Every Tuesday, we rank the SEC and Big Ten teams in one power poll. The order of the SEC teams is based on the Week 7 SDS SEC Power Poll.

Two story lines got delayed last week by Michigan’s win against Penn State: Brady Hoke’s demise and James Franklin’s ascension. Iowa will claw into the Top 25 if it beats Maryland on the road this weekend.

In other words, the Big Ten is pretty boring right now. Michigan and Ohio State both lost early. That game is a November division contest rather than a Big Ten championship this year, and without Braxton Miller, there isn’t the same sense of anticipation.

Michigan State must continue to win and hope that the four SEC West teams leave each other bloody.

In turn, the SEC would love to see the Buckeyes and Spartans stumble unexpectedly, as it would boost the chances of a second SEC team making the playoff.

The SEC claims eight of the top 10 teams in the combined power rankings this week.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF EPICENTER

It’s far from guaranteed, but there’s an excellent chance at least one of these teams will make the inaugural playoff. Each of them must travel East to face a Top 10 team from the neighboring state. If they both handle those games, the Egg Bowl winner will need to dispatch the SEC East champion in Atlanta.

1. Mississippi State
2. Ole Miss

NO ROOM FOR ERROR

Auburn must face Ole Miss, Georgia and Alabama on the road, not to mention Texas A&M at home. The Tigers must win all of those, plus the SEC championship. Tough, huh? Each of these teams faces a variation of that. Michigan State may have the best chance to make the playoff out of all these teams, basically needing to beat Ohio State and then win the Big Ten championship to have a solid argument.

3. Auburn
4. Alabama
5. Michigan State

FLOATING IN SPACE

Whereas Alabama and Auburn are contenders in the SEC West, these two teams also have one loss, but expectations are lower. Georgia’s defense and quarterback don’t seem good enough to win a national championship, and even in a depleted SEC East, it’s likely the Bulldogs lose a second game in the regular season. If not, they’ll be significant underdogs in Atlanta. Ohio State, meanwhile, quietly has gotten better since losing to Virginia Tech soon after QB Braxton Miller’s season-ending injury. But even an upset against the Spartans may not be enough.

6. Ohio State
7. Georgia

DECENT NOW, BETTER IN 2015

I expect the Aggies to drop a third consecutive game this weekend and slip out of the Top 25. These are your bottom three in the SEC West. They’ll get credit for playing in the toughest division in football, but the truth, though some don’t yet believe it, is that none of these teams would win the SEC East this season either. LSU and Arkansas straddle the line between decent and mediocre, and A&M isn’t built to beat a true Top 15 team.

8. Texas A&M
9. LSU
10. Arkansas
11. Wisconsin

WYSIWYG

What You See Is What You Get, for all you non-nerds. The difference between these teams and the three below them is that we know what they are from week to week. They’re pretty solid if they stay within themselves. They’re limited, but pretty consistent with results.

12. Nebraska
13. Iowa
14. Kentucky
15. Rutgers
16. Florida
17. Minnesota

WILDLY INCONSISTENT

South Carolina can beat Georgia and lose to Kentucky and Missouri. Northwestern can lose to Northern Illinois, struggle with Western Illinois, then crush Penn State and clip Wisconsin. Missouri can explode to a 3-0 start, then go 1-2 in its next three with a one-point win. What gives?

18. Missouri
19. Northwestern
20. South Carolina

BIG TEN WASTELAND

Sorry, Tennessee. I know this isn’t a compliment, but you’d fit in well with that other conference this season. Ugh is an appropriate reaction. By the way, Penn State is falling back to about what I suspected they’d be in 2014. The Nittany Lions are lucky. They could’ve and maybe should’ve lost to UCF and Rutgers, but orchestrated game-winning drives late. That’s a .500 team, give or take a game, that lacks depth and offense.

21. Maryland
22. Michigan
23. Penn State
24. Indiana
25. Tennessee
26. Purdue

PATHETIC EVEN IN VICTORY

See: Vanderbilt’s 21-20 win against an FCS opponent on Saturday. Their combined five wins have come against Youngstown State, Western Kentucky, Massachusetts, Texas State and Charleston Southern.

27. Illinois
28. Vanderbilt