ESPN released its SEC power rankings following Week 9 of the 2016 college football season.
Alabama, Texas A&M and Auburn remain in the top three while LSU and Florida each moved up one spot. Tennessee fell two spots to No. 6 after an upset loss at South Carolina.
Here’s a look at the full SEC power rankings including a brief portion of the summary for each team.
1. Alabama: “After eight straight games and eight straight wins, the Crimson Tide got a much-needed bye week before their trip to LSU.” — Alex Scarborough
2. Texas A&M: “A manageable final month of the season begins at Mississippi State next week, and with just one loss, the Aggies have an outside shot at the playoff.” — Sam Khan Jr.
3. Auburn: “As for Auburn, there might not be a hotter team in college football right now.” — Greg Ostendorf
4. LSU: “The Tigers are 3-0 since Ed Orgeron took over and have broken a school offensive record in all three games.” — David Ching
5. Florida: “This team doesn’t win in pretty fashion, but maybe that’s just how the Gators like it.” — Edward Aschoff
6. Tennessee: “The losses to highly ranked Alabama and Texas A&M stung, but falling Saturday against unranked South Carolina hurts much more.” — D.C.
7. Arkansas: “There’s a ton of work to be done on that defense.” — A.S.
8. Ole Miss: “The Rebels might be the best five-loss team in the country, but they still have five losses.” — G.O.
9. Kentucky: “These Wildcats have momentum now.” — A.S.
10. Georgia: “This just isn’t a very good team from top to bottom, and the offense was hit by a Mack Truck against a Florida defense that limited the Bulldogs to just 164 total yards.” — E.A.
11. South Carolina: “South Carolina’s upset win over Tennessee sends the Gamecocks to 4-4 and within reach of a bowl bid that seemed highly unlikely a couple of weeks ago.” — D.C.
12. Vanderbilt: “At 4-4, they are still in contention for a bowl bid, but winning two of their remaining games — at Auburn, at Missouri, Ole Miss, Tennessee — won’t be easy.” — D.C.
13. Mississippi State: “Against an FCS opponent at home, the defense gave up 41 points and more than 600 yards of offense.” — A.S.
14. Missouri: “It has become a familiar refrain this season, but it’s worth repeating: What happened to Missouri’s defense?” — A.S.
You can read the full power rankings at ESPN here.
Jason covers SEC football for Saturday Down South.
