The SEC dominated men’s college basketball in 2024-25 in an unprecedented manner; it sent a record 14 teams to the NCAA Tournament and boasted four of the top-six teams in the final AP Poll of the season, one of which was the national champion Florida Gators.

SEC teams played 78 Quad 1 games in their non-conference schedule per NET rating in 2025-25 and won an astounding 59 of them. This year, however, the SEC has a losing record of 27-39 in these games— a very concerning decline.

The teams at the top of the conference have been the most disappointing, as even though the SEC won the annual ACC-SEC Challenge 9-7, it won just one of three ranked matchups. Entering January, the SEC has no teams ranked in the top 10 — and concerns about the league’s competitiveness are growing just as conference play is slated to begin.

The Hustler is breaking down the biggest storylines in SEC basketball so far this season, from emerging contenders to the league’s biggest disappointments.

Juggernauts

Vanderbilt has been the best team in the SEC through non-conference play. The Commodores boast a perfect 13-0 record that includes three Quad 1 and three Quad 2 wins, including victories in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament and the ACC-SEC Challenge. They are ranked highly in just about every metric — No. 8 in KenPom, No. 7 in NET and No. 11 in the most recent AP Poll.

The Commodores have a notoriously high-flying offense, which ranks among the best in the country. Transfer guard Duke Miles is their leading scorer, putting up 17.1 points a night as he thrives when attacking the hoop. Forward Tyler Nickel has been one of the best shooters in the nation, knocking down 3.7 3-pointers a night on 48.5% shooting.

Per KenPom, Vanderbilt will be the favorite in all but one of their remaining games. They will have a stout test early on in conference play against Alabama on Jan. 7, however.

The Crimson Tide have been elite themselves this year, slated as the No. 14 team in the AP Poll. Head coach Nate Oats’ group is coming off five consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and has made the Elite Eight the last two years.

This offseason, Alabama lost star guard Mark Sears to the professional ranks, but sophomore Labaron Philon has filled his shoes with a leap in production. Philon is averaging 21.9 points per game while being the team’s primary facilitator, putting up 5.6 assists each night. He is squarely in the conversation for Naismith Player of the Year.

Alabama has had a gauntlet schedule thus far, which has included five ranked matchups. They won two of them, against Illinois and St. John’s, but lost the others to Gonzaga, Purdue and Arizona, who are each currently in the AP top five. It also has a hard start to the SEC season, facing Kentucky and Vanderbilt, but its experiences in non-conference play have made it the most battle-tested team in the conference.

Sleeping giants

The Tennessee Volunteers have been a conundrum so far this season. They have one of the most talented rosters in college basketball and the highest quality wins of any SEC team over then-No. 3 Houston and No. 11 Louisville. The Volunteers had a rough three-game skid between those victories, though, where they dropped a game to a 5-3 Syracuse team in the ACC-SEC Challenge.

The Volunteers have been noticeably undisciplined early, but their young roster is still learning to play together. Maryland transfer Ja’Kobi Gillespie has taken the reins of the offense, averaging 17.8 points and 5.8 assists a game. First year Nate Ament is a projected lottery pick who has shown a lot of talent playing a point-forward role despite shooting struggles. Tennessee also has great bigs in Felix Okpara and Jaylen Carey, who grab over 13 boards a game. It does not have the hardest start to conference play, and it will have the opportunity to continue to gain chemistry as the season goes on.

Florida, however, has struggled despite having returned much of its National Championship core from last year. The Gators, who had four losses in all of 2024-25, matched that number in early December. All their defeats came by extremely close margins, though, with just 15 points being the difference between a perfect record and 9-4.

The Gators still boast one of the best defenses in the nation, anchored by center Rueben Chinyelu and an aggressive backcourt. Offensively, Florida lacks the 3-point shooting prowess that propelled them through March Madness, but the Gators are still elite around the rim, possessing five double-digit scorers. If this squad improves in clutch situations, they are still one of the best in the country.

Kentucky also received lots of preseason hype, entering 2025-26 ranked No. 9. The Wildcats have flashed their potential, especially in a recent ranked win over St. John’s, but have had some growing pains facing a “trial by fire” non-conference schedule. Mark Pope’s program has been humbled on multiple occasions, losing to Gonzaga by 35 points and Michigan State by 17.

Their offense runs through senior floor general Otega Oweh, who leads the Wildcats in scoring with 14.2 points per game. Oweh is elite in pick-and-roll sets, but Kentucky has struggled to generate offense outside of him. Much of its struggles feel mental, as the Wildcats have been hitting just 33.7% of their jump shots. Pope will hope to rally his troops out of their funk but hopes for a ninth program national title seem grim.

Dangerous

Legendary coach John Calipari and the Arkansas Razorbacks have followed up their surprising Sweet Sixteen run last year with fantastic play this fall. They play very disciplined basketball, boasting the second-lowest turnover percentage in Division I, which will help them win SEC games that often feature heightened defensive pressure. Arkansas has two Quad 1 wins against Louisville and Texas Tech, and each of their losses came in close games.

