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

The Ole Miss Rebels are the first team we go to in our SEC Power Rankings with a winning record in the conference. To be fair, they are only 9-6, and they have the No. 115 ranked RPI. Only the Vanderbilt Commodores have a worse RPI ranking among SEC teams.

However, there’s no denying what these guys have done in SEC play. They opened conference play beating last year’s Final Four team, the South Carolina Gamecocks. And then they just beat their in-state rival Mississippi State Bulldogs.

Those two wins have to be a jolt of energy for Andy Kennedy’s team. Now, this team still has some bad losses to Illinois State and South Dakota State. And they have a heck of a lot to prove, so perhaps we’re giving them too much love.

But they are 2-1 in the SEC with Terence Davis in one of the worst three-point shooting funks you could ever see from a guy. If he gets back to form and Deandre Burnett keeps his consistent pace up, this team could be extremely hard to stop.

The Rebels have a tough road ahead, though. Right now, they have the No. 54 ranked strength of schedule. That’ll go up with SEC play, but if Kennedy is going to finally get back to the NCAA Tournament, his team needs more quality wins.

They have three of their next four games on the road against the Auburn Tigers, Texas A&M Aggies and Arkansas Razorbacks. Their one home game is against the Florida Gators, who haven’t yet lost a conference game. And they can’t have bad shooting games like they had against the one team in the conference who’s beaten them so far. That team is next in our SEC Power Rankings.