SEC Power Rankings after Week 7
SEC Week 7 told us plenty of things we already knew — yes, Florida and Texas A&M are really good. Arkansas is still the surprise of the SEC season. And South Carolina, Vandy, and Tennessee are awful. But while the gap between the haves and have-nots is clear, it’s time for the weekly power rankings to figure exactly how these teams stack up. Here goes.
14. Vanderbilt (0-5, lost to Mississippi State 24-17)
On the bright side, it was a close game. On the dark and cloudy side, Vandy outgained an opponent by 274 yards. And lost. Five turnovers have a funny way of overshadowing 478 yards of total offense, which is why a generally punchless Vandy team that found its offense lost the game anyway. Sheesh.
13. Mississippi State (2-4, beat Vandy 24-17)
Yes, there’s an argument that winning their 2nd game of the season should move State up. But let’s be candid. They rushed for -22 yards and were outgained 478-204 at home by Vandy. State could very easily be 0-6, and could easily have gone 0-10.
12. South Carolina (2-4, lost to Texas A&M 48-3)
South Carolina did beat Auburn. Fantastic. But that aside, they were absolutely dominated at home by A&M. The Aggies are good, but they probably shouldn’t be a 530-150 total yardage advantage better than the Gamecocks. This was a special kind of hopeless effort — frankly the kind that could leave Carolina looking to make a move, massive buyouts and COVID shortened seasons be damned.
11. LSU (2-3, off this week)
You could argue that LSU should be 13th — they did lose to Mississippi State, after all. The Tigers have had a couple of good weeks — granted against the teams ranked 12th and 14th in these rankings — in which they completely took care of business. They also got boat-raced at Auburn and lost at Mizzou and at home to State. So 11th seems like a reasonable compromise.
10. Tennessee (2-4, lost to Arkansas 24-13)
Where does it go from here? Of course, Arkansas is far from terrible, but to watch Tennessee’s offense stumble around cluelessly against both Kentucky and Arkansas does not say good things for the future of Jeremy Pruitt’s program. Once again, a strong argument could be made that the Vols are ranked too high.
9. Kentucky (2-4, off this week)
The Wildcats picked a good week to be off. They gained 2 spots by not suffering an embarrassing loss. Sometimes it’s not what you do, it’s what you don’t do that counts.
8. Ole Miss (2-4, off this week)
Like Kentucky, the Rebels get a boost because they didn’t besmirch their body of work with a crappy effort like Tennessee or South Carolina just did. Not at all sure the Rebels belong this high, but pretty certain that nobody below them does.
7. Missouri (2-3, off this week)
Didn’t see any need to bump down the Tigers either, who look like they could well end up with a .500 season in coach Eli Drinkwitz’s first season. If not for Arkansas, Mizzou would be the feel-good story of the SEC season.
6. Auburn (4-2, off this week)
Not really fair to Auburn because it didn’t do anything wrong, but being inactive cost them as the Razorbacks jumped them this week. Yes, Auburn beat Arkansas, but a) they shouldn’t have and b) Arkansas doesn’t have a South Carolina-level loss on their résumé. So the Tigers sit here, with a pretty decent sized gap between them and every team below them.
5. Arkansas (3-3, beat Tennessee 24-13)
At some point, we stop saying that Arkansas is a good team for a team that was expected to finish last in the West, for a team that hadn’t been decent in SEC play for a long time, or a team with a new coach. At some point, we just say that the Hogs are a good team — a team that falls down 13-0 at halftime and then just romps over Tennessee from that point out. Maybe this was that point.
4. Georgia (4-2, lost to Florida 44-28)
When Georgia’s defense got lit up by Alabama, it could conceivably have been a unique occurrence. How many Alabamas are there out there? Well, now it got dominated by the Florida offense as well, which was curtains for this game. It’s hard to imagine Georgia falling below this spot in the power rankings, but this game suggests it’s hard to imagine the Dawgs moving up much, either.
3. Texas A&M (5-1, beat South Carolina 48-3)
The Aggies were the superior team against the Gamecocks and played the part well. The offensive balance to pass for 266 yards and rush for 264 is impressive. So was a defensive effort that just shut down Carolina completely. Considered jumping the Aggies to No. 2, which could be justified by their win over Florida. But Florida’s surprising big week gives the Gators the tiniest of advantages over a predictable thumping by A&M.
2. Florida (4-1, beat Georgia 44-28)
The offense was impressive but somewhat predictable. The hidden story here is the defense, which just thwarted Georgia at every turn. Even the 28 points is misleading, as it includes a pick-6 and a 75-yard TD run on the first play of the game. Those plays aside, Florida was outstanding defensively. The Gators looked like they could have a shot at Alabama on a given day …
1.Alabama (6-0, off this week)
Likely headed on a collision course with Florida, it should be an easy next few weeks for the Tide.
Bama, A&M, Florida.
Agreed. Georgia was overrated, and the fact that they were depleted by injuries only made Florida’s job easier. A&M beat Florida head-to-head and should be ranked higher.
