SEC Power Rankings after Week 11
The SEC Championship Game matchup is set, y’all!
We’re getting SEC West champion Alabama taking on SEC East champion Georgia after both the Tide and Bulldogs clinched their spots in Atlanta on Saturday. While Alabama clinched its own spot by thumping Kentucky, Georgia locked up its spot before it even set foot on the field against Ole Miss.
Mizzou blowing out Tennessee caused the Bulldogs to lock up the SEC East crown just before kickoff against the Rebels in Sanford Stadium.
How does the rest of the league look after Week 11? Here are our updated power rankings as the regular season winds down:
14. Vanderbilt (2-9 overall, 0-7 in SEC)
Previous ranking: 14
This week: 47-6 L to South Carolina
Next week: OFF
The best thing I can say about the Commodores is that they won’t lose next weekend. Thanks to playing in Week 0, Vanderbilt has its second bye of the year this coming Saturday. That’s a ridiculously late open date, but at least it saves us from having to spend another weekend watching this awful Commodores squad.
13. Arkansas (3-7, 1-6)
Previous ranking: 11
This week: 48-10 L to Auburn
Next week: vs. FIU
If Arkansas plays the way it did this weekend against Auburn, it might lose to FIU. That was an awful performance by the Hogs and it appears the honeymoon is over for interim OC Kenny Guiton. Now the Hogs have been eliminated from bowl contention just a week after hope was stoked following a win against Florida. This offseason will feature several important questions that need to be answered for this program.
12. Mississippi State (4-6, 1-6)
Previous ranking: 12
This week: 51-10 L at Texas A&M
Next week: vs. Southern Miss
This offense is putrid. Just terrible. I know Will Rogers is injured. I know they have some other issues. But Zach Arnett has to take a good, hard look at his offensive coaching staff this offseason. This can’t be acceptable to the Mississippi State administration after a few years of Mike Leach running the show. Bulldog fans deserve better on that side of the ball.
11. South Carolina (4-6, 2-5)
Previous ranking: 13
This week: 47-6 W over Vanderbilt
Next week: vs. Kentucky
The Gamecocks earned a dominant win … over Vanderbilt. Getting a 2-spot bump in the power rankings is more than fair as a reward. The Gamecocks also kept their slim bowl hopes alive. If they can beat Kentucky and Clemson over the next 2 weeks (with both games in Columbia), they can still qualify for postseason play. Shane Beamer and company need to take it 1 game at a time here.
10. Florida (5-5, 3-4)
Previous ranking: 10
This week: 52-35 L at No. 19 LSU
Next week: at Mizzou
That was a solid effort by the Gators in Death Valley. These LSU-Florida games are always weird. But Florida failed its first attempt to pull off an upset to gain bowl eligibility. Its last 2 regular-season games are at Mizzou and vs. Florida State, and they’ll likely be underdogs in both of those contests. Failing to get to 6 wins would not be good for Billy Napier and his staff.
9. Auburn (6-4, 4-3)
Previous ranking: 10
This week: 48-10 W at Arkansas
Next week: vs. New Mexico State
What a great job by first-year head coach Hugh Freeze to get the Tigers to bowl eligibility with 2 games remaining in the regular season. Auburn made a strong statement with its blowout win at Arkansas on Saturday afternoon. This is exactly where this team needed to be in Year 1 under Freeze. The future is bright on The Plains. Now it’s time to rest up, get an easy 7th win over New Mexico State and prepare for the Iron Bowl.
8. Kentucky (6-4, 3-4)
Previous ranking: 7
This week: 49-21 L to No. 8 Alabama
Next week: at South Carolina
Kentucky has a solid chance to get to .500 in SEC play next week at South Carolina. That would be big for Mark Stoops and company based on how the offense has looked at times this year. There are some talented guys on that side of the ball, but they haven’t quite put it all together yet. Next week will be a great chance to build some momentum moving into what is going to be a tough rivalry game against Louisville to close the regular season.
7. Texas A&M (6-4, 4-3)
Previous ranking: 8
This week: 51-10 W over Mississippi State
Next week: vs. Abilene Christian
The Aggies were absolutely dominant on Saturday night against a bad Mississippi State team. It was a great showing for the offense, as new QB Jaylen Henderson looked good and drew rave reviews. Henderson should get another tuneup game this coming weekend against Abilene Christian before the regular-season finale vs. LSU. The Aggies will be hoping to finish the year with 2 more wins. Apparently, it wasn’t enough to save coach Jimbo Fisher’s job, though, as he’s expected to be fired on Sunday. What a crazy last couple of years for Fisher in College Station.
6. Tennessee (7-3, 3-3)
Previous ranking: 6
This week: 36-7 L at No. 14 Mizzou
Next week: vs. Georgia
The Vols at home are maybe a top-4 SEC team this year. The Vols on the road? That’s an entirely different story. Tennessee needs to figure out what it wants to do moving forward. With games vs. Georgia and vs. Vanderbilt remaining on the schedule, it’ll be interesting to see how many snaps Nico Iamaleava gets to prove what he can do with this offense moving into the future.
5. LSU (7-3, 5-2)
Previous ranking: 4
This week: 52-35 W over Florida
Next week: vs. Georgia State
Yes, I know the Florida-LSU rivalry is always weird, but you can’t struggle to beat a Florida team that just lost to Arkansas last week in a game that’s played in Death Valley and still expect to hold onto a top-4 spot in these illustrious power rankings. The good news? Jayden Daniels is absolutely awesome and may have locked down a trip to New York City for the Heisman Trophy ceremony for his heroics in this contest.
4. Ole Miss (8-2, 5-2)
Previous ranking: 3
This week: 52-17 L at No. 2 Georgia
Next week: vs. Louisiana-Monroe
This is a good team, it just can’t beat the elite teams in the SEC. But, to be fair, Alabama and Georgia are both on the verge of going 8-0 against SEC competition this season, so no one can claim to be better than the Tide and Bulldogs. Since Ole Miss had a decidedly worse effort than Mizzou at Georgia, the Rebels get bumped down to No. 4 while Mizzou gets the No. 3 spot.
3. Mizzou (8-2, 4-2)
Previous ranking: 5
This week: 36-7 W over No. 13 Tennessee
Next week: vs. Florida
This team just keeps playing hard and making things tough for opponents. The Tigers proved that last week’s close game against Georgia was no fluke, avenging back-to-back 66-24 losses to Tennessee. Cody Schrader ran for 200+ yards and had 100+ receiving yards. This was a game he’ll remember for the rest of his life.
2. Alabama (9-1, 7-0)
Previous ranking: 2
This week: 49-21 W at Kentucky
Next week: vs. Chattanooga
Jalen Milroe played like he was a Heisman frontrunner in Lexington, throwing for 3 TDs and rushing for 3 more in a dominant effort. This has been a great development project for Nick Saban, Tommy Rees and the Alabama coaching staff. Milroe is getting better every week. Expect him to only play 2-3 quarters next week against Chattanooga before getting some well-earned rest prior to the Iron Bowl.
1. Georgia (10-0, 7-0)
Previous ranking: 1
This week: 52-17 W over No. 9 Ole Miss
Next week: at Tennessee
Georgia can win close games. It can win low-scoring games. It can win high-scoring games. It can win without Brock Bowers. It can win without key defensive players. The Bulldogs may not be as dominant as they were last year, but the results are the same. They’ve locked up a trip to Atlanta to play Alabama for the SEC title. A win there would likely guarantee a top-2 seed in the College Football Playoff.