Last week’s ranking: 12 (-2)
Record: 11-14 (3-9)
Last week: L vs. Alabama (93-74), L vs. Mississippi State (90-78)
Next week: at Texas A&M (Feb. 18 – 7 p.m.), vs. #12 Florida (Feb. 21 – 12 p.m.)
Quality wins: at Georgia, Missouri
Bad losses: Utah, Mississippi State
Ole Miss’s tournament chances are long gone, but that didn’t stop them from losing at home to their biggest rivals. This team is in a free fall, having lost seven games in a row at this point. Who is leading this team? They seem absolutely lost, and I can’t really seem to tell when this ends. This has been an absolutely horrific season for Ole Miss, and the worst part is that they still have games to play over the next few weeks.
15) LSU Tigers
Last week’s ranking: 15 (-)
Record: 14-11 (2-10)
Last week: L vs. #21 Arkansas (91-62), L at Tennessee (73-63)
Next week: at Texas (Feb. 17 – 9 p.m.), vs. #25 Alabama (Feb. 21 – 6 p.m.)
Quality wins: SMU, Missouri
Bad losses: South Carolina, Mississippi State
LSU continues to add to the loss column. This time, it was against Arkansas and Tennessee. That was a hard week, yes, but it pretty much eliminated LSU from any type of at-large bid. The Tigers will likely need to win the SEC Tournament in order to hear their name called on Selection Sunday. Maybe they can play spoiler against Texas or Alabama this week.
16) South Carolina Gamecocks
Last week’s ranking: 16 (-)
Record: 11-14 (2-10)
Last week: L at Alabama (89-75)
Next week: at #12 Florida (Feb. 17- 7 p.m.), vs. Mississippi State (Feb. 21 – 1 p.m.)
Quality wins:
Bad losses: LSU
South Carolina stays at the bottom following a hard-fought road loss against Alabama. Somehow, the Gamecocks were within seven points late in the second half. I think that’s worth celebrating. But South Carolina will have their hands (spurs?) full on Tuesday as they face off on the road against the hottest team in the conference, Florida. Last time these two teams met, which was only a few weeks ago, Florida won by 47 points. Is that bad? It ain’t good.