College basketball is back and it’s just getting started! Things start to heat up in the SEC over the next couple of weeks, with some big-time nonconference games and some intriguing preseason tournaments on tap.

Every SEC team currently has either 2 or 3 games under its belt. Many remain unbeaten, but some have already suffered losses.

So, how did the first week of hoops action affect our power rankings? Check out how we’d rank teams 1-14 in this week’s SEC power rankings!

14. Mizzou (1-1 overall, Last week: 10)

What an absolute embarrassment Monday night was for Cuonzo Martin’s Tigers. At one point in the second half, Kansas City held a 54-34 lead over the Tigers. Mizzou trailed 32-23 at halftime and it only got worse from there. This is absolutely not the kind of performance Martin can afford from his team during a season in which he is firmly on the hot seat. If the Tigers play like this moving forward, there’s no way they’ll beat Northern Illinois in Columbia on Thursday or SMU in Jacksonville on Saturday. What an ugly, ugly loss Monday was for this program.

13. Georgia (1-1, LW: 14)

This year’s Cincinnati team is not great, but the Bulldogs still lost on the road on Saturday, 73-68. The fans in attendance enjoyed the win, but you can’t blame fans from both of these schools for being more focused on the gridiron right now — both Georgia and Cincinnati are undefeated in football. That led to a great “Let’s play football!” chant breaking out at the end of the game:

Fans of Georgia should definitely keep their eyes on the football team and away from Tom Crean’s squad as long as they can.

12. South Carolina (2-1, LW: 12)

The Gamecocks are without Keyshawn Bryant due to suspension, but that’s still not an excuse to lose to Princeton. That’s the way things have been for Frank Martin’s squad the past few years, though. There always seem to be 1 or 2 inexplicable losses to lesser teams during nonconference play. We’ll see if the Gamecocks can right the ship this week against UAB on Thursday night.

11. Texas A&M (3-0, LW: 13)

Texas A&M is 3-0, but it’s not a pretty 3-0. The Aggies needed 2 overtimes to escape Abilene Christian last week, winning 81-80. They’ll have 1 more tuneup this week, against Houston Baptist, before heading to Las Vegas to take on Wisconsin in Round 1 of the Maui Invitational. A win in that game will have the Aggies moving up these power rankings even further!

10. Vanderbilt (2-0, LW: 11)

The Commodores are cruising right now, but they face 2 sneaky-tough home matchups this week. On Wednesday, always-feisty VCU comes to Nashville. On Saturday, a good Winthrop team makes the trek to Vanderbilt. Find a way to go 2-0 in those games and I’ll be an even bigger believer in the Commodores moving forward. It won’t be an easy week, though. We’ll see if Jerry Stackhouse’s crew can navigate it.

9. Ole Miss (2-0, LW: 9)

Jarkel Joiner looks like a guy who is going to be a leader for this team. Joiner had 24 points, 7 assists and 3 rebounds in Ole Miss’s 93-68 win over Charleston Southern. He also threw down this impressive alley-oop from Austin Crowley:

Ole Miss heads to Charleston this week for a preseason tournament. The first game will be against a tough Marquette team on Thursday night. That’ll be a great test to see where Kermit Davis’s squad stands.

8. LSU (3-0, LW: 8)

LSU was in a battle with Liberty on Monday night, pulling away late for a 74-58 win. But, the Flames were in it until the final few minutes. This is a solid Liberty team that will be in the mix for an NCAA Tournament bid. Darius Days was incredible once again, scoring a game-high 26 points and hitting 5 of his 10 3-point attempts. It was Brandon Murray who had the big shot, though. Here he is knocking down the go-ahead 3-pointer:

LSU never looked back after that shot. This week, the Tigers will take on McNeese State and Belmont in games that shouldn’t be quite as difficult as this Liberty contest was.

7. Mississippi State (2-0, LW: 6)

The defense has been great for the Bulldogs, as they’ve allowed only 49 points in each of their first 2 games. I have a few lingering concerns about the offense, but this unit still needs time to gain chemistry. There are a lot of new pieces in Starkville, and 1 will be returning to the floor soon. Michigan State transfer Rocket Watts revealed recently that he’s been cleared to return to action. He should be making an impact soon.

6. Kentucky (1-1, LW: 3)

I certainly think Kentucky has the talent to climb back into the top 5 in short order, but after a season-opening loss to Duke, I have to ding the Wildcats a little bit. They did bounce back from that loss with a 100-60 blowout of Robert Morris, though, and should pick up 3 more blowout wins this week, with games against Mount St. Mary, Ohio and Albany before the next power rankings come out.

At his current rate of 20 rebounds per game, big man Oscar Tshiebwe should be up to 100 rebounds by then! He’s been an animal this year and is exciting to watch on the glass.

5. Arkansas (2-0, LW: 5)

The Hogs are 2-0, which is the important thing. Neither victory over a lesser opponent has been dominant, though, so there are some concerns about this team. I’m choosing to remain optimistic, as it does take time for a team with so many new pieces to jell properly. We’ll see how ready the Hogs are for a Power 5 foe when they take on Kansas State on Monday night in Kansas City.

4. Florida (2-0, LW: 7)

What an impressive home win for the Gators over then-No. 20 Florida State on Sunday. It was the first win for the Gators over the Seminoles since 2013 and the first of the Mike White era. Anthony Duruji had perhaps the best game of his career, scoring 15 points to go with 7 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks. He got the crowd fired up early with this impressive alley-oop:

Then, there was Colin Castleton, who earned SEC Player of the Week honors. He had 15 points, 16 rebounds, 6 blocks, an assist and a steal against the Seminoles. This is a big win for White and his team. In previous years, the Gators have had trouble building on positive momentum. We’ll see if this year’s team is different.

3. Tennessee (2-0, LW: 4)

The Vols are off to a fast 2-0 start and 5-star freshman Kennedy Chandler looks like the real deal. He earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors for his hot start to his freshman season. In Game 1, Chandler put up 20 points, 4 assists and a rebound. In Game 2, he had 16 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals and a block. And he was getting to the rim and finishing tough plays like this:

https://twitter.com/NBAScoutBR/status/1459944565029359621

He’ll need to come up big once again on Saturday afternoon in Connecticut if the Vols are going to take down No. 5 Villanova in a preseason tipoff tournament.

2. Auburn (2-0, LW: 2)

Jabari Smith Jr. didn’t play exceptionally well in Auburn’s first game against Morehead State. But, he definitely arrived on the scene in a big way on Friday against Louisiana-Monroe. Smith put up his first of likely many double-doubles this season, scoring 23 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. When he’s stepping into open 3s in transition, he’s nearly impossible to stop:

Smith also had 4 steals, 2 assists and 2 blocks in the all-around effort. The Tigers only have 1 game this week, at South Florida on Friday night. That should be another win for Smith and this squad.

1. Alabama (2-0, LW: 1)

Two games, 2 solid wins for Nate Oats and the Crimson Tide. Things get a bit easier moving forward this week, with games against South Alabama on Tuesday night and Oakland on Friday night. Jahvon Quinerly, Jaden Shackelford and Keon Ellis looked like the leaders Alabama needed in a 104-88 victory over South Dakota State last week.

When the Tide are going strong on offense, ball movement like this is the norm:

That’s a good sign moving forward as the Tide should easily handle both of their home games this week.