Several SEC matchups this past weekend have led to some shake-ups in the rankings, although the top spot remains unchanged.
- Alabama (Last week: 1)
This might finally be the year when Alabama’s offense is as good, if not better, than its defense, which is absolutely terrifying. The Crimson Tide torched the Arkansas defense all day Saturday, to the tune of 517 yards of total offense. All of the Vandy faithful will be ‘Bama fans this weekend, with a matchup against the No. 9 Vols coming up.
- Texas A&M (Last week: 2)
The Aggies did everything they could to throw their lead away against Tennessee this past weekend but ultimately escaped with the win, 45-38. A&M gets the weekend off as it looks ahead to a decisive showdown with the top-ranked Crimson Tide on October 22.
- Ole Miss (Last week: 4)
The Rebels move up in the rankings despite not playing a game this past Saturday, thanks to the Tennessee loss. Moving forward, Ole Miss will hope for quarterback Chad Kelly to make headlines for different reasons than he did this weekend.
- Auburn (Last week: 7)
Auburn’s dominating victory over Mississippi State this weekend shows that this team has continued to improve every single week. With their only two losses coming in close games against Clemson and A&M, the Tigers might be one of the most overlooked teams in the country right now and could be dangerous moving forward. Quarterback Sean White has thrown just one interception since the Clemson game, and his improvement has allowed the Auburn offense to catch up with their menacing defense. A matchup with Arkansas after a bye this week will show how far Auburn has really come.
- Tennessee (Last week: 3)
Tennessee nearly proved the doubters here at the Hustler wrong on Saturday, with a miraculous comeback before a crushing overtime loss to No. 6 Texas A&M. After their first loss, the Vols are still alive in the race for the SEC East, but a lot of that rides on a key matchup with top-ranked Alabama this weekend.
- Florida (Last week: 6)
With the game against LSU postponed this week due to the effects of Hurricane Matthew, the Gators remain locked in the sixth spot of these power rankings. An extra week off may be exactly what this offense needed, as quarterback Luke Del Rio continues to recover from his injury.
- Arkansas (Last week: 5)
While a 100-yard pick-six in the fourth quarter made the score look a little worse than the game truly was, Alabama thoroughly handled the Razorbacks on Saturday. With three straight matchups against ranked SEC opponents coming up on its schedule, Arkansas is about to prove whether it is for real or not.
- LSU (Last week: 9)
With the Florida game cancelled, the Tigers get an easy matchup with Southern Mississippi this week before a brutal three-game stretch that includes No. 12 Ole Miss, No. 1 Alabama and No. 22 Arkansas. Hopefully this offense can figure itself out quickly, or LSU might be in danger of missing the postseason entirely.
- Georgia (Last week: 8)
While Sony Michel and Nick Chubb each managed over 100 yards on the ground in the 28-14 win against South Carolina, quarterback Jacob Eason completed just five passes for 29 yards. Wow. Luckily for the Bulldogs, they get to play Vanderbilt this weekend, so you can rest assured that Eason will torch VU for 300-plus yards.
- Missouri (Last week: 11)
Mizzou desperately needed that bye week coming off of a 42-7 beatdown by LSU. Heading to the swamp to face another vicious SEC defense on the road, the Hustler has the Tigers’ over-under for offensive touchdowns at 0.5.
- Kentucky (Last week: 14)
Last week, we thought Kentucky was the worst team in the SEC. A win over the lowly Commodores and some pathetic performances by the remaining teams on this list allowed them to climb out of the cellar. But they’re still terrible.
- Mississippi State (Last week: 10)
The Bulldogs were lucky to avoid a truly embarrassing beatdown at the hands of Auburn on Saturday, thanks to the Tigers letting up considerably in the second half after leading 35-0 at the break. Mississippi State heads out to Utah this weekend to take on BYU in a game that no one will watch.
- South Carolina (Last week: 12)
The Gamecocks have yet to score more than 15 points in a game this season and are spared from the bottom of the rankings only by their Week 1 win over Vanderbilt. A bye week and a seemingly easy matchup against UMass ahead might help South Carolina right the ship, but probably not.
- Vanderbilt (Last week: 13)
We here at the Hustler have done all we could to keep the Commodores from the cellar this year, but after the performance against Kentucky on Saturday, there is no more denying it: Vanderbilt is the worst team in the SEC right now. The defense was solid once again against the Wildcats, but the lack of anything resembling a consistent offense doomed VU once again. The Commodores gave Georgia a scare at home last year, so maybe there is room for hope as the team travels to Athens this weekend.