SEC HOOPS: Defending champs Florida picked to win the SEC title in '25-26; Tide picked fourth, Tigers sixth

Nate Oats returns for a seventh season to lead Alabama basketball. (Southeastern Conference)

By GRAHAM DUNN

MOUNTAIN BROOK - Defending national champion Florida was predicted to win the 2026 Southeastern Conference men’s basketball championship in voting by a select panel of both SEC and national media members.

Last year, the Gators were picked sixth, which could be good news for the Auburn Tigers.

Auburn, a Final Four participant last season, was picked to finish sixth under new head coach Steven Pearl.

Alabama, which went to the Elite 8 in March, was chosen fourth by the media at this week’s SEC Tip-Off Media Days in Mountain Brook.

The Crimson Tide, has eight returning players and seven newcomers, which is the norm for most teams in the SEC.

“Our depth, particularly in the backcourt, is really good. we have some good young pieces that supplement it well,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said. “We shot it well and I think we might shoot it better this year, particularly 1-through-5. Our bigs aren’t as athletic but hopefully they will be better on the peremieter. The style and identity of who we want to be is similar.

“Our defense has to get better.”

Oats’ defense might need work but the offense continues to shine. Alabama led the nation in scoring for a second since he arrived at Alabama in 2019-20. Suddenly, more teams are trying it his way.

“The league has changed,” Oats said. “Teams are playing a little faster. Some are spreading out and taking more 3s.

“(The offense has) been successful. We’ve won more SEC games than anyone in the league, so that’s something. We led the nation in scoring last year. I’ll not take credit for changing the league but basketball is a copycat game. You see teams in NBA play faster. College basketball…. teams try to play faster and we’ve been pretty good year to year. I think what we are doing, with the right personnel, it works pretty well.”

Kentucky’s Otega Oweh was the choice of the media for SEC Men’s Basketball Player of the Year. Nate Ament (Tennessee), Alex Condon (Florida), Malik Dia (Ole Miss), Boogie Fland (Florida), Thomas Haugh (Florida), Josh Hubbard (Mississippi State), and Tahaad Pettiford (Auburn), also received votes in the Player of the Year voting.

Condon, Hubbard, Oweh, and Pettiford were each All-SEC First Team selections along with Alabama’s Labaron Philon. Ament, Fland and Haugh were joined on the second team by Tennessee’s Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Missouri’s Mark Mitchell. Dia along with Alabama’s Aden Holloway, Arkansas’ Karter Knox, Kentucky’s Jaland Lowe, and Arkansas’ D.J. Wagner were selected to the third team.

 The 2025-26 campaign begins Monday, Nov. 3, with conference play set to begin Saturday, Jan. 3. The 2026 SEC Tournament will be March 11-15 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

First Team All-SEC

Alex Condon – Florida

Josh Hubbard – Mississippi State

Otega Oweh – Kentucky

Tahaad Pettiford – Auburn

Labaron Philon Jr. – Alabama

Second Team All-SEC

Nate Ament – Tennessee

Boogie Fland – Florida

Ja’Kobi Gillespie – Tennessee

Thomas Haugh – Florida

Mark Mitchell – Missouri

Third Team All-SEC

Malik Dia – Ole Miss

Aden Holloway – Alabama

Karter Knox – Arkansas

Jaland Lowe – Kentucky

D.J. Wagner – Arkansas

SEC Player of the Year

Otega Oweh – Kentucky

Predicted Order Of Finish

1.      Florida

2.      Kentucky

3.      Tennessee

4.      Alabama

5.      Arkansas

6.      Auburn

7.      Missouri

8.      Ole Miss

9.      Texas

10.    Mississippi State

11.    Vanderbilt

12.    Oklahoma

13.    Texas A&M

14.    Georgia

15.    LSU

16.    South Carolina