SEC Preview: Best Bets 2026-27 Recap
Ryan McIntyre (@Moneyline_Mac), Noah Bieniek (@NoahB77_) and Cannabis Capper (@CannabisCapper) break down the 2026-27 SEC basketball preview, and everybody has Florida on top. It ends with Noah Bieniek picking Arkansas to repeat as SEC tournament champs in Nashville.
Florida Ran The League, Arkansas Stole Nashville
Last season set the bar for this group. Florida won the SEC regular season at 16-2, three games clear of the field. That came after a slow start, because the Gators found their identity once league play began. Alabama and Arkansas tied for second, so Nate Oats and John Calipari both had strong years. Then the conference tournament in Nashville broke apart. Vanderbilt knocked off Florida, and Arkansas beat Vandy to win the tournament title. Ryan McIntyre briefly handed that crown to Vandy before getting corrected, so apologies went out to Hogs fans. Meanwhile Kentucky went 10-8 in league play, and he called the Wildcats the biggest disappointment in the conference.
The bracket told a rougher story. Ten SEC teams went dancing, and Auburn and Oklahoma were both among the first four out. Eight of the 10 won their first game. But Missouri lost to Miami, and Georgia got blown out by St. Louis, a game Noah Bieniek cashed a ticket on. Only Alabama, Arkansas and Texas reached the Sweet 16. Tennessee was the lone Elite Eight team, then got run off the floor in a 33-point loss to Michigan. Auburn salvaged something by winning the NIT under Steven Pearl, with five impressive performances after a 17-16 season. So the league was deep all year, but it came up short at the very top in March.
Will Wade Is Back And Lamont Paris Is On The Clock
There is only one new coach in the league, and he is a familiar face. LSU brought back Will Wade after his one season at NC State, and Ryan McIntyre cannot wait to watch it. Meanwhile Rick Barnes is the only coach who has been at one school for more than a decade. He enters his 12th season at Tennessee. Nate Oats is now second in tenure, heading into year eight at Alabama. Todd Golden and Mike White are both in year five, along with Lamont Paris, Dennis Gates and Chris Jans. Then there’s Steven Pearl in year two at Auburn. Sean Miller and Bucky also got their schools back to the dance in year one.
Then the hot seat question came up, and the answers were blunt. Noah Bieniek called Lamont Paris a dead man walking at South Carolina, pointing to a 6-30 mark over two years. Mark Pope is on the hot seat too, because the expectations at Kentucky are sky high. Cannabis Capper also doesn’t think Pope is that good a coach. Next came the getting-stale list, with Chris Jans, Porter Moser and Dennis Gates one bad year from trouble. But Chris Beard gets a pass at Ole Miss. The school put its NIL money into football, so nobody expects a big year. And as Ryan McIntyre put it, Ole Miss is not doing better than Beard.
Stock Up On Kentucky, Stock Down On The Aggies
Noah Bieniek went against the grain and made Kentucky his stock-up team, with the Wildcats finishing fourth. Mark Pope went 10-8 in league play in each of his first two years. But last season’s defense finished 28th nationally, the best of his 11-year career. So rim protectors Malachi Moreno and Frank Kepner give this group a real shot at a top-50 defense. Then there’s the shooting. Milan Momcilovic arrives from Iowa State after hitting 49% from deep on seven and a half attempts a game. Also, last year’s injuries to Jayden Quaintance and Jalen Lowe explain a lot of what went sideways.
Cannabis Capper went with Tennessee and has the Vols finishing second. The case starts in the backcourt. Terence Hill Jr. comes over from VCU to run the point. Tyler Lundblad is one of the two best shooters in college basketball in his view. JuCares could also be an SEC Player of the Year candidate. Jaylen Washington arrives from Vanderbilt to anchor the middle. Meanwhile Ryan McIntyre took Texas in year two under Sean Miller. The Longhorns finished 9-9 in league play, then got hot late and reached the Sweet 16. So he likes the size of this group, with Vokaitis from FAU and freshman Spears, to keep that momentum rolling.
The stock-down picks went in different directions. Noah Bieniek faded Texas A&M, because tying for fourth again will be hard to repeat. Bucky’s teams play fast and launch threes, so it comes down to defense, which ranked 39th in year one. He still sees the Aggies as a tournament team, just ninth in the league. Cannabis Capper sold Alabama after the roster turned over. He questions Drew Fielder’s athleticism and Brandon Garrison at the five. He also noted that teams PJ Haggerty transfers to tend to disappoint. Then Ryan McIntyre took Missouri, a team losing key pieces with Mark Mitchell’s status still up in the air.
The SEC Basketball Preview Rankings Start With Florida
All three guys put Florida first, and nobody hedged. The Gators return 78.8% of their minutes according to Torvik, eighth most in the country and the most in the SEC. That includes three all-conference players, the SEC Defensive Player of the Year and the Sixth Man of the Year. Noah Bieniek also thinks a healthy Alex Condon leads the best frontcourt trio in the nation. Boogie Fland runs the point, and Urban Klavzar shot 40.5% from three last year. Shooting is the weakness, so a possible return for Denzel Aberdeen matters. And Ryan McIntyre has Florida as his preseason number one in the entire country.
The split starts at two. Noah Bieniek took Alabama, which has posted five straight top-30 offenses under Nate Oats. He believes the added positional size fixes the defense. Cannabis Capper stayed on Tennessee, while Ryan McIntyre went with Arkansas because nobody is better with freshmen than Calipari. Then Tennessee landed third for both Noah Bieniek and Ryan McIntyre. Rick Barnes has had six straight top-15 defenses and three straight Elite Eights. Next, Texas went fourth for Cannabis Capper and Ryan McIntyre, while Noah Bieniek kept Kentucky there. Cannabis Capper also filled his third spot with Arkansas and the new freshman class.
