I will continue to say it – the more we watch, the less we know. It’s Week 8 in the SEC, and we have to ask the question, does anyone want to be ranked No. 1? Here are this week’s power rankings.
Bottom 6
16. Vanderbilt
15. Arkansas
14. Texas A&M
13. Oklahoma
12. Missouri
11. Texas
Top 10
10. Mississippi State
State is now one of 14 teams in the SEC that’s had to start a backup quarterback at some point during the season. They lost 31-0 to LSU without Kamario Taylor.
9. South Carolina
South Carolina is coming off a bye. The line for their game opened at Tennessee -1.5 and quickly shifted to South Carolina as a -2.5 point favorite against the No. 11 team in the country.
8. Auburn
Not sure I can remember a time when a team that had the same number of losses as four teams ranked ahead of them, beat the No. 1 team in the country, and were still unranked a week later.
7. Florida
Bang. What a win from Florida in Austin. Facing a top 10 team on the road with a backup QB making his first career start and still got the dub.
6. Alabama
Alabama should maybe be lower, but we will see what they look like this weekend. Close losses shouldn’t count in rankings, and the loss to Tennessee wasn’t close. The Tide had five starters out by the end of that game and looked completely overmatched all afternoon.
5. LSU
LSU is a different team at home. The Tigers dismantled Mississippi State on Saturday, and quarterback Sam Leavitt is playing the best he has all season. In his last four games he’s accounted for 12 touchdowns and has completed at least 73% of his passes in all four games.
4. Kentucky
Stop. Sleeping. On. Kentucky.
The Wildcats got their third SEC win on the road this year. It’s just the second time in 42 years they’ve accomplished that feat.
3. Tennessee
Tennessee has some struggles on offense, but the combination of Heupel and Jim Knowles was on full display Saturday. The Vols pressured Keelon Russell on 59% of his drop backs. The last time I saw someone run for their life like that was in Pamplona, Spain.
2. Georgia
Down goes No. 1. A week after winning at Alabama, the Dawgs got dominated by Auburn on their home field. The Dawgs still may very well be the best team in the conference, and country, to be honest. However, they are never beating the allegations that Alabama was their Super Bowl after losing to Auburn at home for the first time in 21 years.
1. Ole Miss
Sure. Why not? The Rebels are a different team after the bye week. They’ve looked dominant on defense and the offense has looked very good per usual. The scary part for everyone having to face them right now is that quarterback Trinidad Chambliss isn’t even playing his best football.
