When Milan Momcilovic chose Kentucky back in June, the SEC received a major shakeup that saw Mark Pope and his Wildcats climbing at an alarmingly fast rate. Then, it appeared that the blue and white may even have a shot at the second spot in the conference.
But after a series of recruiting changes hit the conference, primarily involving the Texas Longhorns getting a whole lot better in basically no time at all, it's time to revisit the SEC's top five in order to reassess where the Cats sit as the season draws nearer.
To kick things off, we'll touch base with a slight faller.
5. Arkansas Razorbacks (-1)
Arkansas is hard to fully buy into because, at the end of the day, they're a typical John Calipari team.
Freshmen Miikka Muurinen and Jordan Smith lead the way for a promising group that are bound to make waves in the SEC to some extent. Although, with the loss of certified pro Darius Acuff Jr., this Razorbacks team looks a little less surefire than even last year's group. If you think you've heard this all before with a Calipari team, it's because you have. SGA's don't grow on trees.
4. Tennessee Volunteers (+1)
Tennessee joins Kentucky as one of just four teams nationwide with three transfer pickups in the pool's top 50 - Rick Barnes and the Vols have put together one of their better rosters in recent memory.
Their class was good enough prior to securing widely coveted four-star forward Juke Harris, who brings more than 20 points a game and nearly seven boards to the orange and white. Terrence Hill Jr. and Jalen Haralson, among others, round out a real dark horse conference competitor.
3. Kentucky Wildcats (-1)
Even if Kentucky didn't manage to hold on to the No. 2 spot, the Wildcats have still pieced together a more than formidable roster that has the potential to be Coach Pope's best shot at an SEC run yet.
And while much of that rests on the aforementioned Momcilovic, top 50 pickups like Zoom Diallo and Alex Wilkins, as well as the returning Malachi Moreno, forge a squad with a high floor. It helps that the Cats have a ton of experience coming off the bench, too; this unit will be hard to shake at any level.
2. Texas Longhorns (+5)
This is the big one. I wasn't as high on Sean Miller's second Texas team as a lot of folks... that is, until Texas secured a commitment from the No. 1 player in the 2027 class, Marcus Spears Jr., who immediately reclassified for this coming season. That'll just about do it.
Factor in the returning Matas Vokietaitis down low and four-star transfer commits Elyjah Freeman and David Punch, and you've got a perennial national contender battling for the top spot in the SEC.
Although, even still, I'm not quite sure the Longhorns have enough for the gold.
1. Florida Gators
It's Florida, man. Todd Golden returning pretty much his entire team tells you everything you need to know about the operation that's being run in Gainesville. This is a group committed to remaining at the top of the SEC, and they'll have pretty much all the same pieces to reproduce that outcome.
Rueben Chinyelu, Alex Condon, Thomas Haugh, and Boogie Fland are all running it back this year, with Denzel Aberdeen sticking out as an incoming re-addition that may or may not be eligible. But, either way, I don't see any reason right now to suspect that Florida falls from their top spot.
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