Here are last week’s rankings.
1. Florida – They’ve got the best résumé in the SEC and the country. They already have four SEC wins, two of them over ranked teams….and a third, A&M, is now ranked and that one was on the road.
2. South Carolina – This is a close 2nd as they are also 4-0 in conference…but three of those wins were against poor teams. That dismantling of Georgia was very, very impressive. They have put their name in the ring as a legit SEC and national title contender.
3. Alabama – The Tide took the week off and lost a couple of spots, but they really haven’t beaten anyone impressive outside the Michigan game, and that was the lowly Big Ten.
4. Mississippi State – The Dawgs haven’t beaten anyone, let’s face it. But they have beaten everyone on their schedule so that is all that matters at this point.
5. Georgia – The loss to USC was bad, but this still have three SEC wins. They’ll take a week off before playing Kentucky and then a chance to redeem themselves vs. Florida.
6. LSU – The Tigers are now half way through the year, 5-1, and we’re still a little unsure how good they are. No big wins, and they’ve struggled on offense the last three weeks.
6. Texas A&M – After their comeback victory in Oxford they are all of the sudden 4-1. Like LSU they haven’t beaten anybody, and they get the tie for their two conference wins.
8. Tennessee – No game for the Vols this week so they are still 3-2, but with no SEC wins. The N.C. State win looks a little better now after they beat Florida State.
9. Vanderbilt – The ‘Dores make a big jump up three spots this week. Beating Missouri on the road was huge for their bowl chances, it could turn their season around and put them back on track for 6-7 wins.
10. Missouri – Still no SEC wins, but they have a win over Arizona State who is 4-1. Things don’t get any easier next week vs. Alabama.
11. Mississippi – If this were a power poll they’d be a couple of spots higher, but here the fact is they haven’t beaten anyone. The A&M game could have ended their SEC losing streak but it didn’t – 16 straight now. They’ll have another shot with Auburn coming to Oxford next week.
12. Arkansas – I’d say very surprisingly UPig showed up on the plains and beat Auburn, 24-7. They have Kentucky, a bye, Ole Miss, then Tulsa in the next four weeks. Believe it or not they could go to 5-4 before their closing stretch at South Carolina, MSU and LSU.
13. Auburn – That was a horrible loss to Arkansas this week. Gene Chizik is officially on the hot seat as this team is pathetic on offense. The only thing keeping them out of the cellar is that their losses haven’t been quite as bad as Kentucky’s.
14. Kentucky – Back at the bottom, and likely to stay for the rest of the year. On top of having less talent than everyone in the SEC they have the injury bug.
SEC Standings
WEST
Alabama, 2-0
Mississippi State, 2-0
Texas A&M, 2-1
LSU, 1-1
Arkansas, 1-2
Mississippi, 0-2
Auburn, 0-3
EAST
Florida, 4-0
South Carolina, 4-0
Georgia, 3-1
Vanderbilt, 1-2
Tennessee, 0-2
Kentucky, 0-3
Missouri, 0-3
I have to admit I’m a little shocked at how great South Carolina looked this week. Their big win and LSU’s loss sets up a very interesting game next week with the Gamecocks going to Baton Rouge at night. USC clearly looks like the better team in Week 6 but a letdown will be a major factor as well as being in Death Valley and facing a LSU team who is likely to be very hungry after losing to Florida.
There looks to be a large gap between the top and bottom half of the conference. But we’ll see where Tennessee belongs next week when they come to Starkville. Hopefully the Bulldogs can keep the current path up and further the gap between the top and bottom half.