Our first-ever 8-game SEC-on-SEC slate didn’t disappoint. It’s fitting that it came in Week 8. Week 8, 8 games — you get it.
We had some epic games between top teams. We had sloppy showings from mid-tier teams. We had Florida fire Billy Napier despite a victory over Mississippi State.
SEC football never disappoints. It never lets you down. It always goes down smooth.
But, as always, this weekend’s results had significant impacts on our power rankings. Here’s how we rank all 16 SEC squads following Week 8 action:
16. Kentucky (2-4 overall, 0-4 in SEC)
- Previous ranking: 16
- Last week: 16-13 (OT) L vs. No. 21 Texas
- This week: vs. Tennessee
Saturday’s game against Texas said more about the Longhorns than it did about Kentucky. Texas played down to its opponent. Kentucky deserves some credit for playing tough, but without a win, there’s not much to say here. Mark Stoops is running out of opportunities to win an SEC game in 2025.
15. Arkansas (2-5, 0-3)
- Previous ranking: 15
- Last week: 45-42 L vs. No. 4 Texas A&M
- This week: vs. Auburn
The Arkansas offense is highly entertaining to watch. For good reasons. The Arkansas defense is highly entertaining to watch. For bad reasons. The Hogs can score on anyone. However, you, dear reader, and 10 of your closest friends could also probably drop 20+ points on this Arkansas defense. My advice? Continue to take the overs on Arkansas games this season.
14. South Carolina (3-4, 1-4)
- Previous ranking: 13
- Last week: 26-7 L vs. No. 14 Oklahoma
- This week: vs. Alabama
Shane Beamer got a little defensive when he was asked about potential staff changes after the Oklahoma loss. Why? What does Mike Shula have on him? It’s clear the South Carolina offense is going nowhere. That was a terrible hire by Beamer. If Beamer doesn’t figure out how to take advantage of having a future NFL QB in LaNorris Sellers soon, maybe South Carolina fans will drive him to Blacksburg themselves.
13. Mississippi State (4-3, 0-3)
- Previous ranking: 14
- Last week: 23-21 L at Florida
- This week: vs. Texas
Is it weird to say I think Mississippi State can beat Texas this weekend? Because I do think that. Texas looks inept offensively. Mississippi State continues to play hard each week. The Bulldogs haven’t gotten over the hump in SEC play yet, but I think Arizona State is a better team this year than the Longhorns. I’ll firmly be looking at the Bulldogs as a potential upset pick this week.
12. Auburn (3-4, 0-4)
- Previous ranking: 11
- Last week: 23-17 (2OT) L vs. No. 16 Mizzou
- This week: at Arkansas
Am I surprised that Hugh Freeze didn’t get fired on Sunday? Yes, I am. Auburn continues to snag defeat from the jaws of victory. Even with Alex McPherson’s struggles on Saturday at home against Mizzou (why would you send him out there for a 50-yard field-goal try in his current state, Hugh?), Auburn should have won this game. The fact that Auburn continues to shoot itself in the foot is an indictment of the coaching staff.
11. Florida (3-4, 2-2)
- Previous ranking: 12
- Last week: 23-21 W vs. Mississippi State
- This week: OFF
Florida made the decision on Sunday to fire Billy Napier. Now, the Gators are on the hunt for a new head coach. (Our Connor O’Gara shares his top 5 options here.) How will that impact the rest of this season? Can the Gators still reach a bowl game? Do they even want to? We’ll find out a lot about the future of the Florida program over the next few weeks.
10. Texas (5-2, 2-1)
- Previous ranking: 9
- Last week: 16-13 (OT) W at Kentucky
- This week: at Mississippi State
Is this Texas team OK? Seriously, what is going on with Steve Sarkisian‘s offense? As I discussed earlier, I think Mississippi State is a live underdog this week. If the Longhorns need overtime to win at Kentucky, they’re going to struggle even more with the cowbells in Starkville. The Texas offense is broken. The defense can only do so much. That’s a recipe for struggles moving forward.
9. LSU (5-2, 2-2)
- Previous ranking: 7
- Last week: 31-24 L at No. 17 Vanderbilt
- This week: vs. Texas A&M
Here’s where we’re at in the year of our Lord 2025: I’m not punishing a team too heavily for a loss at Vanderbilt. LSU ran into a Commodore buzzsaw on Saturday afternoon in Nashville. Diego Pavia should be getting way more Heisman love than he’s currently getting. But… on the flip side… this is a terrible coaching job from Brian Kelly. The offense is unreliable. The defense had its aggressiveness used against it beautifully by Vanderbilt’s offense. There are problems aplenty in Baton Rouge, with undefeated Texas A&M coming to town this weekend.
