This week’s rankings saw a little movement at the top after the two big AP top 10 matchups. Yet again, four of the top five teams are from the SEC West. Meanwhile, the bottom four teams are all from the East.
The biggest movement came in the form of three spots but in the wrong direction for, you guessed it, a team from the East.
Here are the SEC power rankings after Week 7:
Note: () by each team indicates whether teams moved up, down or remained unchanged.
Projected out of a bowl game
14. Vanderbilt Commodores (-)
13. South Carolina Gamecocks (-)
Vanderbilt and South Carolina squared off last week in a battle of basement teams. The Gamecocks prevailed even though they didn’t look very impressive doing it. It was a sloppy game that saw 7 combined turnovers. In the end, South Carolina had the best player on the field as Pharoh Cooper had 7 catches for 160 yards and the go-ahead 78-yard touchdown. You at least have to give the Gamecocks credit for getting a win during a week that saw Shawn Elliott step in for the legendary Steve Spurrier, who resigned from the position exactly a week ago.
Trending up or down?
12. Missouri Tigers (-)
11. Kentucky Wildcats (-3)
10. Auburn Tigers (+1)
The biggest movement this week was by Kentucky, which went three spots in the wrong direction after its 30-27 home loss to Auburn this past Thursday. The loss dealt the Wildcats their second SEC loss, hurting the team’s chances of staying in the East race a little longer. However, it doesn’t hurt their chances of a bowl game. Speaking of going bowling, Auburn‘s chances of playing in a postseason game would’ve been crushed had it lost that game when considering how tough the rest of its schedule is. Now, the Tigers can build off their most complete game of the season. Missouri stayed put at No. 12 after an ugly 9-6 loss to Georgia, the second game this season the Tigers have been involved in a 9-6 contest and the third time scoring in single digits.
Middle of the pack
9. Tennessee Volunteers (+1)
8. Arkansas Razorbacks (+1)
7. Mississippi State Bulldogs (-1)
Tennessee moved up a spot while enjoying a bye week. The same goes for Arkansas. The Vols are getting set to take on rival Alabama in Tuscaloosa this week, and the Razorbacks will host Auburn in Fayetteville. Arkansas maintains a slight edge over Tennessee based on the Hogs’ win over the Vols in Knoxville a couple weeks ago. Mississippi State dropped a spot despite its 45-20 win over Louisiana Tech. The Bulldogs are starting to look like the perfect “Middle of the Pack” team in the SEC this season.
Just off the pace
6. Georgia Bulldogs (+1)
5. Ole Miss Rebels (-)
4. Texas A&M Aggies (-2)
An unimpressive win over Missouri was enough for Georgia to rise a spot into this category, but it wasn’t enough to crack the top 5 and leapfrog Ole Miss, which holds firm at No. 5 despite a 37-24 road loss to Memphis. The road doesn’t get any easier for the No. 24 Rebels (vs. No. 15 Texas A&M, at Auburn, vs. Arkansas, vs. No. 5 LSU, at Mississippi State). They still only have one conference loss, but each week seems to reveal more and more flaws in the Rebels, especially a suspect offensive line and an inability to run the ball in key moments. The return of LT Laremy Tunsil should provide a huge boost in both of those areas as he’s been cleared by the NCAA to return for this weekend’s matchup against No. 15 Texas A&M in Oxford. As for the Aggies, they had the luxury of playing a top 10 team in their own backyard, but they were handled by the Crimson Tide, falling behind as much as 28-6 in the second quarter. We’ll see if that was just a bad matchup for Texas A&M in the coming weeks, and if they can run the table until they face LSU on Nov. 28.
RELATED: SEC’s most exciting plays of Week 4
SEC Favorites
3. Florida Gators (+1)
2. Alabama Crimson Tide (+2)
1. LSU Tigers (-)
Florida remains the only East team in the top 5. They may have lost to LSU, but the Gators only proved their legitimacy after only losing by a touchdown in Death Valley to the best team in the conference and maybe the best team in the nation. Florida didn’t go quietly, and that was after starting QB Will Grier’s suspension for PEDs. However, LSU still pulled it out and, after this week, is the only remaining unbeaten team left in the league and retains the top spot. Today marks exactly one month since Alabama‘s 43-37 loss to Ole Miss. Seems like it’s been a lot longer, right? The Tide has gotten back to playing championship-caliber football with three dominant wins, two of which came against teams that were ranked in the AP top 10 at the time of the game (No. 8 Georgia and No. 9 Texas A&M). Alabama has looked like a complete football team over that stretch with the 41-23 humbling of the Aggies in front of the 12th Man. It’s looking like LSU at Alabama on Nov. 7 is shaping up to be another “Game of the Century” as they always seem to be billed.
Born and raised in Gainesville, Talal joined SDS in 2015 after spending 2 years in Bristol as an ESPN researcher. Previously, Talal worked at The Gainesville Sun.
