Men’s basketball SEC Power Rankings for Jan. 8: Vols in top half

Former Tennessee Vols coach Bruce Pearl ironically hit his stride with the Auburn Tigers in his fourth year…by upsetting Tennessee in Knoxville. And now, he has his team 14-1 and 2-0 in the SEC with that win and then a win against a team that beat the Vols, the Arkansas Razorbacks.

It has finally all come together for Pearl, and that’s why we have Auburn No. 2 in our SEC Power Rankings. This team has been great to watch, and they are running Pearl’s system flawlessly.

Before SEC play, there were legitimate questions about this team’s 12-1 record. After all, they hadn’t really played anybody. However, as the conference is doing this year, the start of SEC play boosted their RPI.

And with the schedule strength going up along with the wins, their RPI shot up. They are now No. 13 in the ratings, just behind the Kentucky Wildcats and Vols. We have them ahead of both of those teams in our SEC Power Rankings.

Make no mistake, those were two huge wins last week. This team is deep enough, running nine guys who average 15 minutes or more a game. And they are very diverse, which makes them dangerous. This is the year Pearl needed to prove he has things going.

But there are some tests coming up to make sure this wasn’t a fluke. Auburn has the Mississippi schools this week, hosting the Ole Miss Rebels and then visiting the Mississippi State Bulldogs. They have a great chance to win both to move to 4-0 in the conference and challenge the next team for the top spot in our SEC Power Rankings.