Men’s basketball SEC Power Rankings for Jan. 15: Vols move up

Last week: Lost to the Auburn Tigers; Defeated the Florida Gators

Last rank: 7th

If we’re talking pure talent, of course the Ole Miss Rebels are not a Top 5 team in the SEC. But for right now, they clearly belong at No. 5 in our SEC Power Rankings, and it’s pretty hard for anybody to dispute that.

Andy Kennedy’s team may have the No. 92 ranked RPI due to its 10-7 record. However, they have the No. 37 ranked strength of schedule and no bad losses on their resume.

Their only two losses in the conference are to the Georgia Bulldogs and Auburn Tigers on the road. No shame there. And the Auburn loss is where we pick them up.

Ole Miss lost to the Tigers last week. There’s no shame in a road loss to such an elite team. But how they followed that up is why we have them now at No. 5 in our SEC Power Rankings.

These guys scored a huge win against the Florida Gators, who were No. 1 in our SEC Power Rankings last week. There’s no understating how big of a win that was for these guys.

Currently, they have two solid wins against Florida and the South Carolina Gamecocks. They have four Top 100 RPI wins overall. And their seven losses are all to Top 100 RPI teams. As a result, it’s safe to say these guys are hitting pars right now, but Florida is one win that stands out better than that.

Going forward, we’re about to really see if they can keep this spot. They have two road games this week against the now-healthy Texas A&M Aggies and Arkansas Razorbacks. Then they host the Alabama Crimson Tide, visit the Texas Longhorns, host Auburn for a second match-up, and visit the Tennessee Vols. That’s five straight games against Top 50 RPI teams. So here’s their chance to move up.