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

Last week: Lost to Tennessee Volunteers and Texas A&M Aggies

Last rank: 5th

The Kentucky Wildcats are in a state of free fall right now. They are now on a three-game losing streak, which was highlighted in the middle by losing at home to the Tennessee Vols. With the loss, John Calipari managed to do something Billy Gillespie didn’t even do: be swept by Tennessee in the regular season.

By the way, that comes after Tennessee was upset by Kentucky in football. When does that ever happen? Any way, surrounding that loss were two losses on the road to the Missouri Tigers and Texas A&M Aggies. And although they weren’t blown out in either game, they weren’t really threatening in them either.

Simply put, Kentucky is struggling enough to be in the bottom half of our SEC Power Rankings. How often can you say that about this team, which is a regular among the elites? They have a lot of work to do to get back on track.

The one thing you can say in this team’s favor, however, is that it lost to three very good teams. And right now, they are still firmly in the NCAA Tournament. After all, their RPI remains in the Top 20 thanks to their No. 6 ranked strength of schedule.

But they need to get back on track to hold that spot. A road trip to the Auburn Tigers up next is a brutal test for these guys. Winning that would be the perfect way to get things going.