Week 10 of the 2024 SEC football season only added to the chaos within the league. Texas A&M's loss to South Carolina gives each team at least one conference loss. This is a wide-open conference title race. How do I power rank the teams going into the stretch run?
SEC Power Rankings after Week 10
As we're now in the final month of the regular season, here's my power rankings...
1. Georgia Bulldogs
Carson Beck interceptions are literally the only thing keeping Georgia from being the obvious best team in the country. But unfortunately those picks keep them a questionable team (by their standards). They stay on top for now, though.
2. Texas Longhorns (up from 3)
Texas got to sit back last week and watch their rivals tumble, so that must have been nice.
3. Tennessee Volunteers (up from 4)
The offense still isn't fully there, but Tennessee has done enough to keep winning since their slip-up in Fayetteville. The defense is elite. If the offense can return to above-average levels, this team becomes a real threat.
4. Alabama Crimson Tide (up from 5)
Bama got their annual break proceeding the LSU game (so nice of the SEC to always give such an impoverished program a favor with their schedule...). We'll see if they're less sporadic coming off the bye.
5. Texas A&M Aggies (down from 2)
Texas A&M getting dog-walked in Columbia one week after taking down LSU was about as on-brand as you could've imagined, frankly for both programs. Suddenly, this team looks less for real, even though there's still a SEC title path.
6. LSU Tigers
LSU, like Bama, had a bye (again, kudos for the SEC for lending a helping hand to the teams who need it most). Hope they've figured out how to stop a running QB because if they haven't, uh oh...
7. Ole Miss Rebels
This is where I'm oddly conflicted because technically power rankings don't necessarily have to reflect win/loss record or even head-to-head results. So after smashing Arkansas in Fayetteville, there's a case for having the Rebs in the Top-5. But for now, I will give some benefit to the teams with equal records, notably LSU who did beat them.
8. Missouri Tigers
Bye week for the Tigers, who ideally have gotten a bit healthier ahead of their rekindled rivalry with Oklahoma.
9. Vanderbilt Commodores (up from 10)
I could really argue Vandy over Mizzou despite the head-to-head win for the Tigers, but I've got to be consistent for at least one more week. We have bowl-eligible Vanderbilt! Oh, and we have a fun stat about Diego Pavia and a certain coach that you'll read shortly...
10. South Carolina Gamecocks (up from 11)
Williams-Brice Stadium: where fringe-SEC contenders go to die. As mentioned earlier, the Gamecocks whipping up on a highly-ranked Aggies team was on brand. And now South Carolina has done this really fun thing where, by beating A&M, their fans are going to be even madder when they lose to Vanderbilt on Saturday.
11. Florida Gators (up from 12)
Again, Florida actually doesn't suck. They could have beaten Georgia. But that's another "could've" for Billy Napier. And now they're possibly down to their third-string QB needing two more wins to make a bowl. It's not a total given Napier is gone, however.
12. Arkansas Razorbacks (down from 9)
Arkansas remains my ping-pong team. Just when you think "hey, they're pretty good", they go and lose 63-31 at home to an Ole Miss team that hadn't been scoring on anyone. The Hogs should still make a bowl, but will that save Pittman's job?
13. Oklahoma Sooners
Hey, Oklahoma did what it's supposed to against a FCS team. And for what it's worth, some SEC programs don't know how to beat Maine...
14. Auburn Tigers
Hugh Freeze is now 0-3 all-time against Diego Pavia, coaching at two different schools and with Pavia playing at two different schools. And I think that's just a beautiful stat.
15. Kentucky Wildcats
Kentucky was leading Tennessee at the half and was within three points in the 4th quarter, and then Mark Stoops did what he always does against Tennessee. He lost.
16. Mississippi State Bulldogs
Good job winning a game, Bulldogs. It was against UMass, and you had to comeback from being down 10-0. But you won. And that's all I'll say about that.