With nine representatives in the top 25 of last week’s USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll and 14 teams still holding on to realistic NCAA Tournament aspirations, there’s no such thing as a dull moment in SEC men’s basketball.
This past week was no exception.
No. 1 Auburn continued its tear through the conference, with road victories against LSU and Ole Miss that made Bruce Pearl’s team the first major-conference squad with 20 wins this season. After defeating Mississippi State and Georgia, Alabama has now won 13 of its past 14 games. Kentucky and Tennessee showed the feast-or-famine nature of league play, with the shorthanded Wildcats knocking off the Vols in Knoxville only to turn around four days later and lose to Arkansas in John Calipari’s return to Rupp Arena. Rick Barnes’ squad then beat Florida by 20, despite missing two of its best players in Zakai Zeigler and Igor Milicic.
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How will those results affect the broader national landscape and where these various SEC teams fit into it?
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Here are the latest updates of where SEC teams stand in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll and AP Top 25:
Men’s college basketball rankings for Feb. 3
USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll
SEC teams in bold. First-place votes in parentheses.
- Auburn (29)
- Duke (2)
- Alabama
- Tennessee
- Houston
- Florida
- Purdue
- Iowa State
- Michigan State
- St. John’s
- Marquette
- Texas Tech
- Texas A&M
- Kentucky
- Memphis
- Missouri
- Kansas
- UConn
- Wisconsin
- Arizona
- Clemson
- Michigan
- Saint Mary’s
- Maryland
- Illinois
Others receiving votes: Mississippi State 88; Ole Miss 70; Louisville 50; Creighton 44; Oregon 31; New Mexico 18; UCLA 7; West Virginia 6; Utah State 4; Gonzaga 4; Drake 2; BYU 2; UC Irvine 1; Baylor 1.
AP Top 25
SEC teams in bold. First-place votes in parentheses.
- Auburn (62)
- Duke
- Alabama
- Tennessee
- Houston
- Florida
- Purdue
- Iowa State
- Michigan State
- Texas A&M
- Marquette
- St. John’s
- Texas Tech
- Kentucky
- Missouri
- Kansas
- Memphis
- Maryland
- UConn
- Arizona
- Wisconsin
- Mississippi State
- Illinois
- Michigan
- Ole Miss
Others receiving votes: Clemson 182; Saint Mary’s 136; Louisville 86; Creighton 50; Oregon 39; UCLA 26; New Mexico 23; Drake 18; Gonzaga 11; Utah State 8; Vanderbilt 4; Baylor 3; George Mason 3; Texas 1; Oklahoma 1
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