Week 5 SEC Power Rankings: How far should LSU fall?

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September is in the books, a third of the season is gone, and we’re only starting to scratch the surface of what we know about each SEC team. Here are this week’s Power Rankings based on on-field results to date.

There were some big changes from Week 4.

The Bottom Six

16. Arkansas
15. Kentucky
14. Florida
13. Auburn
12. South Carolina
11. Mississippi State

The Top 10

  1. Texas

Texas got to the bye week at 3-1 and was able to watch some of their biggest threats in the SEC lose. The Longhorns have just one loss and it was on the road to the currently ranked No. 1 team. The Longhorns head to The Swamp this weekend for a test against a tough defense before facing an even bigger challenge next week against arch rival Oklahoma.

  1. LSU

“LSU’s defense is good enough to win a championship. Their offense is bad enough to keep them out of one.” — me, a week ago.

The offense is an issue that needs to be fixed. Luckily, there’s a bye week to get right, get healthy and take a good long look in the mirror.

  1. Tennessee

I’m not sure if Tennessee deserved to drop three spots after a gutsy overtime win on the road. The Vols have one loss, and it’s by three in overtime to Georgia. However, it’s a hard sell to rank them ahead of Missouri who’s still undefeated and bludgeoning teams.

  1. Missouri

Missouri needs to play a tougher opponent soon to provide a real gauge of how good the Tigers are. I think they are very good. I think Ahmad Hardy should be a top five Heisman candidate right now. Ranking them this low feels wrong for a team averaging a 31-point margin of victory, but based on their current résumé, who would you realistically put them ahead of?

  1. Georgia

Kirby Smart’s mental block when it comes to playing Alabama reared its ugly head once again. Georgia’s 33 game home winning streak was snapped, and the Bulldogs managed to squander away opportunity after opportunity to win. Running for 227 yards at nearly seven yards per carry couldn’t mask the defensive deficiencies that are clear with this year’s unit.

  1. Alabama

Alabama went into Athens and bullied Georgia on Saturday night. The offensive creativity was phenomenal. The defense held Georgia to just 357 yards of offense, won the turnover battle and held the Dawgs to just 2-of-9 on third and fourth down. Winning games against ranked opponents has never been an issue for Kalen DeBoer. The win Saturday improved his record against top 25 teams to 16-3 and 7-1 against top ten teams.

The issue is figuring out how to get back up next week after the big win.

  1. Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt isn’t just 5-0 for the first time since 2008 and only the second time since 1943, they’re dominating. Every win has come by 20-plus points, and their offense ranks fourth nationally at 49 points per game. The Commodores look legit, and they’ve faced a tougher schedule than Missouri, the only unbeaten team ranked behind them.

They deserve to be here. At least for another week. Next up, Tuscaloosa.

  1. Texas A&M

It took me a little while to come around on Texas A&M because of their defense. The Aggies allowed 20 points or more in all three of their games before Saturday. Hugh Freeze’s inept Auburn offense was just what the doctor ordered for Mike Elko and the A&M defense.

The Aggies out-gained the Tigers by 237 yards and the only reason this ended up in a one score game was because of an interception off a tipped pass that Auburn returned to the three.

  1. Ole Miss

I was late on the Texas A&M hype, but I was just flat out wrong about Ole Miss. I was not a believer in Austin Simmons and how turnover prone he was in a limited sample size. But, Trinidad Chambliss has been a revelation for Ole Miss since taking over. The former D2 product was brilliant on Saturday. The story wasn’t just about him, it was also how effective the Ole Miss defense was against LSU, especially while generating pressure with just a three-man rush.

  1. Oklahoma

The defense is good enough to win them games regardless who is under center. They’re currently ranked ninth in the country in scoring defense (9 ppg) and second in the country in yards allowed with just 207.5 per game.

We’ll wait a game to see what the Sooners look like with a backup quarterback before we drop them. They deserve to be here in the meantime.

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Chris Marler

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