It’s too soon to crown either the Alabama Crimson Tide or Auburn Tigers as SEC champions, but the Iron Bowl of Basketball is set up to feature at least two massive showdowns this season.
Auburn, soon to be ranked No. 1 in the polls for the fourth consecutive week, heads to Coleman Coliseum on Feb. 15 for a game that should warrant a visit from ESPN’s College GameDay. Alabama (No. 3, Coaches Poll) will make the trek to the Plains to close out the regular season against Bruce Pearl’s Tigers on March 8.
Given the way the 2024-25 college basketball season is shaping up, it may take at least one more meeting — in the SEC Tournament or NCAA Tournament — to determine the better team. As it stands now, the Tigers and Crimson Tide continue to outpace the rest of the SEC and pulled away even further from the pack this past week.
Auburn and star forward Johni Broome won at both LSU and at No. 23 Ole Miss with relatively little trouble last week. Alabama survived an upset scare at No. 14 Mississippi State on Wednesday before soundly beating Georgia in Tuscaloosa behind 20 points from Mark Sears.
Elsewhere in conference play, the Florida Gators fell in a top 10 matchup to the Tennessee Volunteers, who managed to avoid a third straight defeat with a 64-44 win in Knoxville to split the regular season series. Perhaps a third head-to-head clash in the postseasons awaits these two rivals, as well.
Auburn wasn’t the only group of Tigers that continued to rise this week; Missouri beat both Ole Miss and then Mississippi State, the latter in a blowout in Starkville on Saturday. Coach Dennis Gates’ team sits in third place in the SEC, a year after Missouri went winless in conference play.
Further down the standings, Kentucky suffered its third loss in four games when John Calipari returned to Rupp Arena for the first time since his hasty exit from Lexington. Cal’s Arkansas Razorbacks beat Kentucky, 89-79, for just their second win in SEC action.
With the midway point of conference play here, here’s an updated look at the current SEC landscape.
Updated SEC basketball Standings by conference record, win percentage after Week 5 in league play
1. Auburn Tigers (8-0, 1.000)
2. Alabama Crimson Tide (8-1, .889)
3. Missouri Tigers (6-2, .750)
4. Texas A&M Aggies (6-3, .667)
5. Florida Gators (5-3, .625)
T-6. Tennessee Volunteers (5-4, .556)
T-6. Ole Miss Rebels (5-4, .556)
T-8. Vanderbilt Commodores (4-4, .500)
T-8. Kentucky Wildcats (4-4, .500)
T-10. Mississippi State Bulldogs (4-5, .444)
T-10. Texas Longhorns (4-5, .444)
12. Oklahoma Sooners (3-5, .375)
13. Georgia Bulldogs (3-6, .333)
14. Arkansas Razorbacks (2-6, .250)
15. LSU Tigers (1-7, .125)
16. South Carolina Gamecocks (0-9, 0.00)
Overall SEC team records after Week 13 in college basketball
1. Auburn (20-1)
2. Alabama (19-3)
3. Florida (18-3)
4. Tennessee (18-4)
5. Missouri (17-4)
6. Texas A&M (17-5)
T-7. Oklahoma (16-5)
T-7. Vanderbilt (16-5)
T-9. Mississippi State (16-6)
T-9. Ole Miss (16-6)
11. Kentucky (15-6)
T-12. Georgia (15-7)
T-12. Texas (15-7)
14. Arkansas (13-8)
15. LSU (12-9)
16. South Carolina (10-12)
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