SEC Power Rankings after Week 2
The SEC never fails to excite, and that was certainly the case once again in Week 2 action on Saturday.
The top of the league picked up some dominant wins, including Tennessee’s romp of NC State and Texas’s huge win in Ann Arbor over the reigning champions.
But the bottom of the league produced some truly head-scratching results once again (looking at you, Mississippi State and Auburn).
Oh, and Vanderbilt is 2-0. We all saw that coming, right?
Anyway, here are the updated SEC power rankings as we prepare for Week 3:
16. Mississippi State (1-1 overall, 0-0 in SEC)
Previous ranking: 13
This week: 30-23 L to Arizona State
Next week: vs. Toledo
The Bulldogs didn’t look great at Arizona State on Saturday night. Sure, this was an odd kickoff time, but if Mississippi State wants to be competitive in the SEC, it has to be able to beat a middle-of-the-road (or worse) Big 12 team, even on the road.
15. Florida (1-1, 0-0)
Previous ranking: 15
This week: 45-7 W over Samford
Next week: vs. Texas A&M
Let the DJ Lagway hype begin! The freshman QB threw for 456 yards and 3 touchdowns in his debut as Florida’s starter on Saturday. Yes, it was only against Samford, but the Gators needed something exciting. Lagway provided plenty of it by showing off his cannon of an arm early and often. Will he start this weekend against Texas A&M? We’ll see.
14. Auburn (1-1, 0-0)
Previous ranking: 9
This week: 21-14 L to Cal
Next week: vs. New Mexico
The big win over Alabama A&M in Week 1 now looks like a fluke. QB Payton Thorne was awful against Cal on Saturday, throwing 4 interceptions. Cal is far from a top-tier Power 4 program, so this was a truly concerning result for the Tigers in Year 2 under Hugh Freeze.
13. Kentucky (1-1, 0-1)
Previous ranking: 10
This week: 31-6 L to South Carolina
Next week: vs. Georgia
Speaking of truly concerning results, Kentucky had perhaps the biggest letdown of the weekend in the SEC. QB Brock Vandagriff completed only 3 of 10 passes for 30 yards and took several big hits. South Carolina didn’t look great against Old Dominion last week. Kentucky made the Gamecocks look like Playoff contenders. That’s a worrisome sign for Mark Stoops and company.
12. Texas A&M (1-1, 0-0)
Previous ranking: 12
This week: 52-10 W over McNeese State
Next week: at Florida
Conner Weigman looked sharp, building some confidence after an awful Week 1 showing. But it was only against McNeese State. How he fares in The Swamp against a Florida squad that doesn’t look elite this coming weekend will set the tone for how the rest of the year is going to go for the Aggies.
11. South Carolina (2-0, 1-0)
Previous ranking: 16
This week: 31-6 W over Kentucky
Next week: vs. LSU
I’ll admit it – I judged the Gamecocks after a Week 1 struggle win over Old Dominion. I thought they looked awful and might not win an SEC game. Well … now I look dumb. That was a convincing win for the Gamecocks in Lexington. The defense was aggressive and held strong. The offense did enough with some advantageous field position to pick up the comfortable win. Color me impressed. A great coaching job from Shane Beamer this past week. As a nice reward, the Gamecocks get to host College GameDay this week.
10. Arkansas (1-1, 0-0)
Previous ranking: 11
This week: 39-31 L (2OT) to No. 16 Oklahoma State
Next week: vs. UAB
Ja’Quinden Jackson is the real deal. Taylen Green is an exciting QB. But the Hogs made too many costly mistakes to hold onto a lead at Oklahoma State. Now what would have been a statement win is just another “What if?” for the Sam Pittman era in Fayetteville.
9. Oklahoma (2-0, 0-0)
Previous ranking: 8
This week: 16-12 W over Houston
Next week: vs. Tulane
The Sooners really embodied the “a win is a win” mentality after Saturday night’s narrow escape vs. Houston. This is a game Oklahoma should have won comfortably, but the offense was awful all night long. The defense did its part to preserve the win, but the Sooners need to be better against Tulane to avoid an upset in Week 3.
