As the Southeastern Conference (SEC) basketball season heats up, the race for the regular-season crown is narrowing down. Florida, the defending national champion, is leading the pack after a convincing wire-to-wire victory over Kentucky and a solid 14-point win against South Carolina.
With an 11-2 conference record, the Gators are closely followed by Arkansas, sitting at 9-3. The upcoming clash between these two could very well decide the regular-season champion.
Texas basketball is making waves, securing a significant Quad 1 victory over Missouri. Dailyn Swain was instrumental in this win, dropping 25 points and earning co-SEC Player of the Week honors. The Longhorns continued their momentum with a thrilling 88-85 win over LSU, marking their fifth consecutive conference victory-a feat they haven't achieved since February 2020.
Currently, Sean Miller's squad is positioned seventh in the SEC standings, which would grant them a first-round bye in the upcoming SEC Tournament. This is a notable improvement from last season when Texas entered the tournament as the No. 13 seed and exited in the quarterfinals.
In this week's SEC men's basketball poll, I ranked Texas at No. 8.
Florida claimed my top vote, followed by Vanderbilt, Arkansas, and Kentucky. Here's a look at the rankings:
- Florida (14 first-place votes)
- Arkansas
- Vanderbilt (+1)
- Kentucky (-1, tie)
- Tennessee (+1, tie)
- Alabama (+1)
- Texas (+3)
- Texas A&M (-2)
- Auburn (-1)
- Missouri (+1)
- Georgia (-2)
- Oklahoma (+3)
- Mississippi State (+1)
- Ole Miss (-2)
- LSU (-2)
- South Carolina
The numbers in parentheses indicate first-place votes, while the plus or minus shows the movement from the previous week's poll.
As the 2025-26 season unfolds, the SEC Tournament is set to take place at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena from March 11-15, 2026. Texas, aiming for its first SEC conference championship, will look to build on last season's performance where they reached the quarterfinals before bowing out to Tennessee.
Florida, after securing the regular-season title last year, went on to clinch the SEC Tournament by defeating Tennessee 86-77, setting the stage for their national title run.
Keep an eye on the 247Sports network for comprehensive coverage and insights throughout this thrilling college basketball season.