NCAA Men's Basketball Power Rankings: Alabama falls out of top 3

Auburn, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, maybe Kentucky if it gets healthy.

When discussing the SEC teams that could potentially make a Final Four run, those have been at the forefront of the conversation. But in a conversation earlier this week with an SEC coach -- before Wednesday night's games -- he pointed out that people are forgetting about Missouri. His reasoning was simple: size, length and talent at all five spots, a group that will be really difficult to prepare for on a short turnaround.

And then Missouri went out and dropped 110 points on Alabama.

Dennis Gates has done a remarkable job this season in Columbia. Remember, this team didn't win a single SEC game last season and finished 8-24 overall. Plus, Gates didn't do a complete teardown; three of this season's starters were on last year's team. Missouri now has two wins that will carry plenty of weight on Selection Sunday: at Florida and over Alabama. The Tigers have six Quadrant 1 wins, zero losses outside of Quad 1 -- and, outside of a 16-point loss at Auburn on Jan. 4, they haven't lost another game by more than eight points.

Their NET ranking is in good shape, their résumé-based and efficiency-based metrics are both very solid, and they might be favored in each of their five remaining games in the regular season. Missouri is likely not done rising in these Power Rankings.

1. Auburn Tigers (24-2)

Previous ranking: 1