With the Alabama Crimson Tide winning the College Football National Championship in a scintillating 45-40 win over Clemson last week, we’re reminded of how exceptional the Southeastern Conference is on the gridiron. It’s pretty hard to argue that another conference is comparable in its depth and talent across the board.

The same has not been said about its basketball programs, but there’s a movement afoot that could change the perception of SEC hoops.

The Kentucky Wildcats have been the big bully on the SEC’s basketball block forever. Last year, Arkansas was the only other conference team to win a game in the NCAA Tournament. But in 2014, two SEC teams, Florida and Kentucky, made the Final Four while Tennessee also advanced to the Sweet 16. Add in big-name hirings over the past few years such as Bruce Pearl at Auburn, Avery Johnson at Alabama and Rick Barnes at Tennessee, and fan bases are excited. (Tonight, Alabama and Auburn play for bragging rights for those fans, but also, perhaps, for which program has the upper hand not only in state but in the SEC.)

Before the season tipped off, many were wondering if anyone could challenge Coach John Calipari’s juggernaut in Lexington. With the early season returns in, it looks like the answer is yes.

Only Missouri and Mississippi State have overall losing records. Texas A&M is 15-2 and ranked No. 14 and No. 15 respectively in the USA Today Coaches Poll and the AP Top 25 and South Carolina, at 16-1 and ranked in the Top 20, is one of the country’s biggest surprises.

Kentucky lost seven players from last year’s dominant squad that destroyed their opponents in the SEC Tournament by an average of 18 points per game, and although this year’s edition is very good, it is no longer the prohibitive favorite to win the conference championship.

The No. 14 Wildcats are now 13-4 and 3-2 in conference after Sunday’s 75-70 upset loss to Auburn. Tyler Ulis, a 5-foot-9 guard, had 17 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists for the Wildcats, but missed a 3-point attempt that would have kept Kentucky alive. Jamal Murray scored 20 points on 8-of-22 shooting.

Calipari was very frustrated with the team’s lack of production. “We don’t have the margin of error that we’ve had in some of my teams,” Calipari said after the game. “So when I talk about winning basketball, it matters. It matters.”

LSU is 11-6 overall and 10-1 at home. The Tigers returned four backcourt players who combined to average almost 40 points per game while adding the best incoming freshman, in Australian Ben Simmons, that we’ve seen since Kentucky’s Anthony Davis. They’re 4-1 in conference play after Saturday’s thrilling 76-74 victory over Arkansas.

LSU head coach Johnny Jones said in his post-game press conference. “We knew coming into the night that it would be a really tough basketball game against one of the teams that is playing extremely well in our league. They’re actually leading the league in points per game. We knew it would be a hard, defensive battle. That it was. I thought our guys did a great job of competing at a great level. I told them some nights, especially tonight, I didn’t think we hit on all cylinders, didn’t think we played our best, but we were able to get a victory against a very tough opponent.”

If LSU continues to operate at a high level, it might erase the lingering memories of early season struggles as Simmons and company aim to do something special during his one-and-only season in Baton Rouge.

Texas A&M hasn’t sniffed the NCAA Tournament since 2011, back when the Aggies were in the Big 12, but head coach Billy Kennedy has things humming in College Station right now. The Aggies’ top three scorers returned this year, in addition to a solid recruiting class.

On Saturday, they ran their record to 15-2 with a 79-45 thrashing of Georgia. Jalen Jones, Alex Caruso and Danuel House each scored 12 points.

What Jones said after last week’s victory over Florida still holds true after beating Georgia. “It feels very great for our confidence. We feel like we’re the best team in the SEC and we just try to play like that every night.”

A&M has not opened conference play with a 5-0 start in 11 years. They’re in the midst of an eight-game winning streak and are undefeated, 10-0, at home.

Florida is trying to rebound from last year’s 16-17 mess with first-year head coach Mike White taking over for the departed Billy Donovan, who is now coaching Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant with the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder. Despite the return of forward Dorian Finney-Smith and point guard Kasay Hill, no one is quite sure what to expect out of this Gator squad.

Vanderbilt reached the quarterfinals of last year’s NIT and returned six of their top seven scorers, including 7-footer Damian Jones, who is projected to be a Top 20 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. The Commodores, after losing three straight, have now won two in a row after defeating Alabama 71-63 on Saturday night. Jeff Roberson scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the victory. Sophomore guard Riley LaChance scored a season-high 18 points while shooting 5 for 6 from 3-point range

Vanderbilt has some size, and many think the 10-7 Commodores can take the next step toward the NCAA’s this year, but in order to do so, they need to learn how to win on the road, where they’re currently 0-4.

Alabama’s last NCAA bid was in 2012, but Johnson has brought a lot of optimism with him to Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide are 10-6 after the Vanderbilt defeat, which came on the heels of their 73-50 upset of previously undefeated South Carolina on Tuesday.

Arkansas was the only other SEC team, besides Kentucky, to make it out of last year’s NCAA opening rounds. They’ve won 49 games over the last two seasons, but were expected to struggle this year. The Razorbacks are currently 9-8 overall and 3-2 in conference play. Arkansas returned a squad with very little experience this year, but if they continue to play solid defense and share the ball, they might do better than many expected.

Missouri won only nine games last year, which was their fewest since winning only three times during the 1966-1967 season. Most feel that their best prospects for the year are pulling an upset here and there. Currently 8-9, all of their wins have come at home.

Georgia, a No. 10 seed in last year’s NCAA Tournament, lost its opening round game to Michigan State. The strength of this year’s Bulldogs will be their backcourt of Charles Mann, J.J. Frazier and Kenny Gaines. But that strength wasn’t apparent in their demolishing loss at the hands of the Aggies.

Tennessee is starting over with new head coach Rick Barnes, who will soon be bringing in some talented recruiting classes like he once did at Texas. Many feel that a NIT berth is a reasonable expectation from this year’s team.

Alejandro Danois is a senior writer and editor with The Shadow League. The former senior editor of Bounce Magazine, he is also a freelance sports and entertainment writer whose work has been published by The New York Times, Sporting News, Baltimore Sun, The Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, SLAMonline and Ebony Magazine, among many others.