SEC Power Rankings: Week 5

Have I said there’s a top 2-3 in the SEC and then everyone else? I feel like this gap is getting wider. Arkansas deserves to be #10 or #11 and they are sitting up at 7. LSU should be 14 after losing to Troy, but they’re gonna get Guice back at some point and Missouri and Ole Miss are really, really, really bad. If these teams don’t turn it around I’m going to have to start kicking teams out of the SEC.

I’m going to start adding a little wrinkle as to the number of coaches I think are going to be replaced by the end of the season, right now it’s at 4, but I think it could go higher before we get to December. We’ll see. We even have some candidates for worst coaches in SEC history, which might be a feature we need to run at the end of the season.

When you look at this little smile Ed has in the picture above, I think one thing is going through his mind “Buyout”

14. Missouri (Last Week: 14)

Mizzou took the week off to prepare for Kentucky in Lexington. This one could get weird folks. Mizzou might win if Kentucky can’t get their heads in this game.

13. Ole Miss (Last Week: 13)

Ole Miss got their teeth kicked in and then some by Alabama. With no Freeze and the NCAA on their backs, Ole Miss is a rocket headed straight down.

12. LSU (Last Week: 6)

LSU got John L. Smithed. They couldn’t get anyone they really wanted. They gave a dumb contract to a guy that couldn’t win in the SEC previously. The Tigers didn’t have Guice, but that shouldn’t matter against Troy. They did make a game of it in the 2nd half, but this Saturday at Florida is probably going to be a blood bath.

11. Vanderbilt (Last Week: 12)

Hey good job guys! you hung in there. The score was tied at halftime and everything. Don’t forget, you broke a collar bone, too. Good job!

10. Tennessee (Last Week: 7)

Butch Jones is on the hot seat. See Georgia down at #2 for how statistically bad the Vols looked as they couldn’t get anything going for a sold out crowd in Knoxville. Tennessee fans have pretty much never seemed to think that Butch was the answer, and results like Saturday’s 41-0 loss confirm that in many minds.

9. South Carolina (Last Week: 11)

How do you move up after a loss to Texas A&M? See above Tennessee and LSU’s results from week 5. The Gamecocks led 17-7 in the 3rd quarter, but gave up 17 straight points to close out the game as the Aggies found their running game. The 7, 8 , & 9 spots are all a tossup, so consider the rankings as alphabetical...

8. Kentucky (Last Week: 10)

24-20 looks bad, but Kentucky did just enough to win. You’re allowed to make mistakes against Eastern Michigan that you don’t get to make against SEC opponents.

7. Arkansas (Last Week: 9)

The Hogs once again benefit in the rankings from other teams losing. The bad thing for the Hogs, is they still have 3 teams ranked ahead of them on the schedule and are probably tossups with the teams behind them. The Hogs didn’t blow out the Aggies, but it seemed somewhat clear they took their foot off the gas in the 2nd half.

6. Texas A&M (Last Week: 8)

I guess I have to put the Aggies here. I’m not going to be shocked if they finish ahead of Mississippi State, but it probably won’t happen as the Aggies take on Alabama in Week 6.

5. Mississippi State (Last Week: 5)

I have to feel for Mississippi State. The last time the Bulldogs beat LSU in 2014, they went on to get a number 1 ranking and lost to Alabama by a single score. After a romp a few weeks ago, they definitely felt like this season might be headed for similar things, but quickly came back to earth in Athens and this week got buried under that earth in Auburn. In all fairness, it looks like that will happen to a lot of SEC teams this season.

4. Florida (Last Week: 4)

Florida had their best offensive outing of the season in a win over Vanderbilt (a team up until last week’s Alabama torching, boasted a defense that was very stingy). The 38-24 win did come at a cost as Florida lost Luke Del Rio for the season.

3. Auburn (Last Week: 3)

21-10 at half might make you think you’ve got a chance in a game against Auburn, but the Tiger Eagles have outscored opponents 79-21 in the 2nd half.

2. Georgia (Last Week: 2)

Georgia skunked the Vols in Neyland stadium. The Georgia defense held Vol Quarterbacks to 11/23 for 80 yards 0 TDs and 2 Interceptions. Dormandy had a QBR of 1.6 and Gurantano 3.0. The rushing attack faired no better, 29 carries for 62 yards. Ugly stats for Tennessee, amazing stats for the UGA defense.

1. Alabama (Last Week: 1)

In 2012, #1 Alabama beat Arkansas 52-0 in Fayetteville while Arkansas had a freshman quarterback and John L. Smith as a coach. I think the beatdown the rebels were handed (66-3) may have been worse. Wow. Alabama has sucked all of the power out of the rest of the SEC and emerged stronger than ever.