Week 3 SEC power rankings, based strictly on what teams have shown on the field so far this season. There were some big changes from last week.
The Bottom Six
16. Kentucky
15. LSU’s Secondary intercepted the team that was supposed to go here
14. South Carolina
13. Arkansas
12. Mississippi State
11. Texas
The Top Ten
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Ole Miss
The good news for Ole Miss is that they were able to win another conference game and do so with a backup quarterback. The concern is what happened to Pete Golding’s defense?
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Alabama
Alabama controlled a Power Four opponent from start to finish, showing plenty of positives to build on as they head into a bye week before traveling to Athens. Ty Simpson looks like one of the best quarterbacks in the country, Ryan Williams had multiple touchdowns and over 100 yards receiving and the defense registered three sacks. The concern is their inability to run the football.
Alabama QB Ty Simpson is the #8 most efficient passer in the nation through 3 weeks with a pass efficiency rating of 186.64.
– 862 yards
– 71.9% completion (#18 nationally)
– 9 touchdowns (Tied #3 nationally)
– 9.7 YPA (#12 nationally)
– 287.3 YPG (#19 nationally)
– ZERO INTs pic.twitter.com/YS6hmYwMEU— Sidelines – Bama (@SSN_Alabama) September 15, 2025
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Auburn
After three games, it’s safe to say this Auburn team is good. It’s also safe to say that this Auburn secondary is a liability on defense. The good news is their offense seems to be as explosive as many Tiger fans hoped coming into the season. They also rank second in the league in sacks with 11 so far this season. This is the best Auburn team since 2019, but now the fun begins.
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Tennessee
It’s tough to feel sympathy for Tennessee fans, most make that nearly impossible with how they act on social media. Still, Saturday’s loss was tough to watch. The Vols were a 36-yard field goal away from getting an eight year monkey off their back against Georgia. A false start and missed 41-yard attempt sent it to overtime, and the Vols lost at home. Tennessee fans should hold their heads high after that game. Way more positives came out of it than negatives, including a 41 point offensive display from Josh Heupel’s team. The scariest part about Tennessee is they’re not even close to being fully healthy yet.
I’m crying 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/CZaVMQtYug
— KL (@klev19) September 14, 2025
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Texas A&M
The Aggies went on the road and got a huge program win over Notre Dame, and a huge win for the conference. It was their first win against a ranked team on the road since 2014. Marcel Reed continues to be brilliant in his second year as a starter. He had his struggles against Notre Dame for sure, as did the Aggie defense, but they were able to find a way to win when it mattered most against a team that played for a national title just nine months ago.
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Missouri
If you’re wondering why Missouri is on here at No. 5 it’s because you haven’t watched Missouri this season. Death, taxes and SEC fans dismissing Missouri. Rinse. Repeat.
The Tigers are No. 4 in total offense and No. 5 in total defense nationally. Beau Pribula is top five nationally in completion percentage (76.4 percent), and the defense hasn’t allowed more than 254 yards in any game this season.
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Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt is a good football team, and this is based off on-field results through three weeks. The Commodores are 3-0 and have won two back-to-back games against Power Four opponents by 24 points.
They make in-game and halftime adjustments, they play extremely physical on the lines of scrimmage, they constantly stay ahead of the chains and they play great defense. Diego Pavia continues to be one of the most efficient quarterbacks in America.
Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt are ranked in the AP Top 25 in the same week for the first time since October 2nd, 1984 🐝⚓️ pic.twitter.com/bUaW8UPxs9
— CFB Kings (@CFBKings) September 14, 2025
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LSU
The defense is good enough to get this team to a championship. The offense is bad enough to cost them one.
They have the makings of a complete team if they can get the offense going. Special teams has been incredible with Damian Ramos and Grant Chadwick and this is easily the best defense they’ve fielded in five years, maybe more.
Those linebackers stepped up pic.twitter.com/la6l3mLLr9
— LSU Football (@LSUfootball) September 14, 2025
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Oklahoma
I feel like I know less about Oklahoma than most of the top teams in this conference. That’s mainly because they haven’t played a game in a window where there aren’t five other better games on. That being said, John Mateer is legit, and this Sooners defense is elite. They’ve allowed just 6.3 ppg which leads the SEC, and all 11 players absolutely fly to the football. The schedule is brutal, but they are a really good team. This weekend’s home game against Auburn should tell us way more.
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Georgia
How many times are we going to collectively doubt the Dawgs and make Kirby Smart teach us all a lesson. The concern for Georgia going into the Tennessee game was that they didn’t have a vertical passing game. Gunner Stockton laid that poor assumption to rest early and often on Saturday. Georgia has some questions on defense after what Tennessee did to them, especially with Ty Simpson and those Alabama wide receivers coming to town in two weeks. But, if anyone can right the ship defensively, it’s Kirby Smart. This is still Georgia’s conference until they say otherwise.
On 1st & 2nd down, UGA allowed 8.0 yards per play & 47% success rate to Tenn. On 3rd down, Tenn’s YPP dropped to 3.3 & 41% success rate.
UGA’s YPP was 5.5 & success rate was 43% on 1st & 2nd down. On 3rd down, UGA’s YPP climbed to 7.3 & success rate to 53%.
Won the game on 3rd… pic.twitter.com/wKWdEjxwhh
— Jon Tweets Sports (@jontweetssports) September 15, 2025
