Ranking the top three SEC Player of the Year candidates in 2025-26

Kentucky's Otega Oweh has a really good case for this award heading into the season.

Feb 11, 2025; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Otega Oweh (00) fives a teammate during the second half against the Tennessee Volunteers at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images | Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

The SEC will be losing a bunch of their top talent from last season in 2025-26 as Auburn's Johni Broome, Alabama's Mark Sears, Texas A&M's Wade Taylor, Florida's Walter Clayton Jr., Tennessee's Chaz Lanier and South Carolina's Collin Murray-Boyles, among others, have all departed. That opens the door for some others to be seen as early frontrunners for SEC Player of the Year, including the possibility of some of the candidates being incoming transfers.

Kentucky WIldcats on SI takes a look at three early SEC POTY candidates, ranking them in order.

1. Otega Oweh - Kentucky

Mar 23, 2025; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Otega Oweh (00) reacts during the second half in the second round of the NCAA Tournament against the Illinois Fighting Illini at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images | Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

Kentucky fans will love to hear this. The door is very open for returning star guard Otega Oweh to be the frontrunner for SEC POTY. The 6-4 guard averaged 16.2 points (11th in SEC), 4.7 rebounds and 49.2 percent overall (5th in SEC) as well as 35.5 percent from deep last season under Mark Pope. It was clear when Pope built the 2025-26 roster that it was built around Oweh as the centerpiece. Oweh was named All-SEC Second Team in a conference stacked with talent last season. All of the key departures within the SEC should open the door for him being the best player in the conference next season. When thinking about the feedback he recieved from NBA scouts, there's no questioning Oweh taking another leap in production as he looks to become more well-rounded.

2. Josh Hubbard - Mississippi State

Mar 1, 2025; Starkville, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs guard Josh Hubbard (12) gets set to shoot a free throw against the LSU Tigers during the second half at Humphrey Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Wesley Hale-Imagn Images | Wesley Hale-Imagn Images

Hubbard, like Oweh, is clearly one of the best players returning to the SEC next season. The 5-11 offensive juggernaut of a point guard averaged 18.9 points last season, which ranked 2nd overall in the SEC. He also dished out 3.1 assists per game, as well as 2.1 rebounds. Hubbard even shot a whopping 34.5 percent from three-point range on an impressive 9.2 attempts per game. He is another returning SEC player with not just the valuable experience, but is also a proven talent in the conference.

3. Tahaad Pettiford - Auburn

Mar 28, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; Auburn Tigers guard Tahaad Pettiford (0) celebrates in the second half of a South Regional semifinal of the 2025 NCAA tournament against the Michigan Wolverines at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Pettiford helped lead Auburn to the Final Four last season averaging 11.6 points, 3.0 assists and 2.2 rebounds per game. The 6-1 point guard was impressive coming off the bench for much of the season, which he played some quality minutes. It's worth noting that Pettiford had the second-highest usage rate on the Tigers squad behind Johni Broome, according to KenPom. But it was his postseason play that has many around Auburn excited for what could be in store for him next season. In the NCAA Tournament, Pettiford had scoring splits of 16-23-20-10-7, which led to him starting down the stretch of the season, and he will be looking to build on his impressive freshman season with a promising year two jump as the only key returnee from their Final Four run.

These three players should headline the top frontrunners for SEC POTY heading into next season, and for Kentucky fans, they should be really excited for what Oweh is expected to do in 2025-26.