The Razorbacks’ backcourt of Darius Acuff and Meleek Thomas complement each other perfectly. Acuff is a true freshman from Detroit, and his playstyle mirrors that of his hometown Pistons’ guard Cade Cunningham: a powerful guard who can facilitate at an elite level. Thomas is a high-volume scorer who is much faster and more aggressive than Acuff. This duo, along with Hall-of-Fame-caliber coaching, makes Arkansas a scary matchup for any SEC team.

Auburn, though, notably lost its famed coach, Bruce Pearl, this offseason to retirement. His son Steven took over a team that won the SEC regular season and made the Final Four last season. The younger Pearl went 9-4 in his first 13 games as a head coach, excelling against weaker competition but going 1-4 in ranked games, losing three of which by more than 20 points.

Pearl and his squad are still finding their identity but are still a very talented group. UCF transfer Keyshawn Hall has been instantly impactful, scoring 20.1 points per game through bullying opponents in the post. Like other physical centers, he gets hacked a lot and takes over eight foul shots per game — he’s also shooting 87.9% from the charity stripe. Other players like sophomore Tahaad Pettiford have found their offensive groove in December, as Auburn looks like a lock to at least find itself in March Madness.

The Georgia Bulldogs are also in a good position for the postseason, as they started the year with a 12-1 record. Their loss came in an overtime battle against Clemson, which has been their only Quad 1 competition, but the Bulldogs are 3-0 in Quad 2 games with an average margin of victory of 18 points.

Georgia loves to push the tempo, especially in fast-break situations. They are the second-fastest team in the nation, with an average possession time of just 14.1 seconds. They finish well around the rim, shooting 63.2% as a team from inside the arc. Guard Jeremiah Wilkinson leads the way as a great downhill attacker, shooting over 67% from the paint at just 6’1. Analytics sites rate the Bulldogs highly despite their lack of competition — ranking in the top 25 in both NET rating and KenPom.

Bubble watch

LSU is also a one-loss team entering conference play but was dismantled in its defeat to Texas Tech, which outrebounded the undersized Tigers 48-33. Star forward Jalen Reed, who was LSU’s tallest rotation player at 6’10, suffered a torn Achilles in early December and is out for the season. Still, the Tigers pulled out a Quad 1 win against SMU without Reed and can hope to confuse their opponents with pass-first small-ball in a similar fashion to what Vanderbilt did last year.

Texas has a 9-4 record but has gone 1-4 in Quad 1 and 2 games so far. There is a lot to like about the Longhorns, though, as they dominate the boards and rank seventh in Division I in rebound margin. Center Matas Vokietaitis has been difficult to box out at 7’0 and 255 pounds, grabbing 6.8 rebounds a game. The Lithuanian is also the team’s leading scorer at 15.8 points a night, nearly half of which come from free throws as he leads the nation in fouls drawn. Texas’s size will make it a mismatch for many SEC teams, and they will have a chance to be very competitive in conference play.

Oklahoma has been solid this year, with a 10-3 record and a Quad 1 win in a blowout over Wake Forest. The Sooners shoot an incredibly efficient 48.5% from the field as a team, with guard Nigel Pack being perhaps the most efficient scorer in the country. The sixth-year senior has shooting splits of 49.7/47.5/88.2 and puts up 16.3 points a night. The Sooners have an easy schedule to start SEC play and will have the opportunity to gain confidence before taking on better teams.

Works in progress

Ole Miss has lost all five of its games against Power Five schools but boasts an elite defense that holds opponents to just 41% from the field. Malik Dia is still the Rebels’ best player, putting up 14.5 points and 7.5 rebounds a game. The overall morale around this team in Oxford is low, but the team still has most of its key pieces from its Sweet Sixteen appearance last year if it can salvage its chemistry.

Texas A&M has a 10-3 record against a weaker schedule but has shown some flashes of excellence. First-year coach Bucky McMillan runs a very old-school offense, with triangle-style passing sets. The Aggies are third in the country in assists per field goal as a result, but struggle to score in isolation, which will be hard to deal with in a superstar-driven league.

Missouri was playing decent basketball until December 22, when Illinois manhandled the Tigers 91-48 for the biggest loss in program history. The Illini exposed Missouri’s poor 3-point shooting, holding them to 27% from behind the arc. Missouri still has great players — point-forward Mark Mitchell’s numbers are up across the board from his incredible 2024-25 season, but his turnover averages are up from 1.6 to 2.4 a game. The Tigers’ first conference matchup is at home against Florida, which will be very telling as to whether they can compete in the SEC or not this year.

Rough watches

Mississippi State was an eight-seed in the NCAA Tournament last year but has been one of the worst teams in the Power Five this fall. The Bulldogs have dropped five games to this point, including one against mid-major San Francisco at home. Guard Josh Hubbard is still one of the best scorers in college basketball, but his supporting cast has been subpar. It doesn’t help that the team shoots an abysmal 33.1% from deep. It is looking to be a hard next few months for Mississippi State basketball.

South Carolina is currently 9-4 and has yet to beat a Power Five team. It has looked sluggish against mid-major competition as well, needing overtime to defeat Southern Mississippi and having the SEC’s worst margin of victory. The Gamecocks do not have any players scoring more than 14 points per game. The one bright spot for South Carolina is that social media sensation and freshman guard Eli Ellis has been better than expected, putting up 10.1 points per game.

All sixteen SEC Men’s Basketball teams tip off conference play on Saturday, January 3.