FOX Sports national college basketball writer John Fanta reveals his latest top 25 rankings, headlined by two SEC powerhouses.

That was in Nashville, when the Tigers knocked off Tennessee 79-71 in the 2022-23 SEC Tournament. What followed is a 20-game losing streak that became 21 Saturday when Missouri fell 84-68 at Auburn in both teams’ SEC opener.

After playing 13 non-conference games to tune up - and winning 12 of them - the No. 2 Auburn Tigers shift focus to a daunting SEC slate. Missouri is the first conference opponent that Auburn will take on in the 2024-25 campaign.

The Missouri Tigers men’s basketball team opened the Southeastern Conference portion of its 2024-25 schedule with an 84-68 loss to No. 2-ranked Auburn on Saturday afternoon in Auburn, Alabama. Mizzou (11-3, 0-1 SEC) entered the game at Neville Arena seeking its first league victory since beating Tennessee in the SEC Tournament on March 10, 2023.

The days of the Southeastern Conference being seen as just a football league are in the past. The SEC enters conference play with 10 teams ranked in the AP Top 25, and the Missouri Tigers will get their first test of a difficult league schedule today with a trip to face the second-ranked Auburn Tigers.

No. 1 Tennessee and No. 2 Auburn remained in a battle for the top spot in the latest AP Top 25 men's college basketball poll Monday for the fourth consecutive week to keep the SEC's dominant start to the 2024-25 season rolling.