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Every Tuesday, we rank the SEC and Big Ten teams in one power poll. The order of the SEC teams is based on the Week 3 SDS SEC Power Poll.
Indiana became the third Big Ten team in two weeks to fall to a MAC opponent. Iowa lost at home to a hopeless Iowa State team. TCU demoralized Minnesota. Washington embarrassed Illinois. Maryland even lost at home to West Virginia.
It wasn’t the fiasco of Week 2, but the Big Ten continued to sink lower. If one of the non-power conferences was having a good season with multiple strong teams, it could make an argument as being better than the Big Ten.
Penn State and Nebraska are the lone remaining unbeaten teams in the conference, though the Nittany Lions beat UCF and Rutgers by two and three points on last-minute drives, while the Cornhuskers barely beat McNeese State.
But Michigan State, Ohio State and Wisconsin all could rally from early losses, make the conference championship and become a playoff team with lots of help.
Right now, the Big Ten claims just three of the top 13 spots in our combined power rankings.
NATIONAL CONTENDERS
Michigan State is the lone Big Ten team in this group. The Spartans will pick up two easy wins to round out September and could enter October as a Top 10 team hosting potentially-unbeaten Nebraska. Not only is MSU probably the best team in the Big Ten, it also has the best opportunity to reel in a top four spot by the end of the year.
1. Alabama
2. Auburn
3. Texas A&M
4. Michigan State
5. LSU
TRYING TO WORK (BACK) INTO THE MIX
OK, Ole Miss fans, I know you haven’t lost. But the rest of these teams are one-loss programs thought to be playoff contenders before the season. The Gamecocks or Bulldogs can become national contenders by controlling the SEC East, while Ohio State and Wisconsin still have talent and an opportunity to win their respective Big Ten divisions.
6. South Carolina
7. Ohio State
8. Ole Miss
9. Georgia
10. Wisconsin
DON’T LOOK NOW, BUT WE’RE UNBEATEN
The SEC claims eight undefeated teams through three weeks compared to two in the Big Ten. Not many expect these programs to contend for conference titles this season, but starting with Mississippi State (at LSU), each of them will get a chance to prove the unbeaten start is no fluke.
11. Nebraska
12. Missouri
13. Mississippi State
14. Penn State
HOPE FADED FAST
Sure, Florida still is unbeaten, but judging by the Gators’ performance against Kentucky, they belong in this group. Brady Hoke and Will Muschamp are the two coaches with the hottest seats in all of college football. And Rutgers led almost the entire game against Penn State, missing a thrilling 3-0 start by that much.
15. Michigan
16. Florida
17. Rutgers
18. Maryland
GOOD ENOUGH TO RUIN SOMEONE’S SEASON
These teams all have one loss and will add more to that total as the season continues. But each of them is good enough to spoil another team’s season. South Carolina’s loss against Tennessee last year will repeat itself in some form with one of these programs.
19. Arkansas
20. Iowa
21. Minnesota
22. Kentucky
23. Tennessee
THERE’S ALWAYS NEXT YEAR…
24. Illinois
25. Indiana
26. Northwestern
… OK, MAYBE 2016
27. Purdue
28. Vanderbilt
An itinerant journalist, Christopher has moved between states 11 times in seven years. Formally an injury-prone Division I 800-meter specialist, he now wanders the Rockies in search of high peaks.
