SEC Basketball Keeps Dominating, Boasts 10 Ranked Teams

SEC basketball has been dominant this season, touting an astounding 13 teams in Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology. However, with a recent slate of heavy conference matchups, a significant change is happening within the conference standings.

Sheer Dominance

While the Southeastern Conference is the powerhouse of collegiate sports, football is regarded as the conference’s key athletic success. This year, it’s a different story, with men’s basketball being the coup de grâce of the SEC. In the most recent AP Top 25 poll, the SEC holds 10 ranked teams while the Big Ten places second with five teams. If that isn’t a clear enough sign of control over the sport, turn your attention to an example within No. 5 Florida’s program.

Walter Clayton Jr.’s current most similar season player comp is Jalen Brunson from 2018 national champion Villanova.

The SEC is so good that Clayton Jr is unlikely to win league player of the year with those numbers.

But he absolutely should be an All-American.

— Florida Basketball Hour (@FloridaBBHour) January 28, 2025

Florida guard Walter Clayton Jr. averages 17.8 points and 46.1% shooting from the field, leading a Florida team that has tied its best start in program history through 20 games. That feat finds him on the Wooden Award Midseason Top-25 List. With all that being said, Clayton is still on the outside looking in for the SEC Player of the Year, displaying the sheer excellence of the competition.

With such a strength of competition also comes surprises and upsets, making every regular season game crucial in the hunt for an NCAA Tournament bid.

SEC Shakeup

Now that conference play has gone on for a month, many shocks have come forth in the conference standings. Usual culprits No. 1 Auburn and No. 4 Alabama sit atop the standings, while surprises like No. 20 Missouri and No. 24 Vanderbilt tie for third and fourth, respectively. Players like Missouri senior guard Caleb Grill and Vanderbilt junior guard Jason Edwards have cemented themselves among the SEC’s stars, with each helping topple giants in Florida, No. 8 Tennessee and No. 12 Kentucky.

https://twitter.com/MizzouHoops/status/1883996693232046312

That is the beauty of both college basketball and watching a conference that stands alone in level of talent and competition. The unpredictability of who will win any given game and who will become stars is what fans fall in love with. Breakout players like Grill and Edwards are exactly what make college basketball so much fun to follow and watch.

So while critics of the conference may try to poke holes in its supremacy, I argue that the SEC simply continues to produce the best entertainment and talent for fans of the sport. While the level of competition is high, it’s not toxic for college basketball, as even the most unlikely teams in the SEC can go on a run.

What will certainly be interesting is to see is how both recent and future matchups will affect the final SEC standings and the SEC Tournament seeding come mid-March.

Saturday Results

Auburn 53, Tennessee 51

Alabama 80, LSU 73

Florida 89, Georgia 59

Vanderbilt 74, Kentucky 69

Texas 70, No. 13 Texas A&M 69

No. 14 Mississippi State 65, South Carolina 60

Missouri 83, No. 23 Ole Miss 75

Looking Forward

Some important matchups are on the slate for the rest of the week, with major standings implications on the line.

The Kentucky Wildcats travel to Knoxville on Tuesday to face the Tennessee Volunteers. Tennessee looks to avenge its two-point loss to Auburn, desperate for a win against a dejected Kentucky squad. Tennessee senior guard Chaz Lanier and Kentucky junior guard Otega Oweh will be the main factors in Tuesday’s matchup. Gators fans will want to keep an eye on this one, as Florida faces Tennessee on the road this weekend.