The back half of the top tier gets messy. Noah Bieniek put Arkansas fifth over its lack of experience. Ryan McIntyre put Alabama there, and Cannabis Capper had the Tide sixth. Vanderbilt also sits fifth or sixth on every ballot. Tyler Tanner is the reason, because Noah Bieniek expects him to score 25 a game. Ace Glass, who shot 37% from deep at Washington State, should also benefit from playing off the ball. Then Kentucky went seventh for Cannabis Capper and Ryan McIntyre, which drew jokes about the Wildcats being stuck at seventh. Noah Bieniek put Texas seventh instead, staying in wait-and-see mode on Sean Miller.
LSU Is A Circus In The Middle Of The Pack
Everyone landed on LSU at eight, mostly because nobody knew where else to put them. The roster is a moving target in Will Wade’s first year back. Donovan Dent and Sky Clark were the UCLA backcourt that made the tournament last year. Mo Dioubate also averaged nine and five and a half at Kentucky. The Tigers have four older Euro pros classified as freshmen, which Noah Bieniek called terrible and loved anyway. RJ Lewis is not eligible. And LSU beat McNeese by just three in a scrimmage. So Ryan McIntyre wouldn’t be shocked by a second-place finish or a 15th-place one.
Auburn and Texas A&M fill the next tier. Noah Bieniek and Cannabis Capper both have the Aggies ninth and Auburn 10th. Ryan McIntyre flipped it, with Auburn ninth and the Aggies sliding to 13th in a regression year. Auburn returns Pettiford and Kevin Overton, so the Tigers have a shot at repeating as the nation’s 11th best offense per KenPom. Then the bubble gets crowded. Oklahoma could swing on eligibility, with Duke Brennan, BJ Edwards and Tate Davis all waiting on rulings. Georgia went 10th for Ryan McIntyre and 12th for Noah Bieniek, because Mike White keeps paying a few good veterans and riding them.
Missouri is the wild card. Cannabis Capper has the Tigers 11th with an outside tournament shot, because freshman Jason Crowe Jr. could be one of the best in the country. Noah Bieniek has them 13th, and Ryan McIntyre dropped them to 15th as his bold take. Below that, Mississippi State went 14th for two of the three guys, with Hubbard back for a fifth year. Ryan McIntyre also has Ole Miss 12th, banking on a Beard bounce back. Finally, South Carolina went 16th on all three ballots. Ryan McIntyre asked how anyone could argue they aren’t the worst team, and nobody tried.
Who Wins Nashville And The SEC Awards
The SEC tournament stays in Nashville, and nobody picked Florida to win it. Noah Bieniek has a well-oiled Arkansas team repeating as champs. Cannabis Capper took Vanderbilt, while Ryan McIntyre went with Tennessee because Rick Barnes is always good in that event. Player of the Year split too. Noah Bieniek thinks Alex Condon gets back to his 2025 form after playing through nagging injuries. Cannabis Capper likes JuCares from Tennessee on counting stats. Then Ryan McIntyre picked Tyler Tanner, because Florida has too many mouths to feed and Tanner will have the ball in his hands all year.
Coach of the Year was the sharpest debate. Noah Bieniek took Sean Miller, figuring even a seventh-place Texas team at 13-5 or 12-6 could earn it. Cannabis Capper picked Mark Byington for the program he has built at Vanderbilt. Ryan McIntyre went with Todd Golden in case Florida runs away with the league. But Noah Bieniek doubts Golden repeats after winning it last year off a 16-2 league run. The guys also agreed Will Wade won’t get votes even if LSU finishes top four, because this is a cutthroat league. And both Ryan McIntyre and Noah Bieniek still think Bucky should have won it last year.
2026-27 College Basketball Conference Previews
| MEAC | AMERICA EAST | NEC |
| MAAC | BIG EAST | SOCON |
| PATRIOT LEAGUE | OVC | ASUN |
| UAC | BIG SOUTH | SWAC |
| SOUTHLAND | SUMMIT LEAGUE | SUN BELT |
| BIG SKY | HORIZON LEAGUE | IVY LEAGUE |
| CUSA | BIG WEST | CAA |
| PAC 12 | BIG TEN | ACC |
| MAC | BIG 12 | SEC |
Podcast Chapters
00:00 Download the SGPN App Today!
01:02 Welcome to the SEC Preview
03:43 SEC 25-26 Recap
08:18 Will Wade, Vets & Hot Seat
16:35 Stock Up Teams: Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas
23:13 Stock Down Teams: Texas A&M, Alabama, Missouri
28:40 Rank These Teams: Florida at One
32:31 Two: Alabama and Tennessee
34:59 Three: Arkansas, Calipari and the Vols
38:21 Four: Texas and Sean Miller
39:33 Five: Arkansas, Vanderbilt and Alabama
41:55 Six: Vandy and Tyler Tanner
44:05 Seven: Texas, Kentucky and Momcilovic
47:45 Eight: LSU Circus in Baton Rouge
51:16 Nine and 10: Aggies and Auburn
55:19 11 and 12: Georgia, Oklahoma and Missouri
1:00:45 Georgia, Missouri, Mississippi State & South Carolina
1:10:06 Awards: Tournament, Player of the Year & Coach of the Year
1:15:58 Sign-Off & Socials
