SEC Men's Basketball Power Rankings: Week 5

Alabama cracks the top 10 as we head into the first SEC matchups of the 2020-2021 season

Author:
Joey Blackwell
Publish date:
Dec 27, 2020 1:00 PM EST

We made it.

SEC play is finally upon us, with every school in the conference set to face a conference foe either this Tuesday or Wednesday.

Alabama got just what it needed last Tuesday night in a solid 85-69 victory over East Tennessee State. While the Buccaneers are hardly up to the caliber of SEC competition, Nate Oats and his squad needed some form of mental victory heading in their conference schedule.

While a win going into Christmas was certainly needed, Alabama will need to keep its heads up heading into its SEC opener against a 5-1 Ole Miss team on Tuesday night in Coleman Coliseum. For now, Alabama just cracks the top 10, with plenty of room for upward mobility should it be able to turn its season around against SEC opponents.

Florida slides to sixth this week due to frequent COVID-19 problems with both itself and its opponents. While we usually allow leeway due to these uncontrollable issues, the Gators have not played an opponent since Dec. 12, having its last four non-conference games cancelled or postponed.

Florida takes on Vanderbilt on Wednesday in its conference opener.

Kentucky falls out of the top 10 with yet another loss this past week, bringing the Wildcats to an overall record of 1-6. It appears that John Calipari and his team bit off more than they could chew with its difficult non-conference games to start the season, but the Wildcats will look to turn around their fortune heading into 2021.

Kentucky's SEC opener against South Carolina has been postponed due to COVID-19 issues, but it hopes to rebound on Jan. 2 when it travels to Mississippi State. For now, the Wildcats fall to 11th after a loss on the road at Louisville.

With football out of the way, the basketball power rankings will now be released every Sunday morning for the remainder of the season. Without further ado, here are the rankings heading into the first SEC matchups of the 2020-2021 season: