It’s been a rough, rough week for “Uncle Mo” watching the SEC go 7-7 to start the 2016 season. And even in those seven victories, he had to watch some real ugly wins against overmatched opponents. He’s looking at you, Arkansas, Florida and Tennessee.
Four teams have some real momentum to build off going into Week 2. Ranking the other 10 teams has been like ranking Justin Bieber’s best songs – and Uncle Mo ain’t a Belieber.
As a reminder, momentum rankings are different from power rankings. Uncle Mo’s main concern is which teams are moving in the right direction week to week.
Let’s dive into momentum rankings for Week 2:
- Alabama: The No. 1 ranked team had the No. 1 victory of the weekend in the SEC. After the Crimson Tide steamrolled USC 52-6, there’s no question that Nick Saban squads don’t rebuild, they reload. The SEC West still belongs to Alabama.
- Georgia: Nick Chubb is back, and that’s scary news for the rest of the SEC East. A strong win over North Carolina in Atlanta has UGA looking like the favorite to win the division after underwhelming performances by Tennessee and Florida.
- Texas A&M: The Aggies joined the polls this week by pulling off an impressive upset (by ranking, not Vegas) over No. 16 UCLA. Texas A&M is looking like a solid No. 2 in the SEC West right now.
- South Carolina: The Will Muschamp era in Columbia is off to a good start as the Gamecocks notched an opening week road win over Vanderbilt. For now, South Carolina leads the SEC East and that’s some real momentum after hearing gloomy predictions all offseason.
- Tennessee: Uncle Mo didn’t expect to be ranking the Volunteers this high after their overtime win Thursday over Appalachian State, but after Week 1, being 1-0 is quite the accomplishment. An overtime win can sometimes give a team something to rally around moving forward. We’ll see how Butch Jones’ squad responds to an almost upset.
- Florida: The UF offense with Luke Del Rio at quarterback looked a little bit too much like the offense did with Treon Harris. The stats might be better, but the Gators are already struggling to score points, winning 24-7 over UMass, and could be in trouble trying to defend their SEC East crown.
- Arkansas: SeptemBret and his Hogs came close to another early season non-conference loss, but survived Louisiana Tech 21-20. Arkansas didn’t gain any momentum, but plenty of teams certainly lost more.
- Auburn: Auburn’s defense was impressive in a 19-13 loss to No. 2 Clemson, but coach Gus Malzahn’s management of three quarterbacks that has everyone scratching their heads. The Tigers will be a team to keep an eye on. If AU can find some consistency on offense, it could gain some momentum.
- Kentucky: Giving up 34 unanswered points to the offensive coordinator you fired is painfully embarrassing, but there’s one upside for coach Mark Stoops in UK’s 44-35 loss to Southern Miss: The Wildcats can score points. No other team in the SEC East besides Georgia can really say the same right now.
- Missouri: The Tigers came up short against West Virginia on the road, losing 26-11, but at least two MU wideouts had 100 receiving yards. A possible sign of offense gives Mizzou a little momentum.
- Vanderbilt: Only one team is 0-1 in conference, and it’s the Commodores. Derek Mason’s decision to pull QB Kyle Shurmur has Uncle Mo worrying about Vanderbilt’s season.
- Ole Miss: The Rebels were cruising for a spot near the top of his poll in the first half. And then Chad Kelly and the Ole Miss defense had their epic collapse in the second half. While this kind of loss can have a hangover effect, it shouldn’t be an issue against Wofford even if Rebels’ hangover is worse than Uncle Mo’s after drowning his sorrows.
- Mississippi State: In most cases, a home loss to a 28-point underdog would secure the bottom spot in the momentum rankings, but the Bulldogs are bailed out this week by a division rival’s misfortune.
- LSU: No team has experienced a 180 from Week 1 quite like the Tigers. What had all the makings of a championship season now has one local columnist looking at the details for buying out Les Miles’ contract after 16-14 loss to Wisconsin at Lambeau Field. LSU has momentum right now, but it’s the kind you have after stepping off a cliff.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
