SEC Power Rankings Week 11

Oh SEC, what are you doing to yourself? All throughout the nonconference season teams were getting wins and taking care of business and then all of a sudden, BAM, #SECBasketballFever has erupted all over the place. Outside of A&M and South Carolina, the rest of the conference has been very up and down...except the teams that have just been down...poor little State and Mizzou...

As has been the case all season, the middle of the SEC has been very messy and that uncertainty continues to reign in the conference, perhaps one day the middle will figure itself out and make this all so much easier.

Enough of that for now, to the Tiers!

Tier 1

Tier 1 has shrunk, while maintaining the same top three that were there last week. Texas A&M continues to lead the power rankings and the conference, with Kentucky and South Carolina flip flopping their spots from last week.

The Aggies remain unbeaten and the beating they're putting on other teams has been impressive. Until they lose (and looking at the schedule going forward), outside of a test at Arkansas, A&M should be in the driver's seat for the foreseeable future.

South Carolina flip flops with Kentucky taking the second spot in the poll after another strong week of beating up on the lower half of the conference. The loss to Alabama now looks more like an outlier than anything to get worried about for crazy Frank Martin's squad.

Slipping into third, Kentucky still remains in Tier 1, though the loss to Auburn, on the road or otherwise, is troubling. Skal continues to be underwhelming and Cal's freshman are playing like normal freshmen, and not like Kentucky freshmen.

Tier 2

Tier 2 continues its shrinking act like a man entering a cold pool, frightened turtles everywhere!  LSU, Florida and Vanderbilt are all quite close from our readers perspective; all teams have flaws but have started to round into the form that most of our prognosticators thought they would be once the season started.

LSU continues to win their home games, and then lose their road games, much like many would expect from a young team coached by a man who may or may not be aware of what basketball is. Luckily for the Tigers, the NCAA tournament is played on neutral sites.

Florida comes in at 5^th, only a point behind LSU, after taking down both State and Ole Miss this week. The loss to Tennessee seems far in the rear view at this point and like South Carolina's defeat at the hands of the Crimson Tide, more an anomaly than anything else. The Gators schedule toughens up in the coming weeks so the opportunity to strengthen their case for the postseason is there.

Tier 3

Tier 3 is doing what Tier 3 does. Some movement and some wins and losses but nothing to get too excited about. The star of Tier 3 for the week would have to be Auburn who managed to take down Kentucky, the mighty Wildcats continue to be weird!

Inhabiting the top of Tier 3 are the Bulldogs of Georgia who got a nice week to visit Mizzou after getting manhandled by the Aggies. Mizzou cures all that ails you! The schedule toughens up so we'll get a chance to see if UGA is a March contender or a big ol' pretender...rhymes!

Following Georgia we've got Auburn and Ole Miss tied up for 8^th. Auburn as noted above beat Kentucky and followed that up with a  defeat  of Tier 3 compatriot Alabama, who hasn't been the same since the win over SC. The BasketIronBowl is yours Tiger/Eagles! Meanwhile Ole Miss continues to play helter skelter and at the whim of Stefan Moody's thoughts and hold up of his body.

Rocking the bottom of Tier 3 are Arkansas and Alabama. Both teams having lost two games in a row, though Arkansas lost to teams that appear to be better than the teams Alabama lost to.  Arkansas looks like a middle of the pack SEC team after looking really strong the past few weeks. Bama made some noise with their win over SC two weeks ago, but since have looked like a team that many thought they would be. Going crazy from deep is not the way to build a season.

Tier 4

Tier 4 welcomes a new member to their sad pants party. Tennessee joins Mizzou and State at the bottom of the rankings after all teams have played poorly in the past week, all looked flawed and just not great.  Tennessee did beat State, but that's not saying much since everyone in the conference has that has had a turn, and Mizzou got beat on the road at SC and lost to Georgia at home, in both cases they gave up big runs and looked bad doing so. The bottom has  ways to go...poor, poor bad basketball schools...

The Rankings!

Team	Points	Ranking	Ranking Last Week	Change	Highest Rank	Lowest Rank
Texas A&M	98	1st	1st	None	1st	1st
South Carolina	89	2nd	3rd	Up 1	2nd	3rd
Kentucky	85	3rd	2nd	Down 1	2nd	4th
LSU	73	4th	4th	None	4th	6th
Florida	72	5th	6th	Up 1	3rd	6th
Vanderbilt	61	6th	10th	Up 4	4th	11th
Georgia	50	7th	8th	Up 1	6th	11th
Auburn	44	8th (Tied)	12th (Tied)	Up 4	7th	10th
Ole Miss	44	8th (Tied)	5th	Down 3	7th	10th
Arkansas	43	10th	9th	Down 1	7th	10th
Alabama	32	11th	7th	Down 4	7th	12th
Tennessee	23	12th	11th	Down 1	11th	12th
Mizzou	12	13th	12th (Tied)	Down 1	13th	14th
Mississippi State	9	14th	14th	None	13th	14th

Points were distributed 1st = 14, 2nd = 13, 3rd = 12, 4th = 11, 5th = 10, 6th = 9, 7th = 8, 8th = 7, 9th = 6, 10th = 5, 11th = 4, 12th = 3, 13th = 2, and 14th = 1

