Every Wednesday, we rank the SEC and Pac-12 teams in one power poll. The order of the SEC teams is based on the Week 1 SDS SEC Power Rankings.
There’s been a balance of power shift to the Big Ten and Pac-12 in college football this season, at least that’s what we were led to believe for the month leading up to last weekend’s openers.
The SEC carried the torch with a 12-1 showing including two wins over nationally-ranked competition to place a record-setting 10 teams in Tuesday’s Week 2 AP Top 25. The Pac-12 on the other hand have half of that number and Stanford, a preseason College Football Playoff dark horse according to Desmond Howard, fell flat on the road to fall out completely.
The Pac-12’s pedestrian 7-5 record during opening weekend overshadowed stellar play out of UCLA five-star freshman quarterback Josh Rosen and USC’s 49-point drubbing of Arkansas State. The league’s five losses came to Northwestern, Boise State, Hawaii, Texas A&M and Portland State — not a great look for the ego.
ELITES
Few would argue these five teams are the best in their respective leagues, but how many have authentic Playoff potential? Alabama’s dominating win over Wisconsin Saturday night was one of the nation’s most impressive in Week 1 and the Crimson Tide did so with an influx of new talent at various positions including three new starters along the offensive line. Jeremy Johnson’s Heisman kickoff didn’t go as planned with three interceptions, but the Tigers managed a quality win against Louisville. Vernon Adams, Marcus Mariota’s replacement under center Oregon, left the Ducks’ 61-42 victory shaken up after a late hit but is expected to play in Saturday night’s pivotal showdown at Michigan State.
- Alabama
- Auburn
- USC
- Oregon
- Georgia
FRINGE TOP 10s
Will the acquisition of John Chavis equal conference championship aspirations for the Aggies? So far, so good for a team that struggled on the defensive side of the football last fall. Texas A&M’s front four put on a clinic Saturday night in Houston against Arizona State (a perceived Pac 12 contender), compiling nine sacks during a blowout win. UCLA’s the wild-card in this mix with enough talent on both sides of the ball to make a run at the Trojans or Ducks out West. Rosen’s debut was flawless and Myles Jack is one of the nation’s best combo players at linebacker.
- UCLA
- LSU
- Texas A&M
- Ole Miss
ALMOST THERE
We’ll know more in the coming weeks about this group, but Tennessee has a chance Saturday night to move into the next tier with a win over Oklahoma in what’s being billed as Butch Jones’ most important game thus far in Knoxville. The Vols showed signs of weakness in the secondary last week against Bowling Green, but the offense was nearly unstoppable. You could make a strong case for Arizona’s Anu Solomon as the best quarterback in this group as the facilitator in Rich Rod’s up-tempo attack. Losing All-American linebacker Scooby Wright indefinitely was a major blow to the Wildcats’ Pac-12 chances, however.
- Arkansas
- Tennessee
- Mizzou
- Arizona
MINOR ISSUES
Two of these teams are ranked in this week’s AP Top 25. Can you guess which ones? These four are interchangeable to an extent, somewhere in the 22-30 range nationally. The Sun Devils suffered a noticeable drop from 15th to out of the poll entirely after falling to Texas A&M and Mississippi State’s road win at Southern Miss was enough to convince voters the Bulldogs belonged — at No. 25. We haven’t seen the last of David Shaw and Stanford, but an opening weekend loss to Northwestern certainly didn’t help matters. Stanford’s now lost five times over its last 10 games.
- Utah
- Arizona State
- Mississippi State
- Stanford
MORE IS NEEDED
Every member in this group of teams has one thing in common — they’re each trying to get to a bowl game this season. The Gamecocks had the lone quality win for the bunch during opening weekend after holding off North Carolina in Charlotte, 17-13. It was the first of an SEC-high three non-conference games this season against bowl teams from last season. The Jim McElwain era began with a 61-point bang in Gainesville against New Mexico State as both Will Grier and Treon Harris were efficient at quarterback. Both Washington and Colorado suffered late-game road losses to Boise State and Hawaii while California disposed of Grambling State with 52 points in the first half.
- Florida
- California
- Oregon State
- South Carolina
- Kentucky
- Washington
- Colorado
BOTTOM OF THE PILE
The Cougs blew a 10-point halftime lead at home to Portland State in one of the more forgettable losses during Mike Leach’s mediocre tenure. On the heels of three consecutive losing seasons including two 3-9s, Leach’s days could be numbered. As for the Commodores? A failed two-point conversion in the waning moments against Western Kentucky marked the SEC’s only loss during Week 1. And this week, Vanderbilt hosts Georgia — not a good look for Derek Mason and Co.
- Washington State
- Vanderbilt
