Men’s basketball SEC Power Rankings Feb. 12: Vols fall back to pack

Last week: Defeated Kentucky Wildcats; Lost to Alabama Crimson Tide

Last rank: 2nd

Perhaps we’re being a bit unfair to Rick Barnes’s team. After all, if we did our SEC Power Rankings on Thursday, the Tennessee Vols would have come in at No. 1 last week following their win at the Kentucky Wildcats.

However, Kentucky lost its third straight game the following Saturday. And then the Vols lost in a blowout to the Alabama Crimson Tide. If we’re going to be serious about how you’re playing at a specific moment, then losing by 28 is worthy of a significant drop.

That weighed more heavily on the Vols than their win at Kentucky, especially when you consider the fact that they had not beaten anybody else of real significance in that six-game winning streak. So, despite being a very good team, we dropped them four spots to No. 6.

The good news is that they don’t have to worry too much about this ranking. Tennessee basketball is still 18-6 and tied for second in the league standings at 8-4. Meanwhile, their No. 13 ranked strength of schedule is good enough to have them at No. 13 overall in the RPI.

But they have a lot of work to do to maintain this spot. This week, the South Carolina Gamecocks at home and Georgia Bulldogs on the road both need to be wins. Then they have a huge conference game at home against the Florida Gators before road trips to the two Mississippi schools, one of whom is rolling right now.