Auburn is ranked No. 13 in the Associated Press top 25 poll heading into the final week of the regular season after a 1-1 week. It’s a two-spot drop from Auburn’s No. 11 ranking last week.

Auburn lost to Tennessee on Wednesday after a dominant performance from Tennessee forward Dalton Knecht, who scored 39 points. The win effectively eliminated Auburn from contention for an SEC regular season title.

Head coach Bruce Pearl’s team responded on Saturday, never trailing in a 78-63 win against Mississippi State.

Auburn is now 22-7 overall this season and 11-5 in the SEC.

Auburn is the second-highest rated of the five SEC teams in the poll. No. 4 Tennessee leads the way with No. 15 Kentucky, No. 16 Alabama and No. 17 South Carolina.

Florida dropped out of the top 25 this week.

To close the regular season, Auburn will travel to Missouri for a Tuesday night game and play the finale at home Saturday against Georgia.

Auburn will need to win both and hope for implosions by both Alabama and Tennessee to have a shot at the SEC title.

And it will certainly need to win both to be in position for a top-four seed in the SEC Tournament starting March 13. A top-four seed ensures a double-bye. Currently, Auburn is the No. 5 seed.

Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina and Kentucky are all ahead of Auburn in the SEC standings.

Tennessee leads the SEC with a 13-3 record. Alabama and South Carolina each have 12-4 records. Kentucky and Auburn are both at 11-5 and Kentucky has the tiebreaker over Auburn by winning the only meeting of the two sides this season.

Kentucky plays Vanderbilt and Tennessee to finish the regular season.

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at [email protected]