Alabama has a 3-2 record against top 25 teams but only 1-4 against unranked power 5 teams. Who is this team? (College and Magnolia)

Two losses in a row... who knew shooting 50% from three every game wasn't sustainable? (Rock M Nation)

Don't worry, Avery Johnson, Bama fans are too focused on National Signing Day to even notice that you're 1-4 in the SEC. (Anchor of Gold)

Picked the wrong time to have Kentucky on the schedule. (Anchor of Gold)

A weekend trip to Athens could continue to muddy the mid tier waters of the SEC. Cause the middle pack of SEC teams really are stuck in the mud. (Dawg Sports)

The loss at LSU is understandable, and the loss to UK probably tells us more about the Wildcats than the Hogs. (Rock M Nation)

The Kentucky game will keep Bruce Pearl employed for an extra two years as they continue to flounder. (Dawg Sports)

If Cinmeon Bowers has decided to actually play good basketball, Auburn could be dangerous down the road. (Rock M Nation)

Voting them 7th feels... weird. (Anchor of Gold)

Gators are the new proud owners of the state of Mississippi! (Rock M Nation)

They beat Ole Miss on the road, and LSU at home, but can barely survive vs. Miss St? #SECbasketballfevercan'tbecured (Dawg Sports)

They came a little too close to losing to Mississippi State for comfort. (Anchor of Gold)

I watched them play... something this week. It sure as hell wasn't basketball. (Anchor of Gold)

The veteran guards have been underperforming all year, but sophomore Yante Maten has been making a case to be one of the best bigs in the SEC this year. (Dawg Sports)

Mizzou twice in two weeks, lucky dawgs! (Rock M Nation)

There's the makings of a very good team in Lexington, just not a great one. They have players who are athletic but may need more than a year before they're NBA ready. They'll look like national champs one night and lose to Auburn the next. (College and Magnolia)

Has the talent, but not as much as other years, and the experience keeps them from being near the top. It'll be interesting to see who gets squeezed out prematurely to make room for next year's super class. (Dawg Sports)

Sending your bench players to the locker room is one way to prevent them from getting hurt in a court storming. Another way would have been to beat Auburn. (Anchor of Gold)

Getting beat at A&M is all the rage this year. (Rock M Nation)

LSU has worked out whatever the December issues were and is 4-2 against a decent schedule. Ben Simmons is on pace to put up 25 double doubles for one of the first four teams out of the tournament. (College and Magnolia)

Does anyone else wonder if LSU's other players tweet nightly reminders to ESPN that Ben Simmons is not the only player on the team? (Anchor of Gold)

To be fair, about half of the SEC would be 0-5 against their schedule. (Anchor of Gold)

Could they still be looking for their first SEC win when Auburn comes to town for their regular season finale? (Dawg Sports)

Even Mizzou has beaten another SEC team...(Rock M Nation)

At least y'all beat Auburn. (Dawg Sports)

I don't think Kim Anderson hates anyone but I bet Frank Haith is getting a Christmas card next year with just the signature, no personal note!  (Rock M Nation)

They're better than last year. Not that that's saying much. (Anchor of Gold)

Maybe the Pav is still too new and settling for it to show its true home court advantage...or Marshall Henderson needs to christen it in the only way he can, Scarface style. (Rock M Nation)

Back to back home losses are not gonna look good for the bubble, but they have a chance to get back on track with their next three looking like should wins. (Dawg Sports)

It just feels like their season is going off the rails right now. (Anchor of Gold)

I'm starting to buy South Carolina. February will reveal if they're for real but they've been good enough so far. (College and Magnolia)

Nice road win in Oxford, for a team that should be strong in March thanks to talent inside and out, with experience with Sindarius Thornwell being one of the better all around players in the SEC. (Dawg Sports)

Unimpressive-looking wins and winning because the other team crapped themselves are still wins. (Anchor of Gold)

Seriously, how much did you pay Florida to tank that game, it's ok, it's just me and you talking...open up to me Vols, I have to know! (Rock M Nation)

This is where I petition the power poll's operators to allow me to insert a picture of the scoreboard in lieu of a comment. (Anchor of Gold) [Editors Note, how about this?]

A win in Starkville means they aren't the worst. But they aren't very good. (Dawg Sports)

For the first time this season, I really feel comfortable putting a team at the top spot. Texas A&M is a cut above everyone. (College and Magnolia)

They are torching teams and haven't lost since the first week of December. They're likely making a premature hot run and won't last until March, but they are a very good team and the best in conference. (Dawg Sports)

Best team in the conference and it's not close. These are things no one ever thought they would type about an A&M basketball team. (Rock M Nation)

They've won 3 in a row, but it was Auburn, Bama, and Tennessee. We'll see if that was the Commodores getting it back on track, or weak opposition, once they sandwich trips to Kentucky and Texas around a home game with Florida. But the talent is there to make a run if they are timing their hot run just right. (Dawg Sports)

They're at full strength for the first time since November and the result is pantsing the Vols in Knoxville. (Anchor of Gold)

Feasting on the dregs of the conference is a good way to get healthy and back in the conversation. (Rock M Nation)

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That's gonna take care of it! Enjoy your SEC Basketball weekend and if you're snowed in, might I suggest a nice bottle of....anything...

Enjoy the games everyone!