Auburn’s Tahaad Pettiford and Kevin Overton opened SEC basketball tipoff with a big claim: they believe they can be the best backcourt in the country.
But when AL.com stacked up the league’s guard groups for the 2026-27 season, Auburn landed behind Florida in the SEC pecking order.
The Gators claimed the top spot with Boogie Fland and Denzel Aberdeen. Aberdeen’s return from Kentucky to Florida after a 2025-26 season in which he averaged 13.5 points and shot 43.3% from the floor gave Florida the edge. Fland had a quieter sophomore season after transferring from Arkansas, but his 11.6 points per game and 44.7% shooting still give Florida a strong foundation around its frontcourt trio of Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon and Rueben Chinleyu.
Auburn checked in at No. 2, and the case is pretty strong. Pettiford and Overton caught fire late last season and powered the Tigers to the program’s first NIT championship, beating Tulsa in the title game.
Pettiford finished with 585 points, which ranks 15th in a single season in Auburn history, and he scored 20 or more points 13 times. Overton added 11 20-point games and knocked down 95 threes, the seventh-most in program history.
That late surge wasn’t just a nice finishing touch for Auburn. It helped keep both guards in place, and now they sit at the center of Steven Pearl’s plans.
Vanderbilt comes next with Tyler Tanner and T.O. Barrett.
Tanner put together one of the loudest seasons in the conference, averaging 19.5 points, 5.1 assists and 3.6 rebounds while shooting 48.5% from the floor. Barrett arrives from Missouri after playing in all 33 games last season and shooting 46% from the floor.
Arkansas follows at No. 4, pairing Billy Richmond III with five-star freshman Jordan Smith Jr. Richmond averaged 11.2 points and shot 56.3% from the floor last season, while Smith enters as the No. 1 point guard in his high school recruiting class. At Paul IV High School, he averaged 26.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 3.2 steals per game while shooting 56.0% from the field.
Alabama rounds out the top five with Amari Allen, Anderson Diaz and Aden Holloway. Holloway will miss the first five games because of suspension, so Allen and freshman four-star Diaz are expected to handle most of the backcourt work early. Allen averaged 11.4 points and 6.9 rebounds while shooting 44.6% from the floor last season, and Diaz arrives as a left-handed guard from the Bronx.
Texas A&M sits sixth with PJ Haggerty and Jordan Pope. Haggerty was one of the biggest portal adds in the league after averaging 23.4 points and shooting 48.9% at Kansas State. Pope made the move from Texas after averaging 13.1 points and helping the Longhorns reach the Sweet 16.
Missouri’s Jason Crowe Jr. and Trent Pierce land at No. 7.
Crowe, a five-star freshman, owns California’s all-time scoring record with 4,718 points and is the son of current assistant coach Jason Crowe Sr. Pierce missed the non-conference portion of last season because of injury, then returned to average 10.4 points and shoot 47.8% from the field and 38.4% from 3-point range over Missouri’s final 20 games.
Mississippi State is next with Josh Hubbard and Tajuan Simpkins. Hubbard ranked 10th nationally in scoring at 22.1 points per game, and Simpkins comes over from Seton Hall after averaging 9.7 points and shooting better than 40% from the floor.
Tennessee’s Terrence Hill Jr. and Tyler Lundblade check in at No. 9. Hill arrives from VCU after averaging 15.0 points and shooting 46.6% from the floor, while Lundblade comes in after stops at TCU and Belmont, where he led the Bruins with 15.6 points and shot 43% from the floor.
Georgia’s Blue Cain and Marcus “Smurf” Millender take the 10th spot. Cain averaged 13.1 points and 5.1 rebounds and shot nearly 50% from the floor, while Millender added 12.0 points and 4.1 assists with a 45.2% shooting mark.
LSU, coached by Will Wade, lands at No. 11 with Donovan Dent and Austin Nunez. Dent averaged 13.3 points and 7.6 assists at UCLA last season, and Nunez brings SEC experience from Ole Miss along with a 2025-26 season at UTSA.
Ole Miss follows at No. 12 with Ilias Kamardine and Corey Stephenson. Kamardine played a key role during the Rebels’ run that nearly ended in an upset of eventual SEC tournament champion Arkansas, scoring in double figures in three of five games. Stephenson transfers in from FIU after averaging 18 points and 6.4 rebounds while shooting over 45% from the floor.
Kentucky sits 13th with Zoom Diallo and Kam Williams. Diallo is the headliner after posting 15.7 points and shooting 48.9% at Washington. Williams shot nearly 45% from the floor in a reserve role last season and could start in his junior year.
Texas comes in at No. 14 with Amari Evans and Mikey Lewis. Lewis, a Saint Mary’s transfer, averaged 13.9 points with the Gaels, while Evans shot 42% from the floor in a bench role at Tennessee as a freshman.
Oklahoma is 15th with Pop Isaacs and BJ Edwards. Isaacs has already passed through Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Creighton before arriving in Norman for his senior season, and last year with the Aggies he averaged 9.8 points and shot 42% from the floor. Edwards spent his freshman year at Tennessee and the last three seasons at SMU, where he averaged 12.7 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.9 assists.
South Carolina closes the list at No. 16 with Shane Blakeney and Marcus Johnson. Blakeney returns to his home state after three seasons at Drexel, where he averaged 14.2 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists.
Johnson, a four-star freshman, was ranked as the No. 6 point guard and No. 3 player in Ohio, and he became the first player to win back-to-back Ohio Mr. Basketball honors since Luke Kennard in 2014 and 2015.
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At the center of the dispute is new NCAA guidance that takes a closer look at players with professional experience, something Rubtaviius argues does not line up with earlier eligibility rulings. Auburn has backed his right to seek clarity, but for now the program is waiting on a court hearing set for Oct. 16, a date that could go a long way toward determining whether one of its signees ever makes it to campus in uniform. [Read more 🡒]