SEC basketball power rankings after Auburn defeats Kentucky

Auburn topped Kentucky in a marquee college hoops matchup on Saturday afternoon, so now we take a look at the SEC basketball power rankings after. 

Perhaps the biggest college basketball game of the year to this point — aside from the season-opening games that are always stacked — took place on Saturday afternoon in Alabama as the Kentucky Wildcats visited the No. 2-ranked Auburn Tigers. And early on, it looked as if John Calipari’s team might pull off a massive upset.

Big Blue Nation was loving the first half as UK was not only finding the bottom of the net consistently but was throwing Bruce Pearl’s team completely out of rhythm. When it came time to head out of the locker room for the final 20 minutes, though, Auburn showed why many have them pegged as a potential title contender.

In the end, the home team pulled away for a relatively comfortable 80-71 victory that moves them to an impressive 19-1 on the season. But how does it shake up the SEC basketball hierarchy? Let’s take a look at the top-five power rankings.

SEC basketball power rankings: Does Kentucky fall after loss to Auburn?

1. Auburn Tigers

Not only are Bruce Pearl’s Tigers clearly the best team in SEC basketball to this point, they are making an undeniable case that Auburn deserves to be ranked as the No. 1 team in the country.

This team now has wins over the teams that will come in at No. 2 and 3 in these power rankings and still has only one loss on the year (a double-overtime defeat at the hands of UConn). While going undefeated in the SEC is near unheard of, the truth of the matter is that Auburn looks like they may well be capable of making that happen.

2. Kentucky Wildcats

Bar none, there might not be a bigger positive transformation in the nation than Kentucky from the start of the year to now. Yes, Coach Cal and the Wildcats just lost on the road against the Tigers. But that’s not a bad loss, especially considering they were in range for the entirety of the meeting.

The biggest concern, though, is the status of Tyty Washington, who left the game on Saturday early with an ankle injury.

3. LSU Tigers

Particularly during the non-conference schedule, the discussion around LSU was just how good of a team the Tigers were. Frankly, that hasn’t totally gone away, especially after a loss at Alabama during this past week. With that said, though, Will Wade’s team is an impressive 15-3 overall with some quality wins to their credit and have kept afloat without Xavier Pinson in the mix due to injury as of late.

4. Tennessee Volunteers

Saturday is an equally huge day for Tennessee as it was for Auburn and Kentucky. They’ll look to avenge a loss to LSU from just a couple of weeks ago, this time getting to play at home in Knoxville.

Tennessee has been hard to peg for much of the year, which their 12-5 record indicates. At their best, they’ve looked like a potential Final Four dark horse. In the instance of that loss to LSU and a blowout loss to Kentucky last week, though, the Vols have looked decidedly less impressive.

5. Texas A&M Aggies

A more extreme case than LSU, everyone has been waiting for SEC play to see exactly what Texas A&M has to offer this season. Their 15-3 record is impressive and they started with unbeaten in the conference — only they didn’t play anyone of merit. After a home loss to Kentucky and now with a matchup against Arkansas looming, though, we’ll learn quite a bit more about the Aggies in the near future.

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