By CHRIS DORTCH
Southeastern Conference basketball might not post the historic numbers it did in 2024-25, when 14 of its teams advanced to the NCAA Tournament, but the league will be better than last season, when 10 of its teams played in the Big Dance.
Here’s a capsule-by-capsule look at every team in the league, not named Tennessee:
ALABAMA
OUTLOOK: One of coach Nate Oats’ offseason goals was to find more size in the portal, and he and his staff did that. But size is only effective if players can stay on the floor. In its first exhibition game against Furman, the Crimson Tide struggled on the boards, in part because of foul trouble by Boise State transfer Drew Fielder. Suffice it to say he learned from his mistakes. Fielder committed just one foul in Bama’s second exhibition game—a rare SEC matchup against Ole Miss—and contributed 11 points and 10 rebounds. Alabama outrebounded the Rebels by 17. Alabama also landed Kentucky transfer Brandon Garrison and is counting on his inside contributions and his ability as a facilitator. Elsewhere, Alabama is set with a host of perimeter threats, including Aden Holloway and Amari Allen, both potential All-SEC players.
KEY PLAYER: Only Holloway knows why, despite earning NIL cash and working toward an NBA career, he got busted selling marijuana. Suffice it to say it wasn’t his finest hour. But after showing the proper contrition, a judge allowed him to enter a first-time offender program, and he was able to escape any further punishment. Alabama did suspend him for five games, but he’ll miss only the first two in the regular season. Holloway is an automatic 3-point shooter, a key distributor, and Alabama’s most experienced player in Oats’ system, despite the fact he began his career at Auburn.
POSTSEASON PREDICTION: Alabama lost a ton of firepower from last season, but added some bulk inside and grabbed some talented newcomers, including NC State transfer Cole Cloer, who proved his worth by scoring 18 points in the exhibition against Ole Miss. Without a doubt, this is a second-weekend NCAA Tournament team with potential for more.
ARKANSAS
OUTLOOK: The Razorbacks have just two players returning from last season’s Sweet 16 team, but as always, coach John Calipari has restocked with talented freshmen. As partial as he is to five-star rookies, Calipari and his staff also dipped into the portal to fill a hole or two. And the Hogs have one of the top returning players in the SEC—6-7 junior Billy Richmond III, a high-motor, 50/50 ball-getting, defensive menace who is the team’s unquestioned leader. “It’s nice to have Billy back because he practically is coaching on the floor,” Calipari says. “I’ll be honest, he’s half coaching the team right now, and I’m fine with it. I mean, he’s talking to them, telling them where they should go.” Two transfers add to Arkansas’ experience level: 6-1 guard Jeremiah Wilkinson, who last season averaged 17.1 points for Georgia; and 6-11 Cooper Bowser, who transferred from Furman and is expected to provide rim protection along with Caleb Oorigou, a freshman who reclassified to join the Hogs over the summer. He’s a solid 6-11 and 240 pounds and knows how to use his size.
KEY PLAYER: It would be hard to imagine Jordan Smith Jr. duplicating the freshman season Darius Acuff Jr. turned in last season, but the player that ESPN ranked No. 2 in the class of 2026 will take over Acuff’s point guard spot… or anywhere else Cal needs him. “Jordan Smith Jr. is the ultimate competitor,” Arkansas associate head coach Kenny Payne said. “He is the key to the engine—really he is the engine, because he’s the guy that, regardless of what position you put him at, one, two, three, or four, he’s just going to go out there and fight.”
POSTSEASON PREDICTION: The Razorbacks will at least duplicate their Sweet 16 run, but even with a new cast of characters, there’s enough talent to travel a bit farther into March and perhaps even April.
AUBURN
OUTLOOK: Last April, when Auburn entered the transfer portal scrum, it did so with purpose. Coach Steven Pearl and his staff went looking for players who impact winning. There’s a difference between players who can score or pass or defend and those who simply help make the difference between a W or an L in the standings. One such player is George Kimble III, who sat out with an injury at Vanderbilt last season after transferring from Eastern Kentucky, where in 2024-25 he averaged 18 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists. The Tigers also wanted to stock up on size, and landed 7-foot freshman Narcisse Ngoy, a native of France, along with 7-1, 240-pound junior Bukky Oboye (Santa Clara), 6-10, 240-pound senior Owen Freeman (Creighton), 6-8, 225-pound senior Thomas Dowd (Troy), and 6-8 senior Adam Olsen (South Alabama).
