The real season has begun.
SEC men's basketball play tipped off over the weekend with Oklahoma suffering its first loss of the season to Alabama in a top-10 matchup. The Sooners' and Crimson Tide's clash was one of three games on Saturday that featured a pair of ranked teams.
It was just one day, but Saturday alone was probably more telling than the entire nonconference slate in discovering who the best teams really are in the SEC. With that, here are the SEC power rankings after the opening week of conference play.
16. South Carolina (10-4, 0-1)
The Gamecocks assured their spot at the bottom with an 85-50 loss to Mississippi State. The Bulldogs are a top-20 team, but it was still a bad loss by 35 points. There were times in the game where the Gamecocks couldn't even get the basketball to the rim.
15. LSU (11-3, 0-1)
LSU was the only SEC team on Saturday to lose to an unranked opponent, falling to Vanderbilt 80-72. That speaks volumes of the conference, but also does not bold well for the Tigers. But in LSU's defense, it was the only game of the weekend that didn't include at least one ranked team.
14. Texas (11-3, 0-1)
Texas was smacked by Texas A&M, 80-60. The Aggies are a top-15 team, but a 20-point loss is still ugly no matter who it's to. Folks in Austin are already wondering who their next basketball coach will be.
13. Georgia (12-2, 0-1)
Georgia struggled to get points on the board in a 63-51 loss to Ole Miss, and points are important to win basketball games. The Bulldogs weren't tested at all during their nonconference schedule, but now, barring an upset, they probably won't win a game in the month of January.
12. Vanderbilt (13-1, 1-0)
Vanderbilt got the win on Saturday over LSU, but we still don't know what the Commodores are made of. Although they won, the Commodores need to notch a better win than that to prove they deserve to move up.
11. Missouri (11-3, 0-1)
Missouri might have lost 84-68, but the Tigers had quite the challenge against No. 2 Auburn on the road. There's not much to come from this game other than a preview of what Auburn will do to other conference teams most of this season.
10. Arkansas (11-3, 0-1)
Like Missouri, Arkansas also ran into a buzzsaw in a 76-52 loss to No. 1 Tennessee. The Razorbacks aren't at the top, but they certainly won't finish the season the way they looked on Saturday.
9. Oklahoma (13-1, 0-1)
The Sooners had a daunting task against Alabama on the road, but it's still hard to put them above any of the SEC teams that won after that showing. Oklahoma was never really in this one and was down double digits most of the time. However, OU is the best SEC team right now without a conference win.
8. Ole Miss (12-2, 1-0)
The Rebels handled Georgia 63-51, but was it a defensive showcase or just struggling offenses? Defense travels so we'll soon find out how good Ole Miss' defense really is.
7. Mississippi State (13-1, 1-0)
The Bulldogs hammered South Carolina 85-50, but the win was also against the worst team in the SEC. Mississippi State certainly deserves to be this high but still needs to prove more to move any higher.
6. Texas A&M (12-2, 1-0)
Although Texas is struggling, the Longhorns still always have talent and a respectable team. But still, nothing was respectful when Texas A&M beat them by 20 points. The Aggies did enough to prove they're legit, and next they'll be in Norman on Wednesday night.
5. Florida (13-1, 0-1)
The Gators lost on Saturday, but it was their first loss of the season and was a close 106-100 deficit to a top-10 Kentucky team on the road. Florida is still one of the best basketball teams in the country.
4. Kentucky (12-2, 1-0)
And now the squad that beat a really good Florida team. Even after that impressive win, though, Kentucky still isn't one of the three best teams in the SEC, which proves how insanely loaded this conference is.
3. Alabama (12-2, 1-0)
Oklahoma has a great basketball team, but you wouldn't know that against Alabama, and credit goes to the Crimson Tide for that. This is a Final Four caliber team.
2. Auburn (13-1, 1-0)
This is the only conference in America that Auburn wouldn't be No. 1 in right now. The Tigers thumped Missouri 84-68 and will continue to have similar outcomes.
1. Tennessee (14-0, 1-0)
The only team in the country that can say it's better than Auburn right now. Tennessee destroyed a ranked Arkansas team 76-52 to remain the only undefeated team left in college basketball.