SEC Power Rankings: LSU Claims No. 1, Alabama Plummets

By Chris Marler

It took one week to see major movement in our weekly SEC Power Rankings. Some good and some bad.

Here are the Week 1 Power Rankings with their preseason ranking in parentheses. 

16. Kentucky
15. Alabama
14. Mississippi State
13. Arkansas
12. Vanderbilt
11. Florida

10. Texas A&M (No. 6) 

That’s too many points to allow UTSA with Mike Elko at the helm. 

9. Missouri (No. 7)

Beau Pribula was awesome and the offense was, as well. Pribula put up nearly 350 yards of offense and had four touchdowns. Their biggest offensive portal acquisitions looked great. Kevin Coleman led the team in receptions with six, and running back Ahmad Hardy had ten carries for 100 yards and a score. The only concern was their revamped defense recording just two sacks. 

8. Ole Miss (No. 8)

Austin Simmons threw two interceptions in the first quarter, but it didn’t matter in the end. Ole Miss trounced Georgia State and put up nearly 700 yards of offense. 

7. Oklahoma (No. 12)

Mateer completed over 80 percent of his passes, and the defense is still as advertised. Mateer finished his first game with the best debut for an OU quarterback since Baker Mayfield. That’ll work. 

6. Tennessee (No. 10)

Tennessee’s offense is going to be just fine. Joey Aguilar delivered exactly what Josh Heupel needed, executing the offense smoothly and keeping things moving with confidence. He also didn’t get a ton of help either because of all the drops. The most impressive part of their win over Syracuse was the run game. The Vols ran for 262 yards and 6.4 yards per carry. 

5. Auburn (No. 9)

No. 5 feels a little high after watching the Tigers pass defense be an absolute liability for 60 straight minutes Friday night. However, we are not the CFB Playoff committee. We actually reward wins and reward teams that challenge themselves. Auburn went on the road and beat a Power Four opponent by 14 points. They scored in multiple phases of the game and ran the ball down Baylor’s throat throughout. 

When this team gets the wide receivers more involved it’s going to be scary for a lot of people.

4. South Carolina (No. 5)

The big question for South Carolina entering the season was how to replace the five defensive standouts lost to the NFL Draft in April. Just as pressing was whether LaNorris Sellers is a complete quarterback or simply an elite athlete with questions about his arm.

All of those questions were answered in the first game of the year. The Gamecocks defense held Virginia Tech to nine points (two of the Hokies’ points were on a safety), and kept them out of the end zone for 60 minutes. 

Sellers was great. He finished 12-of-19 for 209 yards and two touchdowns. However, two drops and a controversial overturned touchdown made his final box score appear less impressive than his actual performance.

3. Texas (No. 2)

Texas looked pretty ineffective against Ohio State. Arch Manning was underwhelming, the offense was anemic and the goal line playcalling still seems to be a massive issue for the Longhorns. The only reason they’re not lower on this list is because almost every team in the league would’ve looked bad in that same situation at the Horseshoe.

2. Georgia (No. 1)

Georgia, the defending SEC champion, remains one of the nation’s top teams and did not receive the preseason recognition it deserved. But they also played Marshall in Week 1. They looked dominant in their win, but there’s a team that deserves to be there more than the Dawgs.

1. LSU (No. 4) 

“Walk in yo trap, take over yo trap.”

We knew the talent was there. We knew that LSU had one of the best quarterbacks in America. We knew they had one of the best and most experienced rosters in America. And we still doubted them. LSU’s win at Clemson was so impressive it feels nearly impossible to focus on just one thing. 

Nussmeier delivered, the defense dominated, and the offensive line silenced every doubter. Clemson managed just 1.7 yards per carry, while Heisman hopeful Cade Klubnik was limited to a 50 percent completion rate against Blake Baker’s unit.

The scariest part for every other team in America? This team can still improve and may just be scratching the surface.