College basketball season has officially been done for a month now and it is already time to start looking at way-to-early power rankings. Auburn had a great season in 2023-2024, but they ended it on a sour note with an early exit in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
With the transfer portal now closed, it is time to look at how the rosters have rounded out, especially with the coaching carousel for the most part stopped.
So let's take a look at how each team has come together and how they all stack up against each other, especially with two new teams in the conference. Here are some way-to-early rankings check out where the Tigers rank.
Vanderbilt hired James Madison's coach Mark Byington to take over a program that needs a lot of help. The only reason the Commodores weren't the worst team in the SEC was because Missouri had a historically bad season.
There has been an influx of players coming and leaving the Commodores with a total of nine players departing from the teams. However, Byington has brought in eight players, including a few from James Madison, who made the NCAA Tournament this year.
This team is going to have a whole new look next season and with so much unknown, that is why they are at the bottom of these rankings.
Oklahoma is join the EC next season and even though they had a 20 win season in 2023-2024, the competition is not going to get much easier. While they have potential, there are still unknowns going into next season.
The Sooners have lost five players to the portal, but on the upside, they have brought in five players to help with the losses. In his first three seasons as head coach, Porter Moser has not led the Sooners to an NCAA Tournament appearance.
Oklahoma has a lot to prove next year in a new season, but Poser might be feeling his seat warming up, especially if he doesn't have a tournament appearance soon.
Missouri is coming off a historically bad season losing every single game they played in SEC play. Fans have to think things can only go up nad while they may be right, there is still a lot of work to do.
The Tigers landed a bring transfer with Duke transfer March Mitchell, however, they have lost players as well. The Tigers are heading into their third season under Dennis Gates and he must be feeling his seat warming up, but he has brought in five commitments in the portal, which helps.
The big goal for the Tigers next season is to get some wins in the SEC and go from there, but it will have to happen early to get the momentum going.
After seasons of success, the Tigers did not fair well in 2023-2024, but looking forward, there is hope for the future.
The pickup of Cam Carter from Kansas State will be a huge help on the offense as he can score from anywhere on the floor. However, the Tigers still need help throughout the roster and need depth to fill everything out.
LSU has the talent, they just need to put it all together next season in order to be as competitive as they can be.
Mike White is heading into year three in Athens and it is an important one. the Bulldogs did not have a very successful year in 2023-2024 but were able to make a push late in the season to gather some wins.
The Bulldogs have five-star recruit Asas Newell coming into Athens next season which should help this squad take a big step forward even with portal losses. The addition of five new players on top of that, two of those players coming from power conferences also brings confidence to Bulldog fans.
Georgia could be a sneaky team next year, but with uncertainties of what the starting five will look like, they will camp out here in the power rankings for right now.
After speculation of Chris Beard leaving for the Arkansas job was put to bed, it seems like Beard was ready to move forward and continue building this Rebels team.
The Rebels have brought in five players from the portal, but only one of them comes from a power conference. They have also lost five players, so at least Beard did a good job balancing portal losses and wins out.
In year two of the Beard era, the Rebels should be better, but they need time to get Beard's recruits in and work with the team.
Texas A&M won more than 20 games for the third season in a row, however, they need to start showing results in the NCAA Tournament.
The Aggies have lost five players to the portal, which will hurt next season because they need depth. However, they have brought in three players to help with the loss, but will it be enough?
The Aggies seem a bit stagnant and they need to start taking steps forward in order to move up the power rankings.
The Bulldogs were a team that no one wanted to face in the SEC Tournament as they took down stronger team after stronger team and seemed to make a run.
With a good portion of the team returning and the pickups they have had in the transfer portal, this team could be good. However, it feels safe to put them here in the rankings, because they need to show the greatness they did in the SEC Tournament throughout the regular season.
There is still work to be done for the Bulldogs, but one could say they are heading in the right direction and could play spoiler again next season for some of the teams at the top.
