SEC Basketball Rankings and Predictions

A Conference that saw 14 of its teams make the NCAA tournament last season, much more than any other conference in college basketball, broke the record for most teams to make it in since 2011 when the Big East had 11 teams playing. There has been lots of moving players for this incoming year and we’ll be ranking SEC Conference teams and who we think will win the Conference at the end of it. 

1. Tennessee - This team has had a top 5 KenPom defense for 5 straight seasons and has just added an experienced guard who won in March and also can shoot over 40% from deep in Ja’Kobi Gillespie. This type of offensive production at the guard spot will be key for a team that had their leading scoring guards shoot under 33% from that mark last season and finished with a KenPom offense outside of the top 15 at the 17th ranking while having a KenPom defense ranked 2nd. They also return Preseason Defensive Player of the Year Felix Okpara who can lead this team to another elite defensive year. Along with this they’ve added Nate Ament who is their highest-ranked incoming player in school history to potentially be a huge part of their offense. He has a huge range and can really bring this program to become elite on both ends. 

2. Florida - Even though Florida has lost the three guards that led them to win it all last season, they do add guys that were great at their individual programs with Xavian Lee and Boogie Fland despite their lack of March Madness experience. The fact they added back Alex Condon, Thomas Haugh and Reuben Chinyelu to control their frontcourt can make up for their lack of experience. Look for Florida to try and get back to their top 10 offense over the past two seasons and top 10 defense to be excellent on both ends of the floor. 

3. Kentucky - A team that's returning leading scorer Otega Oweh, has multiple high level transfers coming in including Denzel Aberdeen who was just a key piece for Florida’s title run looks to keep their top 10 KenPom offense and improve into the top 50 defensively. They also added Jaland Lowe, a scoring guard who shot above 88% from the free throw line. This team has invested a lot into this upcoming year and they can truly make a run for the top of this conference. 

4. Alabama - They return some of their most explosive guards who were key to their elite top 5 offense last year in Aden Holloway and Labaron Philon but can they still play good defense this season? They gave up over 100 points in their exhibition game against Florida State…

5. Auburn - Tahaad Pettiford is that great of a player to lead this team in any game. They also add Keyshawn Hall who gave 18 points and 7 rebounds per game last year at UCF while shooting above 35% from three. Even with lots of roster changes this team hopes to return into the 10 in KenPom offense and defense. 

6. Ole Miss - This team has multiple elite level guards with Kezza Giffa who helped High Point reach a top 30 KenPom offense and AJ Storr who helped Wisconsin to a top 20 offense just two seasons ago. With key forward Malik Dia coming off a year where they were top 25 on both ends of the floor, this team could be the surprise of the conference. 

7. Arkansas - A squad that made it to the Sweet 16 last season returns guard DJ Wagner, forward Karter Knox and has added forward Malique Ewin who averaged 14 and 7 rebounds a game last season gives hope this team can make another run at it. 

8. Missouri - This team had a top 10 KenPom offense last season and a lot of it had to do with Mark Mitchell who is returning for them this year. They also return key guard Anthony Robinson who gave them 9 a game last season and added UCLA transfer guard Sebastian Mack who can add lots of experience to their backcourt. Because of how elite this team was offensively, they could really make a surprise run here. 

9. Mississippi State- With Josh Hubbard, a preseason contender for SEC Player of the Year leading this team and coming off a season where they were 24th in KenPom offense, this program looks to finish better than their previous 8-10 conference record. 

10. Oklahoma - With some high level guards incoming in Xzayvier Brown and

who both averaged over 13ppg and can shoot above 35% from deep along with the addition of forward Tae Davis, this team could be another very high level team by the end of the regular season. Pack has played in the Final Four and had huge games in March for Miami. 

11. Texas - With returning double figure scoring guards

along with double figure scoring forward Dailyn Swain, Texas has continuity to improve on their 6-12 conference record last season. 

12. Texas A&M - Adding experienced guard Pop Isaacs who has March Madness experience with Texas Tech, Jacari Lane who provided 17ppg at North Alabama and forward Mackenzie Mgbako who gave 12ppg at Indiana, this programs hopes to maintain their top 10 KenPom defense while improving on their offense which ranked 42nd.

13. Vanderbilt - Returning forwards Tyler Nickel and Devin McGlockton hope to lead their teams to climb from their 8-10 conference record last season. 

14. Georgia - Losing Silas Demary Jr. to UConn and Asa Newell to the NBA is going to very likely affect this team for the upcoming season. 

15. LSU - a team that was 3-15 in conference record last season

16. South Carolina - they finished the conference with a record of 2-16

We think there still is so much talent in this conference and still could be deeper than other conferences in college basketball. There could be numerous teams that can make a run at the conference title but we think Tennessee has the most balanced team offensively and defensively out of them all. They’ve already proved their top 5 KenPom defense which they’ve held for five straight seasons and now add shooting and experience with Ja'kobi Gillespie along with shooting, scoring and length with Nate Ament. We think this team has an edge over the others especially considering Florida's key three guard departures and Kentucky's brand new team who was outside the top 50 last year in KenPom defense.