You could attribute it to the weather, and maybe you could attribute it to teams looking ahead to conference play, but Southeastern Conference teams often times looked AWFUL in Week 2 against significantly inferior opponents. That’s reflected in our SEC Power Rankings this week, and for those questioning them, they’re only based on what teams have done.
16. Kentucky
Losing to Ole Miss by a touchdown by itself wouldn’t be a problem, but this follows Mark Stoops’ Wildcats only beating the Toledo Rockets by a touchdown. As a result, they look worse than than anybody in the league for two weeks, and it fuels the notion that Stoops’ program will come undone without the advantage of the structured East schedule he manipulated to his benefit for so many years.
15. Florida
Yes, Billy Napier and the Gators lost to a Group of Five school and have a case to be below Kentucky in our SEC power Rankings, but the South Florida Bulls aren’t your typical Go5 program. UF was closer, both losses were at home, and that Toledo game is enough for us to keep Florida out of the bottom of our SEC Power Rankings, at least for this week.
14. Texas A&M
For two weeks in a row, the Aggies have beatn a Go5 program and failed to cover. Mike Elko’s team will finally get a test this week against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and nobody knows anything about this program yet, but for now, they have to be near the bottom of this list. Defense is becoming a bit of a concern, and Elko’s a defensive guy, so watch out.
13. Arkansas
Taylen Green and Bobby Petrino have helped Sam Pittman look like he should keep his job for two weeks with two blowout wins, most recently beating Butch Jones’ Arkansas State Red Wolves 56-14. Right now, the only thing plagueing this team is not beating a Power Four program to this point, but they’ve certainly looked good against their inferior foes.
12. South Carolina
Sure, the Gamecocks beat the Virginia Tech Hokies away from home, but VT is now 0-2, and they struggled against the South Carolina State Bulldogs this past weekend, trailing 3-0 after the first quarter. That’s enough for us to keep them down here in our SEC Power Rankings, but for now, Shane Beamer’s team is fine, and LaNorris Sellers is still elite.
11. Vanderbilt
Just like South Carolina, the Commodores’ signature win is over VT. Unlike South Caroilna, Vandy faced VT on the road, not at a neutral site, and they looked elite against their FCS foe, Charleston-Southern. Those things combined with just beating VT by more is enough to keep Clark Lea and Diego Pavia above South Caroilna, but the two face off this week in a highly underrated matchup, so watch out.
10. Ole Miss
Lane Kiffin’s Rebels should have beaten Kentucky by more than a touchdown, even if it was a road game. This isn’t just based on last year or what we project from these two schools. Kentucky is a bad team evidenced by its opener against Toledo. As a result, in a power ranking, a road win over a Power Four school alone won’t help Ole Miss. They needed to look better than they did.
9. Georgia
Okay, so the Bulldogs needed to look better than they did too, and I can listen to them deserving to be below Ole Miss. However, their hideous 28-6 win over the Austin Peay Governors was significantly impacted by poor weather, so they get a bit of a break, and on pure talent, Kirby Smart has the best team in the league. This should be the week he proves it.
8. Alabama
Given how the Florida State Seminoles looked this past weekend in scoring 77 points, albeit against an FCS school, the Crimson Tide don’t look as bad for losing to them on the road. That they beat the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks 77-3 suggests we maybe shouldn’t have freaked out so early about Kalen DeBoer and what he’s building. He’s not Nick Saban, but he’s a good coach.
7. Mississippi State
Jeff Lebby and the Bulldogs are cashing in on a very favorable schedule. They get a road game against a horrible Group of Five school with a chance to look ugly and be humble but still win, and that refocuses them to beat the Arizona State Sun Devils, who may be overrated. Now, with an FCS and another home Go5 game coming, they’re on track to be 4-0, and the momentum may just build.
6. Missouri
Eli Drinkwitz once again proves he’s able to replace his quarterback and keep his offense rolling. There are questions about the Kansas Jayhawks this year, and Mizzou was at home, but the Tigers were scoring so quickly that we had to move them up our SEC Power Rankings. Once again, they could be a dangerous team made to look better with their schedule.
5. Texas
Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns were overrated to start the season, and they still have a lot to prove, but their loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes was also overblown. They lost by one score to the defending national champions on the road. This team showed it’s fine with Arch Manning with a 38-7 win over the San Jose State Spartans, and there’s no real reason to panic yet.
4. LSU
All of a sudden, there are a lot of questions about Brian Kelly’s Tigers. LSU looked horrible in its win over the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, and it’s resting on a signature win over the Clemson Tigers, but they struggled to put away the Troy Trojans last Satruday. Still, this team is 2-0 with a road win over a Power Five school, and wild weather across the south may have affected them like Georgia.
3. Oklahoma
Brent Venables and the Sooners controlled the game from start to finish against the Michigan Wolverines and played his style. That was enough for OU to suggest that they’re back, and the offense with John Mateer coming from the Washington State Cougars along with his offensive coordinator there in Ben Arbuckle certainly looks like it was the right move.
2. Tennessee
After easily dismantling the Syracuse Orange, the Tennessee Vols returned to putting up Josh Heupel video game numbers against lesser competition by dropping 72 points on the ETSU Bucs over the weekend. Joey Aguilar has better command of this offense than Nico Iamaleava ever did, and the show he put on alone is enough to suggest this team could be elite.
1. Auburn
The Jackson Arnold and OU divorce is working for both sides. Hugh Freeze’s Tigers aren’t here because they beat the Ball State Cardinals 42-3, although not winning ugly helped. What is really key, though, is that the Baylor Bears look like a more impressive win after beating the SMU Mustangs, and Auburn handled them on the road in Week 1, which is why, for now, they top our SEC Power Rankings.
