We’re a quarter of the way through the season, and things are starting to take shape in the SEC.
This weekend saw five conference games, and nearly all of them delivered. All but two of the conference teams play a conference game, so without further adieu here are this week’s SEC Power Rankings.
Bottom Six
16. What used to be Arkansas
15. Auburn
14. Vanderbilt
13. Texas A&M
12. Oklahoma
11. South Carolina
Top Ten
10 . Missouri
Missouri looked very blah against Troy. But, luckily for them, everyone else in the bottom six looked worse.
9. Kentucky
Was it lightning in a bottle or is Kentucky really taking a huge step forward under first year coach Will Stein? Either way, going on the road and earning a top ten win for just the third time in the last 46 years deserves some flowers. So, here they are Kentucky fans.
8. Florida
Jon Sumrall and the Gators may indeed be a problem. Jadan Baugh looks like the best running back in the country, and hiring Buster Faulkner has proven so far to be the best coordinator hire of the offseason.
7. Mississippi State
I said before the season that I didn’t know if Kamario Taylor was good enough to take this Mississippi State team to eight or nine wins, but he was definitely good enough to put them on his back and go beat someone. I was partially right.
As of now, it looks like Mississippi State could actually be very dangerous. How good the defense can be, and how much they can clean up the penalties (14 vs South Carolina) will determine how far they can go. But, what a start for the Bulldogs.
6. Tennessee
Tennessee didn’t necessarily deserve to move down this week, but the schedule so far has been weak.
They are probably in a tie with Mississippi State and Florida, but I think their upside could still make them a CFP contender. Also, the offense is averaging almost 50 points per game with a true freshman at quarterback.
5. LSU
Well that sucked. That’s not how that game was supposed to go for LSU after an offseason of chest beating and overspending.
But, how about some good news? After about as bad of a start as you could draw up, LSU came back from a 24-7 deficit to tie up the game in the most hostile environment we’ll see all season.
Sam Leavitt had his struggles, but he didn’t throw an interception until the final play on a tipped pass. It’s hard to win on the road in this league, especially against the best quarterback in America. LSU will be just fine. Unless they lose this week, in which case it’s time to panic.
4. Alabama
Maybe No. 4 seems a little high, but they are 3-0, and currently rank third in the SEC in scoring offense at 47.7 points per game. They also rank third in the conference in rush defense and first in turnovers forced.
There are a lot of questions on this team still, but none of those are at the quarterback position. Keelon Russell has shown that he can be one of the best quarterbacks in this league after just three starts.
3. Ole Miss
Ole Miss heard all the noise all offseason from their former head coach. Everyone did. I don’t know if they took it personally, but they did come out as a better coached and better prepared team on Saturday.
That was on display for most of the night, but it was also especially on display when Ole Miss scored the final go-ahead touchdown and decided to go for two.
Ole MIss showed that they can be a playoff team despite some issues that seemed way more glaring in the first two weeks than last week. As long as they have No. 6 at QB, they can hang with anyone in the country.
2. Georgia
How dominant was Georgia in their first conference game of the season? They started a practice session during a TV timeout because Kirby Smart was so unimpressed with the defensive line during their three touchdown lead.
Gunner Stockton leads the nation in QBR. The run game is averaging 7.31 yards per carry which leads the SEC. Georgia is still Georgia. Period.
1. Texas
An underwhelming game against UTSA, and an underwhelming win. Texas still has the most impressive win in the country, though. This week will get much tougher as they leave home for the first time and play Tennessee.
