Kentucky Slides to 10th in SEC Standings as Chaos Continues Around the League

In the SEC, it just means more high-quality basketball chaos. Unfortunately, Kentucky was on the wrong end of that chaos on Saturday. Now the Cats are in uncomfortable territory.

Kentucky dropped to 3-3 in the SEC ahead of a matchup with Tennessee in Knoxville. If the Cats don’t pull off the upset, they’ll enter the Arkansas game with a losing record in league play, something I’m sure very few forecasted ahead of the season.

Nine teams have a better SEC record than Kentucky. If the season ended today, Kentucky would play Arkansas on Wednesday night in the SEC Tournament. What could go wrong? Here is a silver lining: Team Rankings still handicaps Kentucky as the fifth-best threat to win the SEC Tournament. According to their computer formula, the Cats have just shy of a 25% chance to reach the semifinals and a 9.7% chance to reach the championship game.

Take a closer look at the league standings before we get into what happened around the league on Saturday.

SEC Standings

Team	SEC	Overall
Auburn	6-0	18-1
Alabama	6-1	17-3
Florida	5-2	18-2
Missouri	5-2	16-4
Tennessee	4-3	17-3
Mississippi State	4-3	16-4
Vanderbilt	4-3	16-4
Texas A&M	4-3	15-5
Ole Miss	4-3	15-5
Kentucky	3-3	14-5
Texas	3-4	14-6
Oklahoma	2-4	15-4
Georgia	2-5	14-6
LSU	1-5	12-7
Arkansas	1-6	12-8
South Carolina	0-7	10-10

Auburn Remains Unscathed in SEC Play

Auburn and Tennessee turned back the clock to 2015. No. 1 vs. No. 6 was defined by defense. The game was tied at 38 with eight minutes remaining. Both teams shot 31% from the floor. It wasn’t the prettiest basketball, but you could feel the tension in every possession. It doesn’t get more college basketball than that.

Johni Broome returned for the first time since he injured his ankle two weeks ago. The Tigers couldn’t have won without him. He came off the bench and had 16 points and 13 rebounds. Broome had the assist to Miles Kelly, who sunk a 3-pointer with 30 seconds remaining to give the Tigers a one-point lead. Auburn closed the game on a 6-0 run, while Tennessee finished 1-7 from the field.

Texas A&M Blew It

The Aggies led for all but 3.7 seconds at the Moody Center. They were up by as many as 22 points in the second half before Tre Johnson put the team on his back. He became the first Texas freshman to drop 30 points in a game since Kevin Durant, sparking a miraculous comeback that was capped off by Tramon Mark‘s contested bucket at the rim. A&M still almost survived, but the half-court heave was just off the mark.

TEXAS COMPLETES THE 22-POINT COMEBACK VS RIVAL TEXAS A&M 🤘 pic.twitter.com/GdRMrGbLku

— ESPN (@espn) January 25, 2025

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Arkansas Lost, Again

The following scenario felt inevitable. John Calipari returns to Rupp Arena on a two-game win streak, facing a Kentucky team on a three-game losing streak. Even against an average Oklahoma team at home, Arkansas couldn’t make it happen.

The Razorbacks let a lead slip away at the 5-minute mark. Johnell Davis hit a three-pointer to tie the game with two minutes to play, but his next two shots misfired and the Sooners left Bud Walton with a 65-62 victory.

South Carolina Can’t Close Out an SEC Win

The Gamecocks lost to top-ranked Auburn and No. 5 Florida at home by a combined three points. Instead of getting over the hump, history repeated itself against 14th-ranked Mississippi State. The Gamecocks went on an 11-2 run at the final media timeout to force overtime. South Carolina got cold in the extra period. They didn’t make a bucket until there were just seconds on the clock and it was too little too late. Mississippi State survived 65-60.

More Scores Around the SEC

Missouri laid a goose egg in the SEC last season. They improved to 5-2 in league play after taking care of business in the second half against a physical 16th-ranked Ole Miss team. Tamar Bates led the way with 26 points while Caleb Grill put up 25 by netting six three-pointers off the bench in an 83-75 win.

Florida boat-raced Georgia in the World’s Largest Indoor Cocktail Party. The Gators shot 53.1% from the field in the 89-59 win in Gainesville.

LSU hung tough with Alabama. The Tigers led at a few different points before the Crimson Tide put their foot down and got the lead to double digits with two minutes to play. Alabama won its third straight SEC game 80-73.