This week’s rankings get a shakeup at the top of the conference. Arkansas, Georgia, Ole Miss and Tennessee all finished the season strong while several others (namely every team in our Basement), did not.

Here are our SEC power rankings as the regular season has come to an end:

Note: () by each team indicates whether teams moved up, down or remained unchanged.

BASEMENT

14. South Carolina Gamecocks (-)
13. Missouri Tigers (-)
12. Vanderbilt Commodores (-)
11. Kentucky Wildcats (-)

As I mentioned earlier, none of these four teams were able to cap their seasons with victories although South Carolina showed a lot of heart in taking No. 1 Clemson down to the wire. The Gamecocks put a scare in the Tigers, who came out of Columbia with a 37-32 win. Somehow, offensively challenged South Carolina finished with just over 400 yards of total offense against the 7th-ranked defense in the FBS. Clemson’s 402 yards allowed was second only to the 437 yards that Notre Dame put up on the Tigers earlier in the season. Kentucky looked as if it was cruising to a win over Louisville after taking an early 21-0 lead, but that was before the Cardinals outscored the Wildcats 38-3 the rest of the way. As a result, UK finishes the season having lost six of its last seven games and falls one win shy of a bowl game. Likewise, Missouri also lost six of its last seven after a sluggish 28-3 loss to Arkansas on Thursday. The Tigers finished the season with six games in which it didn’t score in double figures, tied with Kent State for the most such games among FBS teams. Vanderbilt dropped four of its last five, and the last two outings weren’t pretty. The Commodores were crushed 25-0 at home to Texas A&M before their calling card, the defense, came apart in a 53-28 loss to Tennessee.

WHAT DO WE MAKE OF YOU?

10. Auburn Tigers (-)
9. Texas A&M Aggies (-)
8. Georgia Bulldogs (-)

Auburn lost four of six to close the season, although three of those four losses came by one possession and to good teams in Arkansas, Ole Miss and Georgia. The Tigers entered the fourth quarter with the Crimson Tide only down 19-13, but Alabama proved once again that it’s built for fourth quarters. Still, Auburn played Alabama much closer than anyone expected. Texas A&M‘s glaring weakness was too much for it to overcome in its 19-7 loss to LSU. The Aggies gave up 244 yards on the ground to a Tigers team that feeds off its success there. Meanwhile, the QB issues continue as Kyle Allen was ineffective, finishing 15-for-28, 161 yards, a touchdown and an interception. It has to be a frustrating season for the Aggies’ offense, which has a litany of weapons but not a great way to get them the ball consistently. Georgia responded from its 27-3 loss to Florida by finishing the regular season on a four-game winning streak. However, with the exception of its dominating win over Kentucky, the other three wins were rather shaky, including a 23-17 OT win over Georgia Southern at home.

SECOND TIER

7. Tennessee Volunteers (-)
6. LSU Tigers (-)
5. Arkansas Razorbacks (-)
4. Mississippi State Bulldogs (-)

Mississippi State finished the regular season the worst way you can finish one in Starkville: a blowout loss to Ole Miss. The Bulldogs’ firepower was no match for that of the Rebels, who won 38-27 but led by scores of 28-3 and 38-13 in the contest. As a result, MSU finishes the regular season 8-4, with all four of those losses coming against the only four teams it faced that was ranked at the time of the contest (LSU, Texas A&M, Alabama and Ole Miss). As much as Hail State has improved under coach Dan Mullen, it has to do a better job of winning the big games consistently. Arkansas went 5-1 down the stretch with its only loss coming to Mississippi State in a 51-50 shootout. The Razorbacks’ balanced offense will be tough for anybody to handle in their bowl game. LSU snapped its three-game losing streak with a 19-7 win over Texas A&M, which helped to keep Les Miles in Baton Rouge in the process. It was an inspired effort by the Tigers, but it would’ve been nice to see QB Brandon Harris put together a better performance while being tested by a good pass rush. Tennessee has felt pretty good about itself since its heartbreaking loss to Arkansas to start October. The Vols finished the season by winning five straight and six of their last seven, with the only defeat coming in a 19-14 loss to Alabama. Tennessee pounded a stingy Vanderbilt defense for 331 rushing yards and 523 total yards, both of those totals being the best for UT since its season-opening win over Bowling Green.

BEST OF THE BEST

3. Florida Gators (-1)
2. Ole Miss Rebels (+1)
1. Alabama Crimson Tide (-)

Just like Mississippi State, Florida finished the regular season the worst way you can finish one in Gainesville: a blowout loss to Florida State. That’s one of several reasons why it’s hard to put Florida in this category with the way it’s looked over the last four games, but the Gators are still in position to finish as the conference’s best team if they can put together a stellar 60 minutes worth of football, and that counts for something. However, we have to drop Florida below an Ole Miss team that it beat 38-10 at the start of October because both teams look drastically different now. In hindsight, Ole Miss came within a fourth-and-25 from having a rematch with Florida in the SEC Championship Game. Outside of that painful loss to Arkansas, the Rebels have won four of their last five and are coming off a mighty impressive 38-27 win over the Bulldogs in the Egg Bowl. Over the last three games, Chad Kelly is 64-for-98 passing (65.3 completion percentage) for 884 yards, 7 TDs and no interceptions while rushing 34 times for 265 yards and 6 TDs. Now, Ole Miss will look to rectify its humiliating 42-3 loss to TCU in the Peach Bowl last season. It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that Alabama was challenged the way it was against Auburn. It’s a rivalry game, which is the same reason South Carolina gave Clemson its best shot and nearly derailed its entire season. The Crimson Tide still finished strong behind this animal named Derrick Henry that can get 46 carries and perform better as the game goes on, that doesn’t bode well for anyone.