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This week in SEC hoops: Teams tightly bunched behind 'Bama

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While Saturday's SEC-Big 12 Challenge didn't impact the league standings, it came with plenty of drama, as well as bragging rights for the SEC, which took five of the nine matchups. Missouri pulled off a furious comeback to beat TCU in overtime; Alabama saw its 10-game winning streak snapped at the hands of Oklahoma; Florida upset West Virginia on the road; Tennessee emerged from its recent funk by throttling Kansas.

Now, the focus shifts back to the battle for conference tournament seeding. Alabama remains three games clear of the rest of the league, but behind the Crimson Tide is a logjam. Four teams currently have three league losses, including Missouri, and two more have four. This week could represent a significant opportunity for a few of those teams to separate themselves from the pack. Here is our weekly look back at last week's results, the full league standings and games to watch this week.

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Florida has won four games in a row, including an upset of West Virginia on the road Saturday.
Florida has won four games in a row, including an upset of West Virginia on the road Saturday. (Dale Sparks)
SEC Standings
Team Overall record League record Last week NET Ranking

Alabama

14-4

9-0

won vs. Kentucky, lost at Oklahoma

10

Florida

10-4

6-3

won vs. Vanderbilt, won at West Virginia

19

LSU

11-5

6-3

won at Texas A&M, lost vs. Texas Tech

39

Tennessee

12-3

5-3

won vs. Mississippi State, won vs. Kansas

9

Missouri

11-3

4-3

lost at Auburn, won vs. TCU

30

Arkansas

13-5

5-4

won vs. Ole Miss, lost at Oklahoma State

33

Kentucky

5-10

4-4

lost at Alabama

74

Auburn

10-8

4-5

won vs. Missouri, lost at Baylor

60

Mississippi State

10-8

4-5

lost at Tennessee, won vs. Iowa State

79

South Carolina

4-6

2-4

won vs. Georgia, lost at Vanderbilt

106

Ole Miss

8-8

3-6

lost at Arkansas, lost at Georgia

75

Georgia

10-6

3-6

lost at South Carolina, won vs. Ole Miss

107

Texas A&M

8-7

2-6

lost vs. LSU, won at Kansas State

129

Vanderbilt

5-8

1-6

lost at Florida, won vs. South Carolina

148

Risers and Fallers

Only two SEC teams won both of their matchups last week. One of those was Florida, which has taken over the title of hottest team in the league. The Gators lost preseason SEC Player of the Year Keyontae Johnson for the season during non-conference play and struggled early in January, losing three out of four games. Since then, they've won four in a row, including a 26-point beatdown of Tennessee and Saturday's 85-80 upset of No. 17 West Virginia in Morgantown. Sophomore guard Tre Mann has scored at least a dozen points in five of his past six games, while forward Colin Castleton averaged 17 points and 6 rebounds in Florida's two wins last week. Tennessee also looks to have put a rough patch behind it. The Volunteers got whipped by Florida and beaten at home by Missouri in consecutive games two weeks ago but bounced back by squeaking out a win against Mississippi State on Tuesday, then blitzing No. 23 Kansas by 19. Tennessee's defense is back to looking like one of the best in the country. After giving up an average of 74 points per game in its two losses, Rick Barnes' team allowed 53 to Mississippi State and 61 to Kansas.

Ole Miss had the worst week in the league. After showing signs of life by winning two games in a row, the Rebels lost by 25 at Arkansas then by 10 at Georgia. They look like the biggest disappointment in the league so far this season not named Kentucky. Speaking of the Wildcats, they didn't have a great week, either, first getting blown out by Alabama for a second time this season then losing a chance at a much-needed signature win when their Saturday matchup against No. 6 Texas got canceled due to COVID-19. Kentucky is scheduled to travel to Missouri on Tuesday. Whether or not that matchup gets played is still up in the air. Finally, South Carolina has to get a mention in the fallers category for earning the dubious distinction of becoming the first league team to lose to Vanderbilt this season. Vanderbilt entered that game averaging 72.4 points on the season. South Carolina's porous defense allowed the Commodores to put up 93.

Mizzou opponent tracker

As mentioned above, Missouri is still scheduled to host Kentucky on Tuesday, but it's unclear whether that game will be played. The Wildcats announced a 48-hour pause of team activities on Friday due to a positive COVID-19 test. Tiger fans would probably like to see the game happen, as Kentucky is having a rough stretch in a rough season, having lost four of its past five games.

Saturday, Missouri will host No. 10 Alabama in one of the biggest SEC matchups of the season. Since the Tigers and Crimson Tide only play once this season, Missouri probably represents the best chance for any team to catch Alabama and win the regular-season crown (although even with a win Saturday, doing so seems unlikely). The Tide suddenly look a lot more vulnerable than they did a week ago. Their three-point shooting has cooled off a bit and they have failed to score more than 70 points in consecutive games after topping that number in 11 previous outings in a row. A win would represent Missouri's third victory this season over a team ranked in the top 10 at the time.

This week's schedule

Tuesday, Feb. 2

Tennessee at Ole Miss: 6 p.m., ESPN2

Georgia at Auburn: 6 p.m., SEC Network

Kentucky at Missouri: 8 p.m., ESPN/ESPN2

Mississippi State at Arkansas: 8 p.m., SEC Network

Wednesday, Feb. 3

South Carolina at Florida: 5:30 p.m, SEC Network

LSU at Alabama: 6 p.m., ESPN2

Vanderbilt at Texas A&M: 7:30 p.m., SEC Network

Saturday, Feb. 6

Alabama at Missouri: 11 a.m., ESPN

Vanderbilt at Georgia: 12 p.m., SEC Network

Florida at LSU, 1 p.m., ESPN/ESPN2

Mississippi State at South Carolina, 2:30 p.m., SEC Network

Ole Miss at Auburn: 3 p.m., ESPN2

Texas A&M at Arkansas: 5 p.m., SEC Network

Tennessee at Kentucky: 7 p.m., ESPN


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