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

Last week: Defeated the Mississippi State Bulldogs; Lost to the Ole Miss Rebels

Last rank: 1st

The Florida Gators got off to a red-hot start in conference play. And after moving to 4-0, we had to keep them at No. 1 in our SEC Power Rankings. But just as beating them had a major effect on Ole Miss’s standing here, that same game also had a negative effect on Florida’s standing.

Mike White’s team had to drop to No. 4 in our SEC Power Rankings because of what the loss means for their overall body of work. Yes, they are 4-1. But the Gators’ best win in that stretch is on the road against the Missouri Tigers.

That’s not a bad win, to be fair. The problem is there’s nothing impressive about their road win against the Texas A&M Aggies when that team was so limited. And two home wins agains the Vanderbilt Commodores and Mississippi State Bulldogs don’t say much.

As a result, they’ve benefitted from an easy SEC schedule so far overall, relative to the rest of the conference at least. That’s why we dropped them to here.

To be fair, these guys still have a No. 29 ranked strength of schedule and are No. 40 in the RPI. So they have still played tough teams, and they have some very quality wins.

This week is where we really get to test them. The Gators have arguably their two toughest games yet, at least by the RPI’s standards. They host the Arkansas Razorbacks in a game that’s winnable but will at least count as a quality win. Then they visit the next team in our SEC Power Rankings.