8. Oklahoma (6-1, 2-1)
- Previous ranking: 10
- Last week: 26-7 W at South Carolina
- This week: vs. Ole Miss
John Mateer doesn’t look like his pre-injury self just yet, but he’s doing enough to help the Sooners win again, which is a good sign for Oklahoma. Of course, as I mentioned in the South Carolina section, Shane Beamer should be embarrassed with his Mike Shula hire this offseason. But most offensive coordinators look bad facing that Oklahoma defense. The Sooners will face their toughest test of the season this weekend, though, when Ole Miss rolls into town.
7. Tennessee (5-2, 2-2)
- Previous ranking: 5
- Last week: 37-20 L at No. 6 Alabama
- This week: at Kentucky
The 2 losses the Vols have suffered this year have been in overtime against Georgia and on the road at Alabama. That’s not bad. The Vols still have legitimate Playoff aspirations. Tennessee has this as its remaining schedule:
- at Kentucky
- vs. Oklahoma
- OFF
- vs. New Mexico State
- at Florida
- vs. Vanderbilt
Oklahoma and Vanderbilt are the 2 toughest games there, and both are at Neyland Stadium. All of Josh Heupel and company’s goals are right there for the taking, still. The Vols just need to get healthy in the secondary.
6. Vanderbilt (6-1, 2-1)
- Previous ranking: 8
- Last week: 31-24 W vs. No. 10 LSU
- This week: vs. Mizzou
The Commodores are on the hunt for a Playoff berth. As Nick Saban said on College GameDay on Saturday, it’s hard to think of Vanderbilt as this caliber of program. But Clark Lea has built Vandy into exactly that. Diego Pavia is the real deal. The Commodores are up to No. 10 in the AP Poll. Going to Nashville is no longer a comfortable road trip.
5. Mizzou (6-1, 2-1)
- Previous ranking: 6
- Last week: 23-17 (2OT) W at Auburn
- This week: at Vanderbilt
Mizzou needed to catch approximately 30 breaks to win this game in double-overtime. Fortunately for Eli Drinkwitz and company, they did indeed get those 30 breaks, as Auburn has no idea how to win football games. The problem? Vanderbilt does know how to win SEC contests. Mizzou will need to be so much sharper this weekend if it wants to win another SEC road game.
4. Ole Miss (6-1, 3-1)
- Previous ranking: 2
- Last week: 43-35 L at No. 9 Georgia
- This week: at Oklahoma
I’m still high on this Ole Miss squad. Trinidad Chambliss is still an incredible quarterback. But going into Athens and winning is something only certain elite squads (more on one of those squads in a minute) can do. Ole Miss is fine. Do the Rebels need to win this weekend at Oklahoma? Absolutely. But that’s certainly an attainable goal for Lane Kiffin and his squad.
3. Texas A&M (7-0, 4-0)
- Previous ranking: 3
- Last week: 45-42 W at Arkansas
- This week: at LSU
Texas A&M is undefeated. It deserves credit for that. It went on the road and won at Notre Dame. It deserves credit for that. Is it OK if I have a bit of skepticism about the 4-0 SEC record at this point, though? The Aggies have beaten Auburn, Mississippi State, Florida and Arkansas in league play thus far. Those are the No. 12, No. 13, No. 11 and No. 15 teams in my current power rankings, respectively. This is a great Aggies squad. But I want to see a marquee SEC victory before I vault Texas A&M into the top 2 of my rankings.
2. Georgia (6-1, 4-1)
- Previous ranking: 4
- Last week: 43-35 W vs. No. 5 Ole Miss
- This week: OFF
Georgia continues its season as the comeback kids. Gunner Stockton keeps doing what needs to be done to guide his squad back from multi-score deficits. It would be nice for fans’ blood pressure if the Dawgs could simply avoid falling into early holes, but wins are wins in this crazy sport we all love. Now Georgia has a chance to regroup before facing a Florida squad that will have the “new coach boost” in full effect in Jacksonville in Week 10.
1. Alabama (6-1, 4-0)
- Previous ranking: 1
- Last week: 37-20 W vs. No. 11 Tennessee
- This week: at South Carolina
Alabama’s Week 1 loss at Florida State is trending toward being the most-embarrassing loss for any non-Penn State team this year. The good news? Alabama‘s wins have all been incredible. After handling Tennessee comfortably on Saturday night, the Tide have now won 4-straight games against ranked squads. The bad news? Winning top-tier games has never been an issue for Kalen DeBoer. The problem for him has been taking care of business on the road against teams like unranked South Carolina that he should beat. Can DeBoer flip the script in Week 9?
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