8. Vanderbilt (2-0, 0-0)
Previous ranking: 14
This week: 55-0 W over Alcorn State
Next week: at Georgia State
Alright, I’ll put the Commodores in the top half of the power rankings. Diego Pavia is the real deal, both as a thrower and a runner. He’s the most exciting player the Commodores have had in a few years. Now, Vanderbilt faces an odd road trip to Georgia State. Can Clark Lea get his squad to 3-0? That would be truly impressive.
7. LSU (1-1, 0-0)
Previous ranking: 7
This week: 44-21 W over Nicholls
Next week: at South Carolina
The Tigers didn’t look great against Nicholls on Saturday night, but I just can’t drop them out of this tier of SEC teams. As Nick Saban said about LSU on College GameDay on Saturday morning, “you aren’t as bad as you think.” In fact, Garrett Nussmeier is a star. He threw for 302 yards and 6 TDs. When you have a QB like that, you can win any game any given week.
6. Alabama (2-0, 0-0)
Previous ranking: 3
This week: 42-16 W over USF
Next week: at Wisconsin
That looks like a comfortable win for the Tide, right? Well, it was 14-6 at halftime and 14-13 entering the fourth quarter before Alabama pulled away late. What is it about USF that gives Alabama fits? The important thing is that the Tide won, but they’re going to take a bit of a hit in the power rankings. We’ll see if they can pick up a more convincing victory in Madison next week.
5. Mizzou (2-0, 0-0)
Previous ranking: 6
This week: 38-0 W over Buffalo
Next week: vs. Boston College
The Tigers now have 2 shutouts to start the season for the first time since 1935. Of all FBS teams, Mizzou is the first to start by allowing 0 points through 2 games since Wisconsin in 2019. No, it wasn’t against elite opponents by any stretch of the imagination, but lots of teams play lackluster foes to start a season. For a defense that had many question marks entering 2024, this is a great confidence booster. Now the real tests begin, though, as Boston College brings its 2-0 record to Columbia this weekend.
4. Tennessee (2-0, 0-0)
Previous ranking: 5
This week: 51-10 W over No. 24 NC State
Next week: vs. Kent State
The Vols were incredible on Saturday night in Charlotte. The Wolfpack were never in this game. Nico Iamaleava is already one of the best quarterbacks in the SEC. Dylan Sampson is a punishing runner. James Pearce is a top-tier defender who looks like a top-10 NFL Draft pick. Things are firing on all cylinders on Rocky Top, and that should continue this weekend against a bad Kent State squad.
3. Texas (2-0, 0-0)
Previous ranking: 4
This week: 31-12 W over No. 10 Michigan
Next week: vs. UTSA
The Longhorns deserve a ton of credit for going into a tough road environment and blowing out their opponent. However, there was absolutely no way the Wolverines should have been ranked in the top 10. That’s an embarrassment to everyone who votes in the AP Poll. Texas exposed the Wolverines as frauds, and now the Longhorns will try to continue their march to the SEC Championship Game.
2. Ole Miss (2-0, 0-0)
Previous ranking: 2
This week: 52-3 W over Middle Tennessee
Next week: at Wake Forest
The Rebels continue to take care of business and look absolutely dominant on offense. Now they face a road trip to Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons just lost to Virginia in Week 2, though, so I expect Jaxson Dart and the Ole Miss buzzsaw to carve its way through Winston-Salem next week as the Rebels remain in the top tier of the SEC.
1. Georgia (2-0, 0-0)
Previous ranking: 1
This week: 48-3 W over Tennessee Tech
Next week: at Kentucky
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Georgia is the No. 1 team in these power rankings until it gives me a reason otherwise. The Bulldogs cruised again on Saturday, albeit against inferior competition. But they took care of business, and I expect them to do that again this coming Saturday when they travel to Lexington to face a suddenly reeling Kentucky squad.
Texas deserves 2
Agreed. And I’m an Ole Miss fan.