KEY PLAYER: Pearl thinks Tahaad Pettiford, a 6-1 junior, impacted this season before it even began. That’s because when Pettiford and 6-5 senior Kevin Overton decided to remain at Auburn, it helped attract the players the Tigers needed to find in the portal. With Pettiford (15.4 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 3.8 apg) back to run the show, Auburn will be competitive most nights and win its fair share.
POSTSEASON PREDICTION: Last season the Tigers won the NIT. It’s possible they reconfigured well enough to grab an NCAA Tournament berth in 2026-27, because, just as the SEC did the last two seasons, it is going to claim a boatload of spots in the newly-expanded NCAA Tournament.
FLORIDA
OUTLOOK: No team in the country returns as much talent as the Gators, the primary reason they are the consensus preseason pick as the No. 1 team in the country. Most of the talent is in the frontcourt, where few teams can match Florida’s size and skill. The key to whether the Gators can win a second national championship in three years lies in the backcourt, where junior Boogie Fland returns after a solid, not great first season with the Gators. Based on Fland’s summer practice performance, coach Todd Golden expects him to be much improved, especially from a strength and conditioning standpoint, and defensively. Gator fans are also anxiously awaiting word on whether the temporary restraining order allowing fifth-year senior guard Denzel Aberdeen to play will hold up. If it does, The Gators will have size, skill at experience at every position.
KEY PLAYER: Tommy Haugh, a 6-9 senior, could have bolted for the NBA Draft, but before he made his decision, he called former Gator teammate Will Richard, who plays for the Golden State Warriors. Richard handed the phone to veteran Draymond Green, who spoke with Haugh for 45 minutes. His advice: The NBA isn’t going anywhere, and besides, the $4 or $5 million Hough picked up in NIL money by staying in Florida was not chump change. A true inside-outside player with unmatched competitive spirit, Haugh is a consensus first-team All-American.
POSTSEASON PREDICTION: With or without Aberdeen, the Gators are good enough to reach the Final Four.
GEORGIA
OUTLOOK: The Bulldogs suffered heavy personnel losses in the portal but still wound up retaining four starters. That quartet, combined with a portal class that was targeted to specific needs, could keep the momentum going for coach Mike White, who has led his team to consecutive NCAA Tournament trips. “We wanted to be more athletic,” White said. “We wanted to improve our size and length. We wanted to be older as well. With the retention of those four starters, we had a starting point, some continuity with our culture and the understanding of our system. We brought in five guys from the portal and four freshmen—nine guys in three weeks. In today’s world of college basketball, you better figure it out and adapt our you’re going to get left behind.” Two of the key newcomers are 6-11 senior James Scott (Ole Miss) and 6-10 Andrew Osasuyi (St. Bonaventure) who will replace the rim protection lost when Somto Cyril, the SEC’s leading shot blocker, left for Miami.
KEY PLAYER: Blue Cain has spent the first four of his five seasons in Athens. He arrived as a freshman with the reputation of a shooter and didn’t disappoint. Ironically, Cain didn’t shoot up to his standards from 3, but his other statistics improved markedly. “As a freshman [shooting the 3] was what he did,” White said. “He didn’t affect the game nearly as much in other ways as he does now. He’s grown immensely as a defender, rebounder, playmaker and decision maker.”
POSTSEASON PREDICTION: There is plenty of room for the Bulldogs to squeeze into the NCAA Tournament, considering the SEC is likely to grab at least a dozen spots.
KENTUCKY
OUTLOOK: It sounds crazy to hear third-year Kentucky coach Mark Pope say this could be a win-it-all-or-bust season for him, but at Kentucky, where nothing less than the national championship is considered a down year, he might not be far off. Last season Pope and his staff took a chance on some high-priced portal acquisitions who came with injury issues and got burned. This season, the staff took no chances, bringing in proven commodities—guards Zoom Diallo (Washington) and Alex Wilkins (Furman) are just two examples who aren’t banged up and are ready to rumble. Diallo is a point guard who is a physical driver and clever passer, and Wilkins, at 6-6, brings positional size and the ability to score at all three levels. The return of 7-0 sophomore center Malachi Moreno was a huge plus, as was the signing of 7-0 freshman Ousmane N’Diaye, who brings length and a multi-faceted offensive game.
KEY PLAYER: Kentucky knew exactly what it was getting with Milan Momcilovic, who last March knocked the Wildcats out of the NCAA Tournament with a 20-point, four 3-pointer game for Iowa State. When Momcilovic tested the NBA Draft process and entered the portal, he was in an enviable position—who wouldn’t want the best shooter in the country (.487 3PT) who has great positional size at 6-9? Kentucky had the dough to land him—his deal was said to be north of $6 million—and if he plays as well as he did last season, when he led the nation in 3-pointers made (136) and 3-point percentage, he could be worth his hefty price tag.
