All for Tennessee
Fansided

All for Tennessee Official Men’s Basketball SEC Power Rankings for Jan. 23: A Clear Top 2

By Caleb Calhoun

facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
13 of 15
Next
Jan 21, 2017; Gainesville, FL, USA; Florida Gators center John Egbunu (15) and Vanderbilt Commodores forward Jeff Roberson (11) wait for the rebound to fall during the first half of an NCAA basketball game at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 21, 2017; Gainesville, FL, USA; Florida Gators center John Egbunu (15) and Vanderbilt Commodores forward Jeff Roberson (11) wait for the rebound to fall during the first half of an NCAA basketball game at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports /

The Florida Gators went on an unacceptable two-game losing streak last week but only dropped one spot in our SEC Power Rankings.

Really, what their losses did was show that Mike White’s team is just on a tier below the top tier of the conference.

Their first loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks showed that, but there’s no shame there. The next loss, a home one to the Vanderbilt Commodores, is what showed that they are on a lower tier. Those other SEC teams should not be capable of taking down the Gators.

Still, they had done enough to that point that there was no reason to drop them outside of the Top 3.

These guys have a very balanced offense and play lockdown defense. They just happened to take the Commodores lightly.

But at 14-5, this team is still flirting with the Top 10 in the RPI because of its No. 2 ranked strength of schedule. Florida did not back down, facing up to Gonzaga, Duke, and Florida State in the non-conference schedule.

That they lost all three didn’t matter.

This week, the schedule takes a bit of a dive with the LSU Tigers and Oklahoma Sooners on the schedule. Both teams are outside of the Top 100 of the RPI and will do nothing for the Gators.

But it’s a chance for them to get back on track and win two straight to get to 16-5 before a major stretch run in the SEC. They can’t afford a slip-up to either team this week.

Home/Vols Basketball