It’s a power ranking. Not a poll. If they played tomorrow UF would be the favorite
I have no problem with it. Maybe better to say UF and TAMU are 2-A and 2-B. Florida is still in control of their own destiny. Aggies need help from games they have no control over.
And A&M is clearly the better team by most metrics, that’s the point. Just because you imagine something doesn’t make it true – whoever would be at home would be favored in a rematch right now.
Wrong. You are in the minority on this. A&M should and more likely will be ahead in the polls. But UF would be favored if they were playing today.
Idk, a&m is good. But I don’t seem them barely beating a 0-5 vady team. If you look at talent with both teams FULL strength. The tip goes to Florida.
Agreed. Proved it on the field.
Classic. A&M won on a last second field goal at home to UF. It’s ok to put A&M ahead of UF in a power ranking, but not crazy to put the team with the better QB ahead of them. I’d go with UF personally.
No, Bama, Florida, A&M
I agree with upstategator
It’s hard to believe the 5th best team in the SEC is 3-3.
It’s an odd year and the SEC has been put in a blinder. You got one top tier team, A&M and florida, and everyone else just falls in line.
A) Thats the downfall of an all SEC schedule. No weeks off. B) I think we all know Arkansas is 4-2 ;)
4-2 is right
Wrong but if you are all about moral victories have fun with that!
Have fun accepting a win due to a blown call. That is also a moral victory.
What do you call what Auburn got, an immoral victory?
Exactly. We all know Arkansas really won that game.
If you as a true fan of the sport can tell me that was a fair call than your out of your mind. Rolls reversed y’all would be just as upset, and idk if y’all watched sec post game after the hogs and vols played but each analist agrees we should be 4-2. They also got some lucky calls the next two games. So go ahead sit on your high horse. The whole world knows your wrong. Enjoy it this year.
4-2
“The [Florida] offense was impressive but somewhat predictable.” If by predictable you mean unstoppable, well, I suppose so. Trask threw to 10 different receivers. And Florida kept throwing wheel routes because, well, Georgia couldn’t defend them.
Most non-Florida fans don’t realize what a huge difference it has made having Kyrie Campbell back at NT the last couple weeks. Texas A&M’s running game against Florida would not have fared as well with Campbell in the middle.
I usually agree with you, but I think A&M is slightly better than Florida.
Exactly, you see Bayou Tiger up above discrediting Florida’s win against UGA cause they were missing a lot of players, but I guess that didn’t matter when Florida was missing key players against A&M.
A&M vs. Florida:
passing yards-A&M
QBR-Mond
rushing yards-A&M
first downs-A&M
time of possession-A&M
Am I missing something? That looks like A&M should have won the game, and they did.
So why is UGA a lesser team missing key pieces on the defense, but that doesn’t affect Florida against A&M? All those stats are great, A&M also had 10 more minutes of possession and still needed the Gators to fumble to only win by 3. The Gators were 10 yards away from having the game winning field goal themselves before they fumbled. Great win for A&M, but let’s not act like they blew us out and it should be obvious to everyone that they’re clearly the better team.
Ags also would have probably been up by more. We had a pick but was reversed due to penalty. Both aggs and Florida have made great progress past two weeks. Be interesting too see them play again.
Georgia might have lost a step due to the injuries, but I had Florida favored over them at the start of the season, and I didn’t see anything in the first half of the season to change my mind on that. Georgia was overrated, this year and last year. No offense. The difference was Florida improved this year over last year. I don’t think Georgia’s injuries affected the outcome, they just made it easier.
In short, what Florida did yesterday was take care of business. Predictable. But I can understand why Gator fans are high on that win. It was a stumbling block the last two years.
A lot of the experts still had UGA winning that game, including half the game day crew, so just because you believed Florida would win, doesn’t mean it was any less of a win. I can come to the same conclusion, Florida’s missing players against A&M made it easier. See how that works?
Yeah, I see how that works. Except that I didn’t have A&M favored over Florida when the season began. We can agree to disagree. I think A&M is improving week to week, and I think they are slightly better than Florida. But I respect opinions that Florida is better. It’s a good argument.
Bayou, A&M beat Florida by all the statistical measures you cite, but barely won when Davis fumbled the ball (which, in fairness, was caused by A&M). But if Kyrie Campbell is anchoring the center of the Gator’s D line, the last two weeks pretty clearly suggest that A&M almost certainly doesn’t have the same time of possession, rushing yards and first downs.
Did y’all win because you were better or because Georgia had so many injuries? Pretty sure missing 1 player isn’t as bad as missing 2. You can’t have it both ways either.
Let’s focus on our turnover that A&M caused which surely led to our defeat, but let’s not focus on A&M’s turnover just a few
minutes earlier that
led to our glorious gator 7 point lead. Boy those Aggies are so LUCKY!
Florida had three key injuries, not just Pitts. Starting offensive linemen Stewart Reese and Jean Delance were also injured and missed most of the second half.
I really may sound like a homer here but here we go….
I wouldn’t over look Arkansas next week. I dont think Pits will be back. Im an athletic trainer at an FCS school, and concussion protocol takes 6 days if the person is asymptomatic the next day. Also, Arkansas probably has the best pass defense you have seen so far. The run game is our weakness. I think if our O gets going we have a shot. Not a big one all be it..