BobbyBoy63
Well that’s called “integrity.”
Sure wish we had some more of that all around.
As a UGA fan I frankly see none of us undefeated this year. Too many really good teams.
Let May finish that sentence: go back to the Big12
Let me
Nobody deserves that after two games. But two shut outs with a ton of points scored is clearly the best scoring in the nation so far
Of the top five, three (UGA, Texas and Tennessee) have all beat up on top 25 opponents away from home. That’s at least an excuse for ranking them ahead Mizzou and Ole Miss.
Mizzou gets their turn to impress on Saturday. Shut out and humiliate BC and the Tigers may jump up to #3. According to Adam, nobody jumps UGA until they play themselves out of #1 and he thinks Drinkwitz’s is too goofy to rank ahead of Kiffin as long as they’re both tied in W/L record.
We should only be ranking what the actual results tell us so far AND THOSE RESULTS DONT TELL US VERY MUCH. So a real estimate would have a lot of ties and sports writers can’t say these three words enough, “I don’t know”
Adam is a Mizzou grad who still holds a Big 12 grudge against mean ole Texas. Ole Miss is really good, but c’mon man, they haven’t played anybody yet.
The only thing Texas deserves is to be booted out of every conference and band from being in any conference after running two of the greatest conferences
The only thing Texas deserves is to be booted out of every conference and banned from being in any conference after ruining through the greatest conferences
if we’re going solely off results to date, i’d switch msu and uf with aub and uk.
Sure but nitpicking about who is the best of the 4 worst teams is pointless right now. Lots if games to be played still and lots of things still will change
Who wears short jorts and who doesn’t is important.
Gotta be fashion conscious to score style point!
I’m no TU fan, but they just walloped Michigan and Ole Miss played 2 high school teams. Seems strange to have the Rebs at 2.
As an Ole Miss fan I totally agree with that. I’d even be fine with putting the Vols at #3 at this point, mainly for dominating NC St. The Rebs have looked great but so would most teams in the SEC against our schedule so far.
Kiffin must be writing some giant sports writer subscription checks to be getting all this confidence. I
If OMiss earns these accolades I’ll be happy to join it but so far this looks like an all in the family episode.
Kirby enjoys beating Kiffin more than probably any coach.
This is the way I see it
Teams that have proven they are elite:
UGA & Texas
Teams that have proven they are really good:
Tennessee
Teams I think are really good, but the schedule hasn’t given them a chance to prove it:
Missouri, Ole Miss, Alabama
I think 4 of those 6 teams make the playoffs and nobody else in the conference has a shot.
Also Napier and Stoops won’t make it through the year.
Fair take. I think UM was heavily overrated. We’ll see about TX….good, very good.
As for your Vols, they are looking like a complete team. Very impressed with Nico, but the defense was legit.
Hope the Vols D isn’t just smoke and mirrors! We’ll see in a couple of weeks…
How has TN proved they’re “really good” and separated themselves? How do we know NC State wasn’t as overrated in the early polls as Michigan or Notre Dame? We don’t. TN is in the same boat as Bama, Mizzou and Ole Miss after 2 games.
Yeah-they need to play Buffalo and not a ranked power 5 team contending for their conference to prove they don’t suck.
Florida State was ranked. Has Boston College proved they’re a “really good” team, separated themselves from teams like Bama, Mizzou and Ole Miss? It’s an easy question, answer it.
BC is your team’s NC State challenge. Not Buffalo. We’ll see then. It’s funny how Mizzou picked them to try to avoid playing a quality OOC opponent and then BC is the best they’ve been in 20+ years. UK does that same strategy.
That’s not an answer the question. Answer it.
You are correct and I am a Missouri fan. Tenn beat a team that has respectable talent. Mizzou can’t score on offense against Buffalo without a short field.