POSTSEASON PREDICTION: With the firepower Kentucky landed in the portal, fans are going to expect at least a second-weekend tour through the NCAAs. If that doesn’t happen, what will become of Pope?
LSU
OUTLOOK: The Tigers might end up filling out their roster with student tryouts and members of LSU’s football team. That’s because coach Will Wade, in the first season of his second stint in Baton Rouge, played riverboat gambler in building his roster, signing a former pro, three European players, and two fifth-year guards from UCLA. The NCAA has allowed those UCLA transfers, Skyy Clark and Donovan Dent, to play. Same goes for internationals Sailou Niang, Brice Dessert, and Michael Ružić. KEY PLAYER: Among the other incoming transfers, Abdi Bashir Jr. stands out because he’s one of the best 3-point shooters in the country. A year ago, he shot 44.4% from 3 and averaged 13.2 points for Kansas State.
POSTSEASON PREDICTION: Look at it on the bright side, Tiger fans. After your team’s season ends in the SEC tournament, Wade and his staff will have a head start on portal acquisitions.
MISSISSIPPI STATE
OUTLOOK: After winning 21 games and earning an NCAA Tournament bid in each of coach Chris Jans’ first three seasons, the Bulldogs slipped a few notches last season. Jans didn’t have to agonize over identifying the culprit. “Overall, our talent wasn’t as strong as some of the other teams,” Jans said. “That falls on the coaches and staff decisions we made or didn’t make. But in this landscape, it can happen to anybody. When you rely on the portal to be a large part of your recruiting and you don’t make good decisions, you can get what happened to us.” Last spring, Jans and his staff went after some proven winners to go along with a nationally ranked high school class that includes 6-10 Tristan Reed, the younger brother of former UConn star Tarris Reed. Willie Burnett III, a 6-5 guard, and 6-7 forward Jalyn Collingwood, both four-star prospects, were also part of the haul. An important acquisition was 6-4, 225-pound redshirt junior RJ Johnson, who last March led Kennesaw State to the Conference USA tournament championship, earning MVP honors. He scored 15 points in a first-round NCAA Tournament lost to Gonzaga. In the regular season, Johnson hit Western Kentucky for 31 points, a season-high nine boards and five assists, so he’s a much-needed stat sheet stuffer.
KEY PLAYER: Josh Hubbard is a preseason All-American and first-team All-SEC, but he came to summer practice eager to improve. When you average 22.1 points and 3.6 assists, as Hubbard did a year ago, there’s not a ton to work on, so he flexed some intangibles during the eight weeks the Bulldogs worked out. “He’s always had a strong work ethic,” Jans said. “I don’t think with his stature you get to where he’s at without a strong work ethic. But the leadership he came back with is what impressed me the most. It’s important to him that we rebound from last year. He’s trying to do his part with his enthusiasm and his communication with me and his teammates. Not pointing fingers; not looking around. It’s what can I do?”
POSTSEASON PREDICTION: After dropping to a surprising 13th-place finish last season, it’ll be hard to move back up the SEC standings, but the ‘Dogs won’t have to move too far up because the league is likely to earn double-digit NCAA bids for the third consecutive year. If State does return to the Dance, the trip will have Hubbard’s fingerprints all over it.
MISSOURI
OUTLOOK: Regardless of whether Missouri regains the services of forward Mark Mitchell, who at this writing has a temporary restraining order to play a fifth season, Tigers coach Dennis Gates has put together the deepest and most talented team he’s coached in his four years in Columbia. Led by 6-10, 230-pound senior Trent Pierce, a rarity in today’s game because he’s spent all four seasons at Mizzou, the Tigers can trot out a starting frontline that also includes 6-8, 255-pound senior Tennessee transfer Jaylen Carey and 6-11, 245-pound sophomore Kansas transfer Bryson Tiller, with 6-11, 245-pound senior Luke Northweather, 7-5, 260-pound junior Trent Burns, and 6-10 freshman Tony Bryant in reserve. If the 6-9, 230-pound Mitchell is allowed to play, the Tigers can pound teams into submission.
KEY PLAYER: And then there’s 6-4 freshman Jason Crowe Jr., a five-star freshman who could have signed anywhere in the country after scoring 4,718 points during his high school career. Last season he averaged 43.6, but also handed out six assists a game, so he’s not a black hole. Could he be the second coming of Acuff, who playing for Arkansas last season became the first SEC player since Pete Maravich to lead the league in scoring and assists? “He’s just going to have a Jason Crowe impact,” Gates said. “He knows he’s going to draw a lot of attention. But at the same time, he knows he has teammates. He’s excited about these guys’ success. And the gravity that he brings is going to open up the court for guys like Bryson Tiller. You’ll see.”