No one’s overlooking Arkansas, in fact I think most Gator fans would agree it’s probably the toughest game remaining on the schedule.
It is and Feleipe will be fired up.
Just hoping for a competitive game for most of it. Gators looked sharp against the Dawgs. The only chance Arkansas has of staying in the game, is if it plays mistake-free and takes advantage of a couple miscues by Florida. I don’t expect there to be many if any of those. But seriously looking forward to Franks’ return to Gainesville. I know he will get some cheers from Gator fans. Hoping his has a great game, regardless of the outcome.
You do sound like a homer, but that’s what fans are to some degree. I’m just hoping the Hogs show up and give the Gators a game for at least 3 quarters. Georgia might be depleted with injuries, but it’s still a very stout defense. I also hope Franks has a good game in front of his former fans. Anything beyond that is gravy.
Like you I’d be happy if we keep it competitive and show fight. Florida is just on another level right now and I’d see a rout of our guys before I see us pulling off the upset. Hoping to at least keep it entertaining for everyone.
As long as we don’t run Boyd up the middle on first down every series we’ll be OK.
I hope I’m wrong but I can’t see the Gators defense playing well enough against Mac Jones and Alabama’s offense. The last good QB they faced, Kellen Mond, torched the Gators defense, and MJ is a far better QB than Mond. Perhaps the Gators defense will improve with less injuries and starters being back on the field after recovering from the virus by the time the SEC championship game comes around.
Similarly, I’m worried about how well Franks will fare against our secondary in next week’s game. It’ll be a good test to see if the defense can step up against a good QB.
I agree about being worried about Bama for sure. I’m also worried about Arkansas as a team cause they are well coached and play sound football. I’m not honestly that worried about Franks. Grantham knows everything about him at this point. And while you could possibly say the same thing about Franks knowing Grantham, but Franks doesn’t get to call the plays. Also, I think it’s easier for Grantham to disguise a look to make Franks think one thing and do another.
As we all know, Franks sometimes let his emotions affect how he plays. You wonder if he’s going to come into this game a little too hyped up.
Another interesting aspect of Feleipe playing against the Gators: All the Gators’ starting DBs have played tons of snaps against him in practice and scrimmages.
Nash: great point. Franks would also know the DB’s from those practices. Probably a wash.
Agreed. The biggest thing is going to be Franks vs the D line. He’s the biggest in-game talker since Chauncey Gardner-Johnson.
The good thing is there’s still some time between now and the sec championship game and a lot can happen to affect either team. If they had to play tomorrow, I think Bama wins fairly easily, but Florida still has time to tighten it up a little more on defense and their offense can compete with anyone.
You could make a case for vandy flipping with Miss St. They beat them all over the field but just turned the game over to them.
You can argue about #2 and 3, but A&M wont be in the SECCG anyway.
I’m not sure how you put anyone other than Texas A&M at #2, given the OBVIOUS – the Aggie defeat of Florida very recently. A&M is definitely the more complete team, Florida is feast or famine.
Don’t see a single comment from any UGA fans. 40 years and counting!
Heh, yeah. 40 years, how embarrassing a drought…
*laughs*
*cries*
Ugh!
lol
Broke: A&M sneaks into the playoffs in the 4 slot and gets mauled by Alabama as is tradition
Woke: A&M gets NY6 bid to Sugar bowl and demolishes a certain orange team from Austin, cementing SEC dominance. Bevo stolen by a group of A&M students and branded once more.
Only time I root for the Ags, and I’d love to see that beat down.
Although the gators lost to A&M, they still deserve to be ahead of them.
Georgia is paper champions like I always say with team full 5 stars the last couple of years and nothing to show for it
This may be the very first Gator SDS article that doesn’t have the standard UGA trolls in the comments section. Where’d ya’ll go?
Seems like a lot of log outs from UGA for 2020. They’ll be back in full force next spring spouting off as usual “how 2021 is their year!”
Alabama vs Florida in the SECCG…
Things are back to normal in the world…
The Aggies (inexplicably) have the #1 rated D in the SEC (even after playing Bama and FL), the #4 passing O, and a rushing attack that is far and away the best in the SEC at 5.2 ypc.
I think theyre a more complete team than FL, and I think you’ll see that in the coming weeks.
Curious as to how you’re ranking defenses, I’m assuming it’s “total defense” aka yards allowed per game which is widely regarded as a poor identifier for defensive quality. But yes TAMU is first in the SEC in that stat which is basically useless.
Give me the UGA, Arkansas, and Kentucky defenses ahead of A&M’s. Possibly auburn and Bama as well.
FL in the SEC CCG- yep congratulations on being located in the Eastern time zone…
I agree, Florida deserves to be in the SEC Championship, while for Bama it is obvious…
Texas A&M is good, possibly very, very good. But anyone who at any time judges a team’s quality based upon a beatdown of South Carolina is not only violating all the rules of good journalism, but also those of logic and reason. We suck. We suck bad. We make everyone we play look like the king of the world. Except Auburn. Thank God for the War Eagles.
Gators are still better.