Kentucky basketball is off to a fantastic start to the 2024-25 season with a potent offense, and a defense that has played tough when it needed to. Mark Pope and his squad are 7 – 0, and ranked sixth in the newest USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.
The Wildcats aren’t the only SEC basketball team having a good season, though. The Auburn Tigers sit at number two in the Coaches Poll, with the Tennessee Volunteers right behind them at number three.
Related: Kentucky December schedule is a gauntlet
Half of the SEC is ranked in the top 25 this week, and all 16 teams are over .500 at this point. Five of them are still undefeated, and another seven have just one loss.
SEC play is still a month away, but it promises to be a very competitive conference this season. There are a number of teams, including Kentucky, that can win it, and make a run in the NCAA Tournament.
Here are the updated SEC basketball power rankings after four weeks of action.
16
South Carolina Gamecocks
Photo by Eakin Howard/Getty Images
Record: 4 – 3
South Carolina has lost three games, but two of them came to ranked teams. They’ll be battle-tested when SEC play begins.
15
Vanderbilt Commodores
Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images
Record: 7 – 1
A loss to Drake derailed a hot start to the season, but their December schedule is manageable before they start SEC play.
14
Missouri Tigers
Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
Record: 6 – 1
Missouri took care of business this week, but hasn’t really played any stiff competition. They’ll play Kansas next week, though.
13
Arkansas Razorbacks
Beth Hall-USA TODAY Sports
Record: 5 – 2
Arkansas, like many schools, have only played two quality opponents. Unfortunately, they lost both games.
12
LSU Tigers
Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports
Record: 6 – 1
The Tigers won their last two games, but it took triple overtime against Central Florida.
11
Texas Longhorns
Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports
Record: 6 – 1
The Longhorns blew out Delaware State this week, but needs to beat some better competition to move up the list.
10
Georgia Bulldogs
Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
Record: 7 – 1
The Bulldogs have a nice win over St John’s on their resume, and will face Notre Dame this week. They’ll look to prove they should move up the list.
9
Mississippi State Bulldogs
Julie Bennett-USA TODAY Sports
Record: 6 – 1
Mississippi State took a tough loss to Butler, but get another chance to show what they can do against Pitt this week.
8
Texas A&M Aggies
Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
Record: 6 – 2
The Aggies got a couple of nice wins last week against Creighton and Rutgers, showing that despite two losses, they’re a good team.
7
Ole Miss Rebels
Petre Thomas-Imagn Images
Record: 6 – 1
Ole Miss lost to Purdue in their last game, but they kept it close, and have been very good so far this season overall.
6
Alabama Crimson Tide
Gary Cosby Jr.-Tuscaloosa News
Record: 6 – 2
The Crimson Tide are the best two-loss team in the country. They fell to a red hot Oregon Ducks team this week.
5
Oklahoma Sooners
Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports
Record: 7 – 0
The Sooners remained unbeaten this week, with impressive wins over Arizona and Louisville.
4
Florida Gators
Matt Pendleton-USA TODAY Sports
Record: 8 – 0
The Gators look impressive so far. Their schedule hasn’t been that tough, but they’ll get North Carolina in December.
3
Kentucky Wildcats
Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images
Record: 7 – 0
The Wildcats play a much tougher December schedule, and will give everyone an idea of just how good they are.
2
Tennessee Volunteers
Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports
Record: 7 – 0
The Volunteers have a couple of nice wins already this season, and will face a few more quality foes in December.
1
Auburn Tigers
Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images
Record: 7 – 0
Nobody has more quality wins this season than the Tigers, who have beaten two top five teams and a ranked North Carolina team already this year.
