SEC Power Rankings after Week 8
Of course. Everything we thought we knew about the SEC before Week 8 was wrong. Vandy is awful? Well, not always. Mizzou is underrated? Ha. Alabama is invincible? Negatory. Fortunately, our SEC Power Rankings attempt to wrangle some sanity out of the craziness.
14. Arkansas (2-5, lost to Auburn 51-10)
A week after a tough loss to Kentucky, Arkansas pretty much took this one on the chin, and looks likely to be consigned to the basement for the rest of the season.
13. Mississippi (3-5, lost to Texas A&M 24-17)
Frustrating loss by the Rebels as they outgained A&M by 70 yards, broke even on turnovers, rushed for 253 yards, but came up short on the scoreboard. With Auburn and LSU left on the schedule, it’s unlikely to get much better.
12. Vanderbilt (2-5, won against Missouri 21-14)
A week after this ranking — and most observers — had given up and buried this Vanderbilt team, the Commodores beat Missouri as a three-touchdown underdog. Is this the fluke or was it the blowout loss to UNLV? Until we’re sure, we’re staying cautious.
11. Kentucky (3-4, lost to Georgia 21-0)
The good news is that UK held Georgia scoreless for the first half — the first time somebody did that to UGA since 1991. The bad news is that Kentucky’s own offense might have to play for 28 years to score on Georgia.
10. Tennessee (2-5, lost to Alabama, 35-13)
Yes, UT lost to Alabama and moved up a spot. Unlike the teams behind them, the Vols are still fighting and showing signs of real improvement from week to week.
9. Mississippi State (3-4, lost to LSU 36-13)
This game wasn’t even as close as the score. After State drew within 9-7 midway through the second quarter, LSU just opened the game up. Garrett Shrader gains some valuable experience, but the Bulldogs just aren’t that good.
8. Missouri (5-2, lost to Vanderbilt 21-14)
Just when we were getting convinced that the Tigers were a sleeping giant who was underrated because of their inexplicable loss against Wyoming, Missouri lost at Vandy. The Tigers had a real shot to be first in the East … but not now.
7. South Carolina (3-4, lost to Florida 38-27)
It did not translate into victory, but the Gamecocks led a top-10 team in the fourth quarter for the second week in a row. South Carolina looks like a different team from a month ago, and would be a rare 6-6 team that truly earned a bowl game … if it can nab three more wins.
6. Texas A&M (4-3, won against Mississippi 24-17)
It wasn’t a thing of beauty, but SEC road wins aren’t something to second-guess. The Aggies grabbed a crucial one in Oxford, and will parlay that into a middle-of-the-pack finish in the SEC West.
5. Georgia (6-1, won against Kentucky 21-0)
Their game was played in a monsoon, but the Bulldogs spent two and a half quarters figuratively and literally grinding in the mud. They pulled away from UK late, but it wasn’t the kind of inspired effort Georgia needs to move up the top echelon of the SEC.
4. Florida (7-1, won against South Carolina 38-27)
There’s no way around it — the Gators benefited from a curious series of no-calls which helped them escape their matchup with South Carolina. It was unclear that Florida played better against the Gamecocks than Georgia did but sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.
3. Auburn (6-1, won against Arkansas 51-10)
This looked like a potentially dominant team working back on track. Yes, Arkansas is bad … but by moving past their loss at Florida, the Tigers readied themselves for a much bigger challenge in Week 9 in Death Valley.
2. Alabama (7-0, won against Tennessee 35-13)
We’ve avoided moving the Crimson Tide down. The defense has been hit and miss, and after the injury to Tua Tagovailoa, the offense suddenly looked fairly pedestrian. When all cylinders are hitting, Alabama is still potentially the best team in the country. But Tagovailoa’s health is a significant question, and until we know he’s OK, we’re going to make the move.
1.LSU (7-0, won against Mississippi State 36-13)
They’ve answered the bell every week, and at this point, there are fewer questions with the Tigers than the Tide. They may prove us wrong, but after Week 8, we’re making the change at the top. Will it last?
“It was unclear that Florida played better against the Gamecocks than Georgia did…”
Seriously? Take away the two TDs associated with the no calls, and take away South Carolina’s late touchdown against Florida’s 2s and 3s, and Florida still wins the game by four. In regulation.
If it was only that simple, SC had a four point lead before the 75 yard go ahead was gifted. Yes FL has the W on paper, but the game will be surrounded by what ifs, FL and GA can settle it in two weeks.
Yeah, like what if USC was called for the PIs that stopped a couple UF drives?
What if USC was not gifted a 1st down on a spot that gave them an extra 1/2 yard in the first half?
What if the USC Left tackle was actually called for a number of holds where he took down the UF defender?
See, it works both ways.
Go back and watch the game with out the denim Jorts colored glasses and be honest with yourself. If you don’t have time simply look at the stats from the game, including the penalties and tell me the game was called both ways. Just take the W and enjoy, but please don’t attempt to argue the W didn’t come with a strong dose of help from the officials.
Clearly you cant go back and watch the game withoug your cock glasses so please stop being such a whiney lil b*tch.
@ben not whining at all and the only little b*tch in here is you. You got the W you should enjoy it, but at least be man enough to admit the officiating helped FL a h3ll of a lot more than SC. If you are too lazy to rewatch the game look at the stat lines, SC controlled the game from the get go. But I’m sure you won’t because you are too much of an insecure little b*tch to admit your team got away with one.
Its about time.
Hopefully the Tua injury isn’t serious and a week or two of rest will have him ready to go… I’m sure Saban isn’t going to let anyone know if he can go or not until the first snap of the LSU game though…
Putting auburn in front of Florida is inexplicable.
I know, right. We have been lucky, have no offense, have no running game, have no business being in the top 10, a 4-4 team with a 7-1 record …now lucky again because of officiating… been hearing this BS all season. Never seen so much effort to try and discredit a team’s success before. It’s become comical at this point.
I can explain it…little joe cox is an idiot.
I’m an Auburn graduate and I’d put Florida ahead of Auburn.
How can he justify putting Auburn above UF?
Start with the top, LSU being 1 is right. Regardless of the Tua situation, I do think UT exposed some continuing softness in Bama’s D.
I’m not getting Miss St being ahead of UT after last week’s head to head. I’m also not getting UK being behind UT
That’s a weird point to make in your last two sentences. You might not know this as a Clemson fan, but…State beat UK head to head, and UT lost to UK head to head, and UT beat State head to head. So what’s the right order? There isn’t one.
Flip Florida and Auburn.
Flip SCarolina and Texas A&M.
Flip Kentucky and Tennessee.
Flip MO and MSU. I mean they lost to Vanderbilt. VANDERBILT!
Oh, wait. We lost to the Vols. Never mind.
So MSU held LSU to its lowest point total of the season. Is the MSU defense pretty good–better than Florida–or is the Tiger offense losing steam as the season goes on?
I don’t think anyone would argue that the MSU defense is “pretty good”. So…
I think it’s more of a team not getting up for a non-threat. Didn’t watch the game, but also assumed LSU let off of gas when the game was in hand. LSU had to score all those vs Florida.
Yeah, you didn’t watch the game to guess they “let off the gas.” The game was 9-7 in the 2nd quarter. It wasn’t until the third when LSU went nuts and they didn’t take their foot off the gas.