YES! Boston College has proven they are a really good team. Not sure why you have to throw in some of the top teams from the SEC to make your point. Boston College rolled a preseason darling, Florida State, at Doak Campbell stadium. Florida State is obviously not the team they were last year, but it was an impressive victory for a Bill O’Brien coached squad which was never in any danger throughout the game. They were efficient on third down, held FSU to 21 rushing yards on 16 carries, had only one penalty the entire game, and they dominated time of possession. They will be the underdogs playing at Mizzou, but I would not take them lightly. Safe to say the shutout streak will be ending.
@Balkwyll:
“Not sure why you have to throw in some of the top teams from the SEC to make your point.”
Because the argument is Tennessee has separated themselves from Ole Miss, Mizzou and Bama just because they beat a 20-something ranked NC State. So has a team like BC who beat a Top 10 ranked team also separated themselves from those same 3 teams? It’s a valid question oskie dodged, which I figured he would.
Booches, there’s also the eye test. TN clearly has been better on offense than Mizzou, due primarily, if not solely, to Nico being a MUCH better QB than Cook. Not even close in that regard. That’s enough to rank TN over our Tigers at this point.
Bs
Good post!
It’s possible Missouri wins out and we still don’t know if they are elite since it’s possible Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Alabama, are worse than we thought they’d be at the beginning of the season. Not saying they are, just that’s it’s always possible.
I wouldn’t put the elite stamp on Texas. Michigan looks like a middle of the road big 10 team. Just a shell of what they were last year. IMO Texas hasn’t proved anything other than they are better than a depleted Michigan team.
Solid take
Ole Miss beats 2 cupcakes and they’re #2 what a joke.
No. Ole Miss wins 11 games, returns almost every key player and adds some massive portal pieces, appeara highly ranked on some internet poster’s opinion poll (major media polls as well but here we are looking at an internet opinion poll), doesn’t stumble in the least against weak opponents and then finds itself at number 2 on that internet opinion poll after some of those above them struggle a little against lesser opponents.
Grover, what you just said about Ole Miss can be said of Mizzou.that said its too early to get caught up in 3-6. until proven otherwise GA is on top. Horns look complete, but MI is a shell of last year. Vols appear to have hit the QB lottery. Ole Miss, Bama and Mizzou seem to round out the top 6, but not enough head to head yet to really tell whos on top, and there’s always upsets. And OU and LSU might hang around. Props to Ole Miss, but I think they fall in that 3-6 group as of week 2. time will tell…
Exactly, who runs their preseason hype popularity campaign? Their performances are not condemning but they sure don’t say what some of the media can’t wait to jump up and down about.
I agree with most of the above comments. The cream of the crop is GA and TX. After that (based on competition) you can put 3, 4, 5, maybe even 6 in any order at this point and justify it.
I don’t know if Vandy deserves to be quite THAT high, but they’ve looked more impressive than at least 5, maybe 6 SEC teams.
I agree. I think Missouri and Bama are a coin toss but they play each other and I hope Hame Day is there. That will be a great game. I think Dawgs, Texas, Tennessee, Bama/Missouri, Oklahoma and then bottom feeders. I do think Gamecocks are going to upset someone this year. Don’t know who but it’s coming. They get someone every year.
Georgia and Texas are elite in both skill and lines of scrimmage. I still think Texas wins in Austin. Georgia might get even in Mercedes Benz.
Ole Miss can score points. They need to prove they’ve shored up the lines of scrimmage.
Maybe it ends up mattering and maybe it doesn’t, but Alabama’s roster is really young.
Would you take Vanderbilt over Oklahoma straight up? I wouldn’t.
Vandy has the better qb, to be fair. Not even close.
If Tennessee goes 11-1 with a loss to Georgia, and Texas goes 11-1 with a loss to Georgia, which could both easily happen, the tiebreaker situation there would be insane. I’ve gone through the scenarios, and the LEAST crazy it could get would be comparing the conference records of Alabama and A&M, and if Bama was better, UT would go to Atlanta, and if A&M was better, Texas would go to Atlanta. And if they were the same it gets even more wild
Not sure you have been paying attention or watching Ole Miss, but their defensive front seven is very elite with a lot of quality depth! Probably easily a top 3 defensive front seven in the country. As far as Oline, they are really solid with a lot of depth. While OM hasn’t played anyone good, they are only giving up 27 rushing yards a game, averaging just 1 yard per attempt and the starters are usually out by halftime.
