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The SEC still has two teams in the Top 10 of the AP Top 25 as we awake on this Monday morning.
The Tennessee Volunteers and the Auburn Tigers continue to represent the conference well, as Tennessee and Auburn sit 3rd and 7th in this week’s AP Top 25. Joining them are the Mississippi State Bulldogs and Kentucky Wildcats, giving the conference four teams in the poll once again.
Tennessee picked up two first-place votes but still remain at 3rd this week. The Vols defeated the Memphis Tigers in their lone game of the week, which came on the heels of their win over the Gonzaga Bulldogs last Sunday. Their lone loss is still to the #1 team in the land, the Kansas Jayhawks, and given the scope of their nonconference schedule, it doesn’t seem likely that they’re going to lose again before league play starts up.
Auburn, meanwhile, got a bump up to 7th in the nation after sitting at 8th last week. It helped them that Gonzaga fell from 4th down to 8th after their loss to the North Carolina Tar Heels over the weekend. And, of course, Auburn beating the UAB Blazers in Birmingham didn’t hurt matters, either. Auburn is 9-1 on the season and has a huge test in the form of the North Carolina State Wolfpack this week, as they’ll travel to Raleigh to face Kevin Keatts’ bunch.
Mississippi State hopped up one spot from 18th to 17th after their win over the Cincinnati Bearcats. The Bulldogs are 9-1 on the season, and with three more games in the state of Mississippi before their road conference opener against the South Carolina Gamecocks on January 8, you’ll likely see them remain in the teens as the rest of December plays out.
Finally, Kentucky remained idle at 19th this week. The Wildcats picked up a win in their only game of the week, as they routed the Utah Utes at Rupp Arena in Lexington. Kentucky, of course, is 8-2 on the year with losses to the Seton Hall Pirates and Duke Blue Devils. They have a huge test this week against UNC in the CBS Sports Classic, so we’ll see if they can finally pick up a win against a legit team this year.
The only other team from the conference to receive votes this week was the Florida Gators. The Gators picked up three AP votes, but they of course haven’t played a game since December 8. They’ll return to action against the Mercer Bears on Tuesday night.