In a season that’s seen only a few intra-league upsets, Week 11 saw a bit of a shake-up in the SEC’s pecking order in the middle and at the bottom. Here’s how our staff thinks the Lord’s Conference stands with two regular-season games remaining.
1. Alabama (Last week: 1)
The Tide continued to roll along, beating down on Mississippi State 51-3 at home. Rumor has it that Alabama’s basketball team picked up multiple of top-100 recruits last week after word got out that head coach Avery Johnson will change his name to Nick Saban when the Tide repeat as national champions.
2. LSU (Last week: 4)
LSU pounded Arkansas on the road this past week and now benefits from surprising losses by Auburn and Texas A&M. Unfortunately for Tigers fans, a flood of pumpkins from Knoxville, Tennessee, will descend upon Baton Rouge this weekend in support of LSU as Florida hopes to lock up the SEC East with a win at Tiger Stadium.
3. Auburn (Last week: 2)
Auburn falls only one spot after its loss at Georgia in part because running back Kamryn Pettway will probably return from injury after the Tigers’ home game against Alabama A&M this weekend. The fact that the No. 3 team in our rankings couldn’t win at UGA when the No. 14 team already did says a lot about the league.
4. Texas A&M (Last week: 3)
Without quarterback Trevor Knight, the Aggies haven’t looked so good. Their cute dog mascot keeps them in the top 4 this week (She even has her own website!).
5. Florida (Last week: 6)
Personally, I can’t wait to see Florida’s Austin Appleby vs. LSU’s Danny Etling in the battle of former Purdue quarterbacks. I don’t know what the fact that two of the Supreme Elite Conference’s top five teams start transfers from the Little Ten’s worst program means, but it can’t be a good sign.
6. Tennessee (Last week: 7)
Tennessee gave up 36 points at home to Kentucky this past week, but it rises here because Arkansas got clocked at home by LSU. Let’s get that Butch Jones 2020 campaign started!
7. Olé Miss (Last week: 9)
I’m disappointed to miss out on the many Colonel Reb idols that will grace the