Kentucky lost Coach Cal which some fans were happy to see happen, especially after the Wildcat's performance in the NCAA Tournament in past years. They did hire BYU coach MArk Pope who had a successful year with the Cougars when no one thought he would, but he has a lot to prove at a historically successful problem.
There were a lot of players that left after the departure of Calipari, and quite a few commits opened up their recruitment again. Pope is going to have his work cut out for him, but he has begun to build the program back up again.
Kentucky can be successful next season, but right now, they should be seen as a middle-of-the-pack team until they show how they are without Coach Cal on the sidelines.
The addition of John Calipari shocked everyone in the college basketball world. However, there are reasons Kentucky fans were ready to see Calipari go as he had not won an SEC title in 2020 and a National Championship since 2012.
Coach Cal was able to bring in some transfers after his hiring announcement, but the Razorbacks had already lost so many players to the portal. The transition will be an interesting one to watch with how long Cal was at Kentucky.
The Razorbacks still have talent on the roster and players coming in from their recruitment class. There is not a lot of concern for Arkansas, but let's wait and see how they look when the season starts.
The Texas Longhorns will play in their first season of SEC basketball next year. After making it to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth year in a row, the Longhorns are ready to make the move and immediately be competitive.
The Longhorns only lost three players to the transfer portal, but they have been active in bringing in several players. they also have the addition of star freshman Tre Johnson who comes in as a 5-star recruit.
Texas should have another talented roster going into the 2024-2025 season and should be near the top of the ranks of the SEC.
South Carolina made it to the NCAA Tournament but had an early exit to an Oregon team that was able to hit shots late the Gamecocks couldn't.
In the transfer portal so far, the Gamecocks have only lost two players, which compared to other SEC programs is pretty good. They have also brought in three players, including 4-star point guard Meechie Johnson out of Ohio state 4-star power forward Jordan Butler our of Missouri.
The Gamecocks will look a little different next season, but are primed for another good season, just might need more work to contend for an SEC title.
The Florida Gators had a solid season in 2023-2024 and even made it to the SEC Championship. If it wasn't for injuries, they might have been more competitive in that game.
There has been a lot of movement for the Gators in the transfer portal with three guys coming in, but also losing three players. Head coach Todd Golden has built a good program in Gainesville, and with the way he recruits, he should have a solid team heading into next season.
The Gators could be even better than they were in 2023-2024 taking steps forward with young players having more experience.
Tennessee was the favorite in the SEC throughout the whole season, even hitting No. 1 in the top 25 rankings at one point. However, even with an exit in the Elite Eight, the Volunteers had a lot more potential, especially in the SEC Tournament.
The SEC regular season champions haven't lost anyone in the portal so far and they have brought in three players so far. Four-star transfer Felix Okpara from Ohio State should help add height to the Tigers lineup coming in at 6-foot-11 and he is a Tennessee native.
The Volunteers are losing SEC Player of the Year Dalton Knecht which will be a tough position to fill, but they are still primed to be one of the best teams in the SEC in 2024-2025.
The Auburn Tigers seemed like they had all the momentum going for them when they won the SEC Tournament. However, that momentum was nowhere to be found when they played Yale in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Tigers will have a different look next season with some portal departures and only bringing in one from the portal so far. However, they are still primed to be the dominant force we saw them to be during the season.
If they can play how they did in the SEC Tournament throughout the whole season, they could make a run in March Madness next year. The Tigers are looking goof heading into the next season and it is not a stretch to say they could go back-to-back with SEC titles.
The Crimson Tide made it to the Final Four for the first time in program history in the NCAA Tournament. They went toe-to-toe with a UConn team that wasn't going to let anything get in their way of winning back-to-back titles.
The good news for Alabama fans is that they are bringing back a lot of that squad that led them to the Final Four for the first time. They lost some players, of course, no school is prone to the transfer portal, but they added Auburn transfer Aden Holloway.
Alabama seems primed to make another deep run in 2024-2024 behind head coach Nate Oats. The Crimson Tide even looks like they could take the both SEC titles next season, with only a few teams truly threatening Alabama's run.