Ole Miss and Tex don’t play each other, but maybe they will in the SEC Championship. It would certainly settle any ranking controversy. I don’t have any significant problem with the list. Still early days, and things will sort themselves out as the season progresses.
Texas should be number 1 for beating a power 4 team and dominating them on the road. Georgia 2 and Tennessee 3. Would not rank Missouri in top 10 until they play someone.
Mizzou has their hands full with Boston College and Vanderbilt back to back. Cook has to get better NOW! Penalties have to STOP! LBIII and tight end Brett Norfleet have to get well and PLAY!
I’m surprised Texas isn’t ranked ahead of Ole Miss. If they were I would be okay with it. I do believe Ole Miss is an overall better team than Texas but Texas has the better win so far. Even if it was against a highly overrated Michigan team. To bad Ole Miss plays Oklahoma and not Texas this year.
I agree that it is a shame that Ole Miss isn’t playing Texas this year. We welcome the top competition in the SEC. As for who has the better team between us will be know towards the end of the season. There is still a lot of football to be played.
Yep you’re right, we will find out as the season goes on. It’s a weird season in the SEC with it being so top heavy. What usually makes the SEC so difficult is the middle and bottom teams good.
Ridiculous ranking, there is zero evidence that Tennessee is better than Missouri and Missouri won the last match up easily. about 3/4 of the roster should be the same. So we know Missouri is better until Tennessee proves otherwise when they meet. This good old boys cheek kissing is ignorance on parade
Wolf, that’s not how this works. Look, I’m a huge Mizzou fan and I want them to win the Natty. Could they? Sure. Will they? Highly unlikely. By your logic, Mizzou should be ranked over Ohio State bc of the cotton bowl victory, despite the fact that OSU had what appeared to be a lineman playing qb. Should we be tied with Texas bc we haven’t played them recently?
And going back to my earlier comment, do a little research on Cook’s vs Nico’s stats. They aren’t particularly close and Nico’s arm talent is substantially better. Please, don’t be such a homer. You make all Mizzou fans look crazy or stupid.
2 blowout wins>1 blowout win. Mizzou is lucky they don’t play UT this year. Or UT Mexico for that matter
Not sure why you want to run out previous year’s squads to compare/contrast Vols and Mizzou but it’s pretty obvious last year was a one off in this series.
Tennessee is clearly a better team in all three phases of the game. You should be happy we’re not on your schedule this year.
I have to be careful because my wife is a Mizzou grad. But here goes. Cook impressed me last year on a few occasions. But if you watched the Tennessee game every aspect of their team looked good. We don’t know if NC state is any better than 2 high school teams but all sports writers use the poles and returning players to judge a team. So by that we must ASSUME the wolfpack is better than Buffalo. Who would win Buffalo or NC State?????
Adam Spencer…Your criteria is BOGUS! Texas is being punished for demolishing the defending Big 10 and National Champion who’s didn’t deserve a Top 10 rating…BUT DEFINITELY a Top 25 team. Ole Miss and Georgia played to creampuff FCS Teams, but you rewarded both with the #1 and #2 spots. Georgia is a great team who beat a weak Clemson team and Tennessee Tech who was scheduled as a breather. Be consistent or your rankings are BS!!
Clemson is almost certainly better than this edition of Michigan.
“ajm929 13 hours ago
Adam Spencer…Your criteria is BOGUS! ”
completely agree! oh not about Texas, Biff is right, Clemson is certainly about the equal of Michigan.
Adam has his fav school ahead of Vandy, who actually has beaten a P5 opponent and shut out their cupcake while scoring more points than his homer fav team.
It’s strange days when Mizzou is 5th and Bama IS NOT one of the 4 teams ahead of them.
Punished? Texas moved up a spot this week.
