Finally a week where a few SEC football teams looked like, well, SEC football teams.

And no, I don’t mean the #Pac-12AfterDark defense optional track meet that broke out in Oxford, Mississippi, though that was appointment television, too.

Auburn and Georgia was Auburn and Georgia, a head knocker of an affair where the better team won but the crowd was electric, the physicality was intense, and both teams looked well-coached and prepared. That’s SEC football at its finest. The game also produces a new No. 1 on the greatest list in SEC sports, as Jayden Daniels’ 2-week run at the top comes to an end.

Other SEC teams that looked like SEC teams included Kentucky, which bulldozed Florida behind a monster afternoon from a running back the readers said shouldn’t be on “The List” a week ago, and Tennessee, which won the Super Bowl by defeating the “Carolina Panther” Gamecocks at Neyland Stadium. Seriously, Spencer Rattler? That’s your take?

My take is that Alabama has found an identity, which is a bigger story than Max Johnson being good, which anyone who has watched him play football closely for the past few years already should have known. We’ll see if I am right on Saturday in College Station.

One thing certain to be right or extremely wrong is this week’s “List,” which features plenty of movement again, a sign of the topsy-turvy lack of stability we are seeing in what appears to be a wide open SEC.

As always, honorable mentions are first. No, there are no LSU defensive players in Honorable Mentions anymore. If your defense ranks 117th in the country in total defense and 121st in success rate defense, none of your players are among the best in the SEC, even if talent says they should be.

Last week’s “List” is here.

Honorable Mention: Alabama: DB Terrion Arnold, LB Dallas Turner; Arkansas: QB KJ Jefferson, LB Jaheim Thomas; Auburn: LB Eugene Asante, DL Marcus Harris; Florida: RB Trevor Etienne, WR Ricky Pearsall; Georgia: C Sedrick Van Pran, DB Tykee Smith; Kentucky: OL Jeremy Flax, WR/R Barion Brown; LSU: WR Malik Nabers, RB Logan Diggs; Missouri: QB Brady Cook, OL Javon Foster; MSU: RB Jo’Quavious Marks, LB Jett Johnson; Ole Miss: WR Tre Harris, RB Quinshon Judkins; SC: QB Spencer Rattler, WR Xavier Leggette; Tennessee: LB Aaron Beasley, DL James Pearce Jr.; Texas A&M: WR Evan Stewart, DL Shemar Turner; Vanderbilt: WR Will Sheppard, OL Bradley Ashmore.

10. Maxwell Hairston, DB (Kentucky)

A week after earning SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors, Hairston was all over the field in Kentucky’s 33-14 rout of Florida. The sophomore corner who Mark Stoops says “embraces physicality like no defensive back I’ve coached” had 10 tackles, including 1 for a loss. Several of his tackles came in run support, as his aggressive closing speed on run plays helped Kentucky limit Florida’s dangerous running back duo of Montrell Johnson and Trevor Etienne to just 71 yards on 21 carries. On the season, Hairston has 25 tackles, 3 interceptions, 4 pass breakups and 1 tackle for loss.

9. Jaxson Dart, QB (Ole Miss)

Dart returns to the “List” after a special performance against No. 13 LSU. Dart produced 5 touchdowns (4 passing, 1 rushing) and 464 total yards of offense in Ole Miss’s 55-49 win over the Tigers. The SEC Co-Player of the Week, Dart now ranks 3rd in the SEC in passing yards and yards per attempt and 2nd in passing touchdowns (11). His ability to put a tough performance in Tuscaloosa behind him and win a rivalry game a week later is another testament to his growth as a leader and player.

8. Connor Tollison, C (Missouri)

The nation’s 2nd-best center through the season’s first month, per PFF, Tollison grades out as the nation’s best run blocker (86.4), pacing a Missouri run game that has 2 backs over 250 yards. Missouri is also doing a spectacular job protecting the quarterback, with Tollison calling the protections for Brady Cook, one of the SEC’s biggest surprise stars this season. With Tollison and Javon Foster both ranking in the top 3 at their positions (center and tackle), Missouri should compete for the Joe Moore Award, given annually to the nation’s best offensive line unit.

