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

Last week: Lost to the Missouri Tigers and South Carolina Gamecocks

Last rank: 6th

The Georgia Bulldogs looked like a dangerous team a week ago. After all, they scored two Top 100 RPI wins, including a home game blowout against the Alabama Crimson Tide. Their only conference loss, meanwhile, was by five points on the road against the Kentucky Wildcats.

This team looked like it could be dangerous. And we had them as one of the upper-echelon teams in our SEC Power Rankings as a result.

Following those games, the Dawgs lost to the Missouri Tigers on the road. But there’s no shame in losing there. Then came this past weekend though.

Yes, the South Carolina Gamecocks are still on the heels of last year’s Final Four appearance. But Frank Martin is coaching a rebuilding team. And there was no excuse for Mark Fox’s group to let the ‘Cocks come into Athens and steal a win.

But that’s exactly what they did. As a result, with now a losing record in the conference, we had to drop Georgia to No. 11 in our SEC Power Rankings.

It’s like the football team’s national championship loss sent a curse throughout the program. And it hit the basketball team last week. Still, this team is in the Top 60 in the RPI. And coming up, they have a chance to boost their schedule strength and score some quality wins.

This week will be brutal with two road games against the LSU Tigers and Auburn Tigers. But LSU is reasonably winnable. They have a manageable road game next week in the SEC/Big 12 challenge when they face the Kansas State Wildcats. But before then, they also get a chance for a quality win at home by facing the next team on this list.