As bad as the Auburn loss looks like now, I wouldn’t necessarily blame it on Freeze. The defense was absent in the first half but played really well in the 2nd half but all the turnovers caught up with them. What you can blame on Freeze is not trying to get a better QB from the portal. Thorne’s first 2 interceptions were not his fault(the first one went through Coleman’s hands and the 2nd one was because his arm was hit as he threw it) but the last 2 were just bad throws, though Freeze said the 4th one was due to Thorne expecting the receiver to run a list instead of a go. Now if Freeze was calling the plays, you can blame him for trying for long passes when the Auburn o-line was struggling in pass protection.
Freeze is the head coach and responsible for the overall performance of the team. If they suck, it’s ultimately his fault.
I don’t think it was his fault that the right tackle got hurt. I also don’t think the turnovers were his fault. However, he had this same problem at Ole Piss. His teams play better opponents close but lose to people they should beat.
Was it his fault they left a receiver with a bum shoulder on the field and then threw him a fifty-fifty for the game sealing INT?
Tennessee has NOT proven they are better than anyone except the teams they beat and neither has Missouri. So we just have to use the other two games their opponents have played. No way does this show Tennessee should be ranked ahead of Missouri ( and maybe both are overrated or underrated ). Patience is required here but our asinine news media absolutely has to make asses out of themselves, and look at all the fans ready to agree with those horse’s asses. The eye test does not make Missouri’s opponents look weak so all that speculation is bullshort. Two shutouts don’t lie completely. Two big scoring games don’t lie completely. Right now I think it more than backwards to have Tennessee or OMiss ahead of Missouri.
Come on wolfman, UT beat a ranked opponent by 41 points! Yes, it is still early, but that is one of the more impressive wins against a ranked opponent the SEC has currently other than Clemson and Michigan. To say they have not proven to better than anyone is far fetched…
I think you should have Georgia, Tennessee, Texas , ole miss,Bama, Missouri, Oklahoma and rest is ……
OU? The OU that barely beat a bad Houston team? The OU with a terrible offense? Nah.
These polls don’t matter except that they are entertaining. However, Texas is clearly BOTH #1 and #2, then Georgia.
RTR
I am a MS State fan. They appear to be locked in on last(16th). I did not seen much adjustment to the way Az State was running between the tackles against a 3-man defensive MsState d-line. Defensive Coordinator failed to adjust or did not have personnel for adjustment.
I did not watch the second half. Did the MSU defense adjust? I see they held ASU to as field goal while scoring 24 points and threatening a fourth quarter comeback.
Good for Vandy. Hope their season continues to surprise and impress.
As for us…well, nowhere to go but up.
Ole Miss over Texas is crazy
From ESPN: As one Power 5 coach told ESPN, “Every year there are five or six great teams, five or six more great-but-flawed teams, and the next 30 are all about the same.”
Want proof?
Through two weeks, here’s how the Power 5 (which, for the purposes of discussion, will include Washington State, Oregon State and Notre Dame) conferences stack up in nonconference games against other Power 5 teams.
ACC: 5-5
Big 12: 5-6
Big Ten: 4-4
Notre Dame: 1-0
Pac-12: 1-0
SEC: 5-6
Of those 21 games, only seven were decided by more than a touchdown, and five of those were delivered by one of the small cadre of teams that probably are in the elite (or near-elite) tier of the sport.
Bottom line is there is a lot more ball to play.
Big factors:
talent
depth
health
desire
wise coaching
the season’s sequence of development /
the season’s sequence of challenges
maintain previously excellence
Every day counts, even days of rest
Perfection is impossible but being better than your opponent each Saturday for four quarters is possible.
Yes this comment can be applied to all programs, let any reader make their own judgement how much it applies to your favorite Football Univ.
Your comment is a laugher. Michigan is better than what you give them credit for. Let’s see how it all stacks up in the end.
At this point and time in the season….who cares…play ball!
39-31 at Okkie State is everything except a win, don’t let anyone tell you to apologize for that
Beck – 7 TD, 0 INT
Nico – 5 TD, 2 INT
#THESTATS #GWHITE