Florida takes on the Auburn Tigers after Liv McGill scored 21 points in the Gators' 80-63 loss to the LSU Tigers

There was change at the top of this week's USA TODAY Sports Bracketology with Alabama rising to a No. 1 seed at the expense of SEC rival Tennessee.

After going 2-0 this past week with a 16-point win over Vanderbilt and a 7-point win over LSU, Alabama stayed put at No. 4 in this week’s AP Poll. It’s the third consecutive week the Crimson Tide has been ranked No.

Johni Broome is back, and Auburn is still on top of the SEC. The Tigers picked up their 11th straight win on Saturday night when they beat Tennessee 53-51. It marked Broome’s first game back from an ankle injury. He had a team-high 16 points and 13 rebounds off the bench in the win, which marked the lowest point total the Tigers have had all year.

Florida was one of the later programs to offer five-star class of 2026 receiver Tristen Keys, but the Gators made the cut for his top 12 on Friday.

Two and a half months into the 2024-25 men’s college hoops season, the SEC has made the most of the bigger, badder, and larger basketball leagues. All 16 teams in the league are sitting above .500 overall and have 10 wins or more at this point in the season.

The Tigers picked up another much-needed win over Florida. Plus, see the high school basketball games rescheduled from last week:

Johni Broome 's injury makes Auburn's spot more tenuous, but the Tigers beat Mississippi State by 22 even without him. Duke is barely breaking a sweat while blowing out inferior ACC competition. And then there's Iowa State, which has only a two-point loss to Auburn blemishing its résumé and just dispatched Kansas by 17.

The top five spots in this week's Associated Press Top 25 poll remain unchanged, with Auburn still the unanimous No. 1 selection, while St. John's and Memphis made the biggest

On Tuesday evening, five-star running back Derrek Cooper announced his top 10 schools list. FSU made the cut alongside Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Miami, Penn State, Auburn, Ohio State, Texas A&M, and Ole Miss. Cooper has held an offer from the Seminoles since February 2024.

The Vols likely would catapult onto the No. 1 seed line with a win at Auburn, but it would carry weight beyond the immediate effect on bracketology. A win at Auburn would give Tennessee two marquee road wins on its NCAA Tournament profile come Selection Sunday. The other was a 66-64 win at Illinois On dec. 14.

Despite Iowa State ’s 64-57 loss at then-unranked West Virginia, the Cyclones moved down just one spot. While Alabama, Florida and Tennessee stayed put, Michigan State (16-2) and Houston (14-3) made significant jumps.