7. Brian Thomas Jr. WR (LSU)

Thomas continued his star turn junior season by torching Ole Miss for 124 yards and 3 touchdowns. Thomas now has 3 games with over 100 yards receiving this season and he leads the SEC in touchdown receptions (8). (Keep in mind, Jalin Hyatt and Jameson Williams led the SEC with 15 TD catches in 2022 and 2021, respectively, and Thomas is ahead of that pace.)

His first touchdown Saturday came on a spectacular catch in the corner of the end zone, and it’s his dynamic athleticism and ability to make tough catches in traffic that make him one of the nation’s best wide receivers.

6. Jaylin Simpson, DB (Auburn)

Simpson added another interception to his SEC-leading tally (4) in Auburn’s hard-fought rivalry loss to Georgia. He also had a critical red-zone pass breakup on a long throw to Brock Bowers.

In fact, it wasn’t until Simson picked up a lower leg injury in the second half that Bowers truly broke out. Auburn did not put its senior defensive back into another 1-on-1 situation with the Georgia star after Simpson entered the injury tent — and Bowers promptly took advantage of every “less equitable” 1-on-1 matchup he was given by Auburn defensive coordinator Ron Roberts afterward. Simpson is expected to be OK and should play in Auburn’s game at LSU following the bye week.

5. Malaki Starks, S (Georgia)

Starks caught a game-sealing interception in the 4th quarter, capping another comeback win for No. 1 Georgia. Auburn was 0-for-4 when challenging Starks 1-on-1. On the season, Starks grades out as the nation’s best safety, per PFF, just ahead of Simpson.

4. Ray Davis, RB (Kentucky)

The Vandy transfer gained a Herculean 280 yards on 26 carries against Florida, which came into Lexington with the SEC’s top-ranked defense in total defense and success rate and promptly left having nightmares about Davis for the second consecutive season (Davis keyed Vanderbilt’s upset of Florida last season with 126 yards rushing).

Davis earned SEC Co-Player of the Week honors in the victory. Florida missed 14 tackles on Davis carries, a testament to his ability to make defenders miss in space and gain precious yards after contact. The Kentucky captain now leads the SEC in rushing yards (594) and yards per attempt (7.82).

3. Luther Burden III, WR (Missouri)

Burden continued his breakout sophomore season in Saturday’s victory over Vanderbilt, hauling in 2 more touchdown passes and a game-high 11 receptions and 140 yards receiving.

Is he the best wide receiver in the country? That crown may be a bit premature, given Missouri’s early season slate includes just 2 wins over likely bowl teams (Memphis, Kansas State). But bigger tests and platforms arrive Saturday when Missouri hosts LSU, and given the LSU secondary’s performances to date, this could be a special statement game for Burden.

2. Jayden Daniels, QB (LSU)

Daniels was splendid again in LSU’s loss at Ole Miss, throwing for 414 yards and 4 touchdowns in a losing effort. Daniels also added 99 yards and a touchdown on the ground, a season-best effort. As the LSU defense continues to struggle, it’s interesting to think where this LSU team would be without Daniels. He doesn’t lose the top spot in the “List” for any other reason than what the new No. 1 did on the road — in a win — warrants the bump.

1. Brock Bowers, TE (Georgia)

Am I beginning to regret a tweet sent this summer that suggested that while Bowers may be the best player in college football, he would not win the Heisman Trophy because tight ends do not win the Heisman Trophy? Yes, I am.

To me, one element of being a Heisman winner is that you are the guy your team turns to when someone has to make a play to win the game. Or, in Bowers’ case, many plays, over and over. When Auburn pushed Georgia to the brink, Bowers pulled the Dawgs out of the fire. He caught 8 passes for 157 yards and a touchdown, with the bulk of that damage coming in the second half. Two of the receptions came on throws Georgia’s young and improving quarterback Carson Beck admitted after the game were “ducks that Brock just caught anyway.”

Bowers now has 30 receptions and 413 yards receiving this season for the 2-time defending national champions. Those don’t seem like gaudy numbers, but consider the constant double teams and the lack of much production elsewhere in the Georgia passing game (only Missouri transfer Dominic Lovett has more than 15 receptions, aside from Bowers), and you get the idea.

Bowers is the best player in college football.