For the first time in 29 years the SEC went undefeated with all 16 teams going 1-0 in Week 1. They were the only conference to go undefeated opening weekend and won their games by an average of 37.6 points per game.
That’s great news for the conference, but not so great for the power rankings. With so few teams giving us a reason to move them, there isn’t much room for change from last week. Plus, we can’t rank Arkansas any lower, even if they probably deserve it.
Here are the Week 1 SEC power rankings.
Bottom 6
16. Arkansas
15. Vanderbilt
14. Auburn (-4 spots)
13. Kentucky (+1 spot)
12. Missouri (-1 spot)
11. Mississippi State (+2 spots)
Top Ten
10. Florida (+2 spots)
Billy Napier could never. Florida has an offense again.
The Gators put up over 600 yards of offense and scored 66 points. The scariest part for everyone else isn’t that Aaron Philo looked great in Buster Faulkner’s offense, it’s that Jadan Baugh looks elite in any offense.
The Gator running back went off for 14 carries 160 yards and three touchdowns in his first game of the season, as Florida took Florida Atlantic to the woodshed 66-21.
9. Tennessee
This will shock you, but a new starting quarterback did just fine in Josh Heupel’s offense.
Granted, the Vols were playing Furman, but Tennessee still looked great offensively. They covered the spread by half a point, which was even better news for some of us. Perhaps most encouraging, though, was that even without Chaz Coleman, the defense still recorded six sacks.
8. Alabama
The offensive line has issues still, but quarterback Keelon Russell is going to be a star. He had over 340 yards of offense and his legs saved the day on more than one occasion.
The offense definitely struggled to run the ball, and they suffered yet another injury as wide receiver Rico Scott had to be helped off the field.
The defense was the real story, though. They allowed one big chunk play that East Carolina took for 60+ yards, but outside of that they allowed just 94 yards on 40 other plays.
7. South Carolina
“I told you so” season is officially here.
This South Carolina team looks much different than the one a season ago. LaNorris Sellers looked fantastic. The run game averaged over seven yards per carry, and after a punt on the opening drive, the Gamecocks scored on their next eight possessions.
The 645 yards of offense under new offensive coordinator Kendal Briles were the most in any game under Shane Beamer.
6. Texas A&M
A 50-0 blowout is right where Texas A&M needs to be.
New wide receiver Isaiah Horton looked great in his debut, and the defense didn’t allow a single point. Not much more you can ask for from the Aggies.
5. Ole Miss
Ole Miss escaped Nashville with a 41-38 win over No. 24 Louisville.
There are a lot of concerns in the secondary, and that’s objectively fair to say. But, if there is one certain truth about this team it’s that no one wants to face No. 6 in the fourth quarter with the game on the line.
Trinidad Chambliss was absolutely nails in the second half of what turned out to be the best game of the weekend. LSU vs. Ole Miss may end up with a basketball game score in two weeks.
4. Oklahoma
Similar to Texas A&M, there’s not much to dislike from the Sooners’ first game of the year, a 51-0 blowout. They covered the over by themselves. They scored on special teams.
They did everything you hoped they would do, and now they get to head to Michigan to play a team that should be 0-1 after this past weekend, and will be 1-1 after Week 2.
3. Texas
The performance was great. It was a little surprising to see the spread so low at 29.5 coming into this game, but Texas routed Texas State by 52 in its opening-weekend win.
Arch Manning looked great. The new transfer portal additions looked great. But, most importantly, the defense allowed just seven points despite giving up over 340 yards of offense.
2. LSU
LSU put on the most impressive performance of the weekend by any SEC team, but there’s no way LSU is moving up over a Georgia team that gave up .3 yards rushing per attempt and won by 60.
Still, the Lane Kiffin era couldn’t have started much better, and the opener showed exactly why LSU decided he was worth both the money and the headaches so many people scoffed at.
The Tigers looked incredible on offense. They ran the ball at will. At one point in the fourth quarter, they had 32 first downs to Clemson’s four and they handed Dabo Swinney the worst loss of his career.
The defense was even more impressive and they were giving Clemson quarterbacks nightmares.
1. Georgia
Uh oh. The old Georgia might be back.
The Dawgs won by 60, had 660 yards of offense, and they averaged 10.1 yards per rush. The defense looked dominant, allowing 109 total yards and just 10 yards rushing on 32 carries.
The only uncharacteristic thing about them on Saturday were the penalties, as Georgia had eight for 85 yards.