POSTSEASON PREDICTION: Under Gates, Mizzou has played in the NCAA Tournament three times but has advanced past the first round only once. It would be a surprise if the Tigers don’t play in the tournament’s second weekend.
OKLAHOMA
OUTLOOK: Two starters and four key players return from a team that didn’t make the NCAA or NIT, but nevertheless found some postseason success, advancing to the finals of the College Basketball Crown tournament. So what if no one watched that game or for that matter, has even heard of the CBC? Playing a little deeper into March and racking up 20-plus wins for the third consecutive season was an accomplishment. We’ll mention the second starter in a bit, but Derrion Reid, a 6-8 junior, is back after starting every game and averaging 11.7 points. He was a monster in the SEC tournament, averaging 17.3 points and 6.7 rebounds while shooting 60% from the field. Coach Porter Moser and his staff took some chances recruiting, signing two fifth-year class of 2022 players—guards Pop Isaacs and B.J. Edwards. The same goes for Akoldah Gak, a 6-11 center with one year of eligibility who played in the NBA G League last season.
KEY PLAYER: Xxayvier Brown is a bit of a rarity; he’s the first returning point guard for Moser since he’s been in Norman. In 2025-26, Brown started every game, leading the Sooners with 1,199 minutes played. He scored in double figures 31 times, including 20 or more points in 13 games. He led the team in free-throw percentage, assists (122) and steals (48), while finishing second in points (570), field goals (202) and 3-point field goals (62). “Now everything’s second nature to him,” Moser said of Brown’s status as a multi-year starter at the point. “He knows what we want, knows our terminology, and you can see him pouring into the other guys. And then our communication; I can just shotgun different things at him, and he knows exactly what I’m talking about.”
POSTSEASON PREDICTION: If Isaacs and Edwards can play, this is an NCAA Tournament team. If not, it might be another alphabet soup tournament for the Sooners.
OLE MISS
OUTLOOK: Like their cross-state SEC counterparts Mississippi State, the Rebels short-circuited last year, losing 20 games and finishing 14th in the league after a couple of 20-win seasons and NCAA Tournament trips under third-year coach Chris Beard. But Ole Miss shook off a 10-game losing streak and won four games in four days to advance to the semifinals of the league tournament, where it lost to eventual champion Arkansas by three points in overtime. “Last year tested a lot of things,” Beard said. “It was the ultimate adversity. But my message throughout the season, especially to the fan base and our players, is that we had a good group of guys who just wouldn’t quit. I was really proud of the way we ended the season. Because it validated what we knew all along.” Beard and his staff replenished the roster with three freshmen, six Division I transfers and another talented international player. Foremost among the transfers are Adam “Budd” Clark, a short-but-scrappy point guard from Seton Hall, and 6-11 Santiago Trouet, who posted solid numbers (8.1 ppg, 6.1 rpg) last season at Arizona State. He’s a big-time rebounder. Christian Brown, formerly of James Madison, is a 6-8 sophomore who can help Trouet in the paint.
KEY PLAYER: Let’s make it two—6-4 guards Patton Pinkins (9.3 ppg, 1.9 rpg, .465 FG, .422 3PT, .859 FT), a sophomore, and the son of Ole Miss assistant coach Al Pinkins, and senior Ilias Kamardine (11.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 3.8 apg, 1.3 spg), who arrived late in the summer of 2025 and wound up starting all 35 games. The younger Pinkins has good positional size and is a clutch performer, and Kamardine claimed the starting point guard job last season and hung onto it, starting every game.
POSTSEASON PREDICTION: It won’t be easy, but the Rebels have good enough guard play to battle their way into NCAA contention.
SOUTH CAROLINA
OUTLOOK: It’s important to not place too much stock in exhibition games, but South Carolina’s Oct. 15 neutral-site victory over what should be a decent Wake Forest team has to be cause for optimism. This is a make-or-break season for coach Lamont Paris, and the media that covers the SEC thinks it could end up breaking him. In the league’s preseason poll, the Gamecocks were picked to finish last. But that 78-69 over Wake Forest, even though it doesn’t count, should be filed away in a drawer called Potential.
KEY PLAYER: Jakub Necas, a 6-10 transfer from Duquesne, came to Columbia with the reputation of being a floor-stretcher, and he didn’t disappoint in that win over Wake, scoring 22 points, on 6-of-10 shooting, including 3 of 4 from 3. Necas has experience beating up on high majors; in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, he contributed 12 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots in a first-round upset of BYU.
