It’s always hard to do power rankings after the first week, as we still have to take previous production into account. After all, power rankings are all about who should be favored on a neutral field based on most recent production. Our SEC Power Rankings after Week 1 are subject to change due to that criteria, but here’s a breakdown of how the league stands right now.

16. Kentucky

Sure, it was against a team that went 8-5 last year, but there is no way the Wildcats should have only beaten the Rockets by eight points, even if Vegas called a close game. Mark Stoops’ prorgram looks like it’s unraveling, and this could be another unfortunate step in that process. Beating the Ole Miss Rebels again seems highly unlikely next week, but we’ll see.

15. Mississippi State

The bottom two teams in our SEC Power Rankings have marquee home games next week. After a 2-10 season in Jeff Lebby’s first year, the Bulldogs didn’t alleviate any anxiety with the way they played on Saturday in their 34-17 win at the Southern Miss Golden Eagles. However, with the Arizona State Sun Devils coming to town, they have a chance to make a huge statement this week.

14. Arkansas

Sam Pittman and the Razorbacks still seem to be unraveling, but they at least took advantage of their easy home opener and beat the Alabama A&M Bulldogs 52-7. Hogs quarterback Taylen Green looked like a Heisman contender with six touchdowns, and the Bobby Petrino offense could be undergoing a renaissance. It could continue with the Arkansas State Red Wolves this week.

13. Vanderbilt

Diego Pavia has at least backed up all his talking for one week after the Commodores beat the Charleston-Southern Buccaneers 45-3. Now, though, they have a much greater test as they get set to visit the Virginia Tech Hokies. Clark Lea has done a good job building this program, but to return to a bowl, this will be a crucial matchup and show where they belong among the lower-tier league teams.

12. Oklahoma

Beating the Illinois State Salukis 35-3 is not going to alleviate any concerns about the program Brent Venables is running with the Sooners, but Washington State Cougars transfer quarterback John Mateer did look efficient. OU now gets to host the Michigan Wolverines, however, to truly prove what type of program they have after a disspointing debut in the league last year.

11. Missouri

Eli Drinkwitz continues his trend of the Tigers racking up points against lesser competition and cashing in on an easy enough schedule to always reach nine or 10 wins. Mizzou beat the Central Arkansas Bears 61-6 last Thursday while breaking in a new quarterback and looked elite in the process. The Kansas Jayhawks this week will be another chance to prove their worth.

10. Florida

Billy Napier’s team remains a giant wildcard for the year, especially given D.J. Lagway’s health, but the Gators were at least off to a good start by beating the Long Island Sharks 55-0 over the weekend. That’s not going to do anything for them in our SEC Power Rankings right now, though. They’ve got to prove a lot more before moving up this list.

9. Alabama

Kalen DeBoer and the Crimson Tide led us all to believe they would return to the Nick Saban era once they moved on from Jalen Milroe and DeBoer had his quarterback to run his system, which should have been Ty Simpson. Instead, they lost 31-17 to a Florida State Seminoles team that was 2-10 last year. That’s a major concern and had to knock them down here to start the year.

8. Auburn

Hugh Freeze may be golfing a bit too much to be recruiting well, but he certainly led the Tigers to an impressive win to start the season. Jackson Arnold, in his new environment, looked like a Heisman contener as he led Auburn to a two-touchdown win over the Baylor Bears on the road Saturday night. If they keep that up, they’ll shoot up this list before long.

7. Tenessee

Josh Heupel and the Vols proved they weren’t going to let Nico Iamaleava hold their offense back. With new wrinkles and Joey Aguilar manning the unit, they dominated the Syracuse Orange 45-26 in a game that wasn’t really even that close. Beating an ACC team like that on a neutral site is a great start to the season for this team, but it needs to do more to be higher.

6. Texas A&M

Sure, the Volunteers played a tougher game on paper than the Aggies, but Mike Elko’s team proved it had reasons to be better to start the season, and beating the UTEP Miners 42-24 is enough to keep them here in our SEC Power Rankings for now. Marcel Reed is a very good quarterback, and this could be the year they finally start winning those big games.

5. Ole Miss

Lane Kiffin’s Rebels had to replace a ton of talent, and beating the Georgia State Panthers shouldn’t have offset that, but they won 63-7, so things are looking good for the program right now. Ole Miss once again will have a fun offense to watch. The questions will be about their consistency and what they can do on defense, and we’ll find out more about both this weekend when they visit UK.

4. Texas

Honestly, people are overreacting to the Longhorns losing to the Ohio State Buckeyes. They lost on the road by only a touchdown to the defending national champions. Sure, Arch Manning struggled, but who wouldn’t in that situation? That’s not enough of a reason for us to drop this team too far down our SEC Power Rankings. Steve Sarkisian’s group can still be elite.

3. South Carolina

They should have been a top two team in everybody’s power rankings before the season started, and with a 24-11 win over the Virginia Tech Hokies to start the year, the Gamecocks continue to look elite. LaNorris Sellers had to manage the offense more than put up Heisman numbers given the flow of the game, but he did that just fine, proving Shane Beamer’s group could be dangerous.

2. Georgia

Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs faced the Marshall Thundering Herd and shut them up after a lot of offseason talking the team in green did. Georgia won 45-7 and was just being nice. They led 45-0 and allowed a meaningless touchdown in the end. Gunner Stockton still has a lot to prove, but the Dawgs proved they are once again loaded with talent.

1. LSU

Congratulations to Brian Kelly and the Tigers finally getting a signature season-opening win. LSU beat the Clemson Tigers on the road in Death Valley to start the year. Could anybody really debate the fact that they should top our SEC Power Rankings after that one? All of a sudden, LSU is an elite team, and a national championship is in the conversation.