After week six, I made an attempt at doing Power Rankings for the SEC. After ten weeks, the only things that hasn’t changed is that Alabama has been consistently great and Missouri has been consistently bad. Let’s take a look at the SEC Power rankings after week 10…..
No. 14: Missouri Tigers (2-7, 0-5)
Missouri’s best win this year is against Eastern Michigan. I think that sums it up for the Tigers.
No. 13: Mississippi State Bulldogs (4-5, 2-3)
After nine games, the Bulldogs pulled off their first quality victory of the season last week against Texas A&M. This team might finally be putting it all together, but after losing to South Alabama, it needs more to pull out of the bottom of this poll.
No. 12: Vanderbilt Commodores (4-5, 1-4)
Vanderbilt probably deserves to be better than 12th, but with the exception of the Georgia game, it just can’t seem to get in the win column. Vandy played Auburn, Kentucky, Florida and South Carolina close in conference games. This Commodore team is pretty close to being a good team but for now they remain mediocre.
No. 11: South Carolina Gamecocks (5-4, 3-4)
The Gamecocks are headed in the right direction. Not much was expected out of them this season, and after early losses to Mississippi State and Kentucky, fans braced for the worst. The Gamecocks have rebounded with three straight wins including one over Tennessee. They will probably drop two of the next three but 6-6 isn’t that bad of a start for Muschamp.
No. 10: Kentucky Wildcats (5-4, 4-3)
The Wildcats built their resume on the backs of beating teams worse than them. It finally caught up to them when they lost a close one at home to Georgia on Saturday. The Wildcats sit at 5-4 and should get to bowl eligibility with a win over Austin Peay in two weeks. If they beat Tennessee next week, though, they could vault up the bowl ranks and nab a better location.
No. 9: Georgia Bulldogs (5-4, 3-4)
Georgia is two plays from being 7-2. They are also two plays from being 3-6. It’s been a weird year for the Dawgs. Their next game is against rival Auburn and it will be one of the deciding games in their season. If they win this game and foil Auburn’s season, all won’t be forgotten, but it will heal a lot of wounds.
No. 8: Ole Miss Rebels (4-5, 1-4)
Ole Miss is on a roller coaster and it seems like it’s all downhill from here. The only saving grace for the Rebs is that they absolutely destroyed Georgia straight up and don’t have any “bad losses” on their record…..yet. Without Chad Kelly, that could change very quickly.
No. 7: Tennessee Volunteers (6-3, 2-3)
Just four games ago, the Vols were 5-0 and everyone was thinking that they really were a Top 10 team. Wrong! Losses to A&M and Bama and then a brutal loss to South Carolina has put the season into perspective for the Vols. If they win their last three, a 9-3 finish is still very strong. Lose one of those and the fans might lose their minds (a little more than they already have).
No. 6: Florida Gators (6-2, 4-2)
At number six, the Gators are the top team in the SEC East. Yep, it’s been that bad of a year for the SEC East. In their only match-up against the SEC West, the Gators got rolled by Arkansas by three touchdowns (and it wasn’t that close).
No. 5: LSU Tigers (5-3, 3-2)
The Tigers are the hardest team to rank. All of the three teams they’ve lost to are very quality teams (Alabama, Auburn, Wisconsin). On the other hand….who have they beaten? They beat Ole Miss while the Rebels were in the midst of their downturn. Other than that, they beat Miss State (No. 13 in this poll) and Missouri (No. 14 in this poll). Based on actual results, LSU is higher than it probably should be….but it’s also tough to put the Tigers much lower. Maybe we will find out this week when they play Arkansas.
No. 4: Arkansas Razorbacks (6-3, 2-3)
Arkansas is another team that is impossible to rank. Its three losses have all been to quality teams. But, it also got boat-raced by Auburn. On the other hand, the Hogs hold victories over Ole Miss (prior to LSU beating them) and are coming off of a huge win against Florida. The Razorbacks are the Jekyll and Hyde of the SEC.
No. 3: Texas A&M Aggies (7-2, 4-2)
The Aggies were one of the feel good stories of the year. Then, they got bombed by Bama and followed that up two weeks later with a loss to lowly Mississippi State. They catch Ole Miss at the right time this week and then get UTSA. They should be better when they face off against LSU in their season finale.
No. 2: Auburn Tigers (7-2, 5-1)
The Tigers are one of the rare SEC teams that have seemed to get better as the season has gone on. They struggled to beat Vandy last week, but they have built a win streak of six straight. A win over Georgia this weekend would set up an Iron Bowl for the ages.
No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide (9-0, 6-0)
What more can I say? They are the best team in the country (and the conference) until somebody proves otherwise.