POSTSEASON PREDICTION: As promising as that exhibition win over the Demon Deacons was, it’s hard to disagree with the media and forecast anything but a last-place SEC finish for the Gamecocks. That would shut them out of postseason and probably close out Paris’ five-year career in Columbia.
TEXAS
OUTLOOK: ESPN rated the Longhorns’ offseason as the best in the country, and considering they retained 7-0, 255-pount center Matas Vokietaitis, signed one of Division I’s best portal classes and talked Marcus Spears Jr., the No. 1 player in the class of 2027, into reclassifying and signing in early July, it would be hard to argue. Per ESPN, Spears is one of just four players since 2022 to average at least 20 points, 8.5 rebounds and one blocked shot in three straight EYBL sessions. The others? Cooper Flagg, Cameron Boozer, and Tyran Stokes. Like those three, Spears is athletic, scores in the post, has face-up potential out to the 3-point line, and can move his feet laterally to defend. Texas is loaded.
KEY PLAYER: Vokietaitis is a handful in the post and freshmen Spears, Austin Goosby and Bo Ogden will all play important roles, but the guy who might make everything work is TCU transfer David Punch, a 6-7, 245-pound matchup nightmare who can play all three frontcourt positions, facilitate offense, and generally stuff a stat sheet to the gills.
POSTSEASON PREDICTION: Do not be surprised to see the Longhorns in the Final Four.
TEXAS A&M
OUTLOOK: Bucky McMillan wasn’t hired to replace Buzz Williams at A&M until April 5, 2025. He inherited zero players, but more importantly, he had no one who had ever played in his fast-paced “Bucky Ball” system. Despite the slow start, McMillan and his staff did a masterful job recruiting players who fit the system and more importantly, fit together. The Aggies wound up 22-12, tied for fourth in the SEC and played in the NCAA Tournament. Like most teams in the SEC, A&M underwent another rebuild. McMillan’s track record would suggest the Aggies will once again be a tough out.
KEY PLAYER: One might say 6-4 graduate guard PJ Haggerty is a college hoops mercenary, considering he’s been on the roster of TCU, Tulsa, Memphis, Kansas State, and Texas A&M the last five seasons. But he’s a darn good one. At Tulsa in 2023-24 he averaged 21.2 points, a year later at Memphis he led the American Conference at 21.7 points a game, and last year, playing on a bad Kansas State team, he averaged 23.4 and 3.8 assists. Haggerty is no black hole, either; he’s averaged 3.6 assists in his career. He’ll be a force playing Bucky Ball, and on both ends of the floor, too. In the last three seasons, Haggerty has averaged 1.6 steals.
POSTSEASON PREDICTION: If the Aggies are lucky enough to get fifth-year Jordan Pope eligible, they’ll have one of the best backcourts in the SEC, if not the country. And if 6-9, 225-pound redshirt junior Mackenzie Mgbako (10.4 ppg, 4.9 rpg, .343 3PT, .882 FT) is healthy after a foot injury limited him to seven games last season, A&M will make its second consecutive NCAA trip under McMillan.
VANDERBILT
OUTLOOK: Not since 2009-12, when Kevin Stallings was coach, have the Commodores played in three consecutive NCAA Tournaments. Coach Mark Byington will be looking to lead Vandy to the NCAA in his first three seasons, and he’s got the firepower to do it. Like Alabama, Vanderbilt looked for size in the portal and found it with 6-10, 244-pound Nebraska transfer Berke Büyüktuncel and 7-0 Colorado transfer Bangot Dak. Büyüktuncel is a multi-tooled big man who can pass and shoot, but he’s also physical. Dak is a rim protector who Byington challenged over the summer to add some perimeter skill. The ‘Dores also picked up 6-8, 230-pound Auburn transfer Sebastian Williams-Adams, who Byington will turn loose to make plays for himself and others.
KEY PLAYER: Junior point guard Tyler Tanner decided to bypass the NBA Draft and return for another season, which is a huge plus for Vanderbilt because Tanner is not only among the top guards in the country, he’s among the top eight or 10 players of any position. Tyler has always been a good set-up man who values ball security, and on the other end, a thief who last season averaged 2.4 steals. But he also improved his offensive game. He’s added about 15 pounds of muscle to his previously scrawny frame, so he’s likely to challenge more defenders at the rim in addition to using an increasingly reliable 3-point shot.
POSTSEASON PREDICTION: Vanderbilt came with a missed Tanner shot at the buzzer from advancing to the Sweet 16 last season. This year, the Commodores are equipped to reach the round of 16 and maybe a step farther.