MARLER: Week 14 SEC Power Rankings

By Chris Marler

Welcome back to another week of the worst rankings on the internet – my Week 14 SEC Power Rankings! Let’s just address the elephant room. I genuinely thought that getting to the later weeks of the season, or at least into the month of November, would somehow make doing these rankings easier.

Besides learning what square foot math was in high school, or thinking that those Fast & Furious movies would do the reasonable thing and quit after the third one, I don’t know if I have ever been more wrong about anything.

So, let’s keep this thing rolling and add more fuel to the fire of my own ignorance and inaccuracies. Here are this week’s SEC Power Rankings.

1. South Carolina

I know, I know! But hear me out. I had South Carolina at No. 2 last week (behind Ole Miss) and I cannot have them jumped by Georgia after a 40-point win for the Gamecocks and a Georgia win over UMass. That seems even dumber than ranking South Carolina at No. 1.

Self-depreciation and jokes aside, there’s a genuine case to be made for South Carolina at this position. They currently have the longest active winning streak in the SEC at five games, and over the last month and a half they have been one of the hottest teams not only in the conference but also the country.

Regardless, if you think the ranking is right or wrong, I don’t care because nobody wants to play South Carolina right now. Nobody. Now, go beat Clemson and don’t make me look stupid.

2. Georgia

I say it every week it seems. What a difference a game, a day, or in Georgia’s case a few weeks makes. Georgia got dominated at the start of the month by Ole Miss, vaulting the Rebels back into the playoff race and forcing the Dawgs to the dreaded first team out position in the playoff rankings. A few weeks later and the two teams that Georgia lost to, Ole Miss and Alabama, are both out of the playoff race, and Kirby Smart’s bunch has the second-best odds to win another national title.

3. Tennessee

Welcome to 2024 where you can identify as a cat and Tennessee fans are doing the Gator chomp at a home game celebrating a Florida win. What a time to be alive. Volunteer fans had good reason to celebrate Billy Napier and the boys in Gainesville as that win rocketed them back up the rankings. The Volunteers make the playoff with a win over Vanderbilt.

That’s bad news for a lot of teams. Yes, they got smacked by Georgia in Athens, but this is still one of the best defenses in the country, and if Nico Iamaleava ever hits stride this season the Vols are capable of a very deep run.

4. Texas

I stand by the hot take I’ve been making for several weeks. I don’t think Texas is that good. I think they are capable of being very good, and I think they have one of the best rosters in the country. Here’s the thing I keep hanging on t0– they aren’t battle tested like the rest of the SEC. They should have dominated Kentucky at home on Senior day against a team who is 4-11 against the spread under Mark Stoops coming off a bye week.

Texas has received a red carpet cake walk of a first season in the SEC. Not only have they played the easiest schedule in the league, but they’ve even faced a backup quarterback in three of their seven conference games. I’ll believe it when I see it, and I still haven’t seen it yet.

5. Florida

I don’t feel good about it, but where am I going to put the Gators right now? Not behind Ole Miss. As an impartial and objective observer, I have to say this has been my favorite storyline of the SEC season. We started counting this team and its coach out for this season before Media Days last season. All they have done each and every week is respond, keep working and get better and better.

I keep saying this as well. I, like a lot of my peers, made jokes for the last year and a half that if Billy Napier won five games with this schedule he deserved to win coach of the year. Well he’s most likely going to get to seven. What a damn job in Gainesville.

Also, how much fun is it going to be to watch DJ Lagway for the next two years? He is one of the most exciting young quarterbacks to come into the SEC in a while, and if he can help lead this team to seven wins as a backup in year one, I can’t wait to see how far he can take this program in year two and three.

6. Ole Miss

Watching Ole Miss football try and reach its potential this season made me feel exactly how my parents felt about me growing up– disappointed. Fool us once, shame on you. Fool us three times in a season with that roster, shame on you Lane. Just a historical level of underachieving from everyone involved this season.

7. Alabama

What a hysterical turn of events to everyone outside of Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide had everything in front of them once again and were in the driver seat for a spot in the SEC Championship that would all but guarantee a spot in the College Football Playoff. How did they respond?

Alabama had their lowest point total in a game in 20 years and let an Oklahoma team who hadn’t run for over 147 yards in a single SEC game all season go for 260 on them. It was a spectacular failure in every phase of the game. The Tide went to Norman with playoff hopes and a Heisman contending quarterback. They left Norman with fans asking for Ty Simpson to start the Music City Bowl. Sheesh.

8. LSU

Laugh all you want, but this was a huge win for LSU and Brian Kelly. The Tigers had lost three straight games on the field, and they lost arguably the biggest recruit in program history two days prior to Saturday’s game.

The performance against Vanderbilt wasn’t perfect, but it was so very promising. Josh Williams was fantastic. The defense was great after an opening touchdown drive, and Garrett Nussmeier had his most efficient game since the season opener against USC. Phenomenal job to get up off the mat by LSU.

9. Missouri

If you don’t already follow my weekly article Big Picks Energy, then Missouri’s performance in Starkville should’ve swayed you. Not only did we go 5-0 in our bets for this game, but Eli Drinkwitz went 2-0 in viral moments roughly :30 seconds apart from each other at the end of the game talking trash to his OL Cayden Green and the entire Mississippi State defense.

Drinkwitz hilarity aside, playing Mississippi State was the medicine this offense needed to get back on track. They were firing on all cylinders once again and looked like the Missouri team from last year running for over 200 yards, throwing the ball all over the field to Wease and Burden and racking up over 30 points in a big SEC win. I personally loved to see it.

10. Auburn

As my Auburn grad girlfriend would say, “Alabama hates to see a 5-6 Auburn team coming.” She’s not wrong. Not even a little.

What a win from Auburn on Saturday night against Texas A&M. I am not one of those people that likes to use the phrase “college football is better when so and so is relevant.” However, college football is better when Jordan-Hare is in vintage Jordan-Hare mode. Auburn is doing what it does best, and that is ending the season with momentum, optimism and the potential of ruining another season for Alabama. Watch out.

Bottom Six

11. Texas A&M
12. Oklahoma
13. Vanderbilt
14. Arkansas
15. Kentucky
16. Mississippi State