Men’s basketball SEC Power Rankings for Jan. 22: Vols lose ground

Last week: Defeated LSU Tigers; Lost to Auburn Tigers

Last rank: 11th

Nothing was really going to change for the Georgia Bulldogs this week. They simply broke even by losing to the No. 1 team in last week’s SEC Power Rankings and beating the worst team in this week’s SEC Power Rankings.

However, the LSU Tigers were higher than the Dawgs last week. So clearly, as you can see, we didn’t give Georgia too much credit for beating LSU. We just significantly knocked down LSU in the process, while keeping UGA here.

Mark Fox’s team is very much a middle of the road SEC team this year, but that is pretty good considering the depth of the conference. And despite their No. 59 ranked strength of schedule, their quality wins and record are enough to keep them at No. 51 in the RPI.

As a result, this team is squarely on the bubble. And it has a lot of work to do to get some breathing room. That work begins with a couple of key tests this week.

Georgia hosts the Arkansas Razorbacks in a huge match-up first. Then they travel on the road to face the Kansas State Wildcats in the SEC-Big 12 challenges. K-State is a bubble team to, making this a huge game. The Dawgs need to win both of these to be in good shape going forward. If they do, they have a chance to begin a streak. And that could put them firmly in the NCAA Tournament.