At this point in the season, the SEC is pretty much set. There are a few wrinkles to iron out, but unless there are some major upsets, things probably change only slightly from now until the final week of the season.
So without further adieu, here is how I stack the SEC from 1 to 14 with just two games left to play.
#1 Alabama Crimson Tide (Last Week: 1)
The Bulldogs looked like they were about to pull off the upset, but then the last two minutes of the game went in an all too familiar pattern for Mississippi State fans.
#2 Auburn Tigers (Last Week: #3)
One of only a few changes in this week’s Power Rankings. They have one more loss than Georgia, but when you throttle a team the way Auburn did the Georgia Bulldogs, you deserve to move ahead of them. Plus, this team has a legitimate chance to upset the Tide for the SEC West.
#3 Georgia Bulldogs (Last Week: #2)
All Georgia had to do was win all their regular season games and then play Alabama close in the SEC Championship and the Bulldogs would have found themselves in the College Football Playoff. Now, they likely have to win the SEC against a tough Alabama team or an Auburn team that just blasted them to the moon.
#4 Mississippi St. Bulldogs (Last Week: #4)
The Bulldogs looked great, but they came up short against the Tide. Now it’s just a matter of taking care of business in the last two games with a great shot to get to the Citrus Bowl.
#5 LSU Tigers (Last Week: #5)
The Tigers can easily get to 9-3 despite losing to Troy. What a strange world this is.
#6 South Carolina Gamecocks (Last Week: #6)
South Carolina might win 9 games this season, though 8 seems more likely. Some might be surprised by this, but there are some solid pieces on the South Carolina team.
#7 Texas A&M Aggies (Last Week: #7)
Can Texas A&M get to 8-4 with games against Ole Miss and LSU? The game against Ole Miss feels like a toss up, but Texas A&M has never done anything against LSU. It’s hard to see that changing this year.
#8 Kentucky Wildcats (Last Week: #8)
An upset of Georgia this week would lead to the real possibility of a 9-3 season for Kentucky. I don’t think that happens, but stranger things have occurred in the past.
#9 Missouri Tigers (Last Week: #9)
Drew Lock is doing everything he can to lead this Missouri team to a bowl game.
#10 Ole Miss Rebels (Last Week: #11)
How good is Ole Miss with Jordan Ta’amu playing quarterback. I don’t think any of us really know based on the teams they have played. We might have a little bit of a better idea when they play Texas A&M this weekend, but even then we might not find out until they play against Mississippi State.
#11 Arkansas Razorbacks (Last Week: #10)
Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium can seat just over 76,000 people. There might not be 40,000 there when the Bulldogs head to Fayetteville this week. Some will say they should be ahead of the Rebels because they beat them. If it had been an emphatic win, I’d agree, but I have less confidence in the Razorbacks than I do the Rebels right now.
#12 Florida Gators (Last Week: #12)
The Florida and Florida State game is going to be absolutely awful.
#13 Vanderbilt Commodores (Last Week: #13)
Vanderbilt and Tennessee going to play to see who stays out of the SEC East cellar and winless in two weeks? Kinda feels that way.
#14 Tennessee Volunteers (Last Week: #14)
Congrats to the Vols for firing your coach about 3 or 4 weeks too late.
That’s this week’s rankings. We’ll be back at it next week.