Here are last week’s rankings.
1. Alabama – They’ve whipped everyone all year and then go down to Death Valley on Saturday night, under the gun, and pull one out. They’ll face another tough test (A&M) this week but it will be at home. At this point, I’d place my bets at 5/1 the Tide win another national title.
2. LSU – This is a résumé ranking and not a power ranking, so I thought about moving them down, but the fact is they have beaten South Carolina this year and Texas A&M on the road…and they are the only team to come close to Alabama – and really outplayed them. There is nothing shameful about barely losing that game or the road game to Florida.
3. Georgia – After starting slow they ended up blowing out Ole Miss….holding them to 46 yards rushing. The defense is back and finally living up to their potential. They really only have one signature win, but they’ll get another shot in Atlanta.
4. Florida – How the Gators let Missouri take a 7-0 lead into halftime and have the game go down to the final minute with the benefit of 4 INT is a mystery. They were uninspired after the loss to UGA, but they did get another win and finish their SEC schedule at 7-1…a bounce back year for sure.
5. South Carolina – No game this week for the Cocks. They host Arkansas next week and try to avenge bad losses in each of the last two years. I rank them ahead of A&M because their win over Georgia is better than anything the Aggies have done.
6. Texas A&M – Johnny Manziel is quite a player. And Kevin Sumlin is a pretty darn good coach, one that has elevated A&M to this status. These top 6 teams are pretty stout.
7. Mississippi State – Despite being derailed the last two weeks, the Bulldogs are still 7-2 and have a better résumé than the bottom half of the league. It will be extremely tough to bounce back at LSU, but they’ll need to maintain their mental toughness to keep from letting the rest of the season get away from them.
8. Vanderbilt – A 40-0 SEC win? Who thought that was possible, oh wait, they beat Ole Miss 30-7 last year. With 3 SEC wins and five overall the ‘Dores are in great shape for a bowl.
9. Mississippi – The Rebs hung tough in the 1st half in Athens but were unable to muster much after that. The battle for 8th place, and possibly the right to step into the top half of the SEC will be in Oxford next week.
10. Arkansas – The Hogs got a win, but it may be their last. A bowl game is a long shot: at South Carolina, at Mississippi State, vs. LSU.
11. Missouri – They hung tough at Florida but couldn’t get it done. James Franklin is not very good in the SEC. They have to win at Tennessee next week to have a shot at going 6-6.
12. Tennessee – I know MSU let Troy back in the game, at Troy, but UT had to battle tooth and nail to beat the Trojans in Knoxville. Dooley’s pink slip is already written, they just haven’t handed it to him yet. He’ll have to pull out a miracle and start looking legit the last three games to keep his job.
13. Auburn – A win! Albeit over New Mexico State, and they were only up 7-0 at halftime. But they did pull away for a 42-7 victory. UGA up next.
14. Kentucky – Joker Philips has been fired. 1-9. Ouch.
SEC Standings
WEST
Alabama, 6-0
Texas A&M, 4-2
LSU, 3-2
Mississippi State, 3-2
Mississippi, 2-3
Arkansas, 2-3
Auburn, 0-6
EAST
Florida, 7-1
Georgia, 6-1
South Carolina, 5-2
Vanderbilt, 3-3
Missouri, 1-5
Tennessee, 0-5
Kentucky, 0-7
For the 3rd straight week Alabama will be facing the 2nd place team in the West. It’s like a different challenger each week who they knock off to retain their belt (although I guess LSU actually holds the SEC West belt). For the 2nd straight week Mississippi State plays for 3rd place.
Down the stretch there are a few things I find very interesting…
- Will MSU be able to regroup and finish 9-3?
- Will Tennessee play up to their potential and get to 7-5, and will it be enough to save Derek Dooley’s job?
- Can Vanderbilt go 8-4 with the rest of their schedule filled with winnable games?
- Sitting at 5 wins with four games to go, will Ole Miss be able to get a 6th win and make a bowl?
- Can Georgia continue to play tough defense and make a push to challenge Alabama in the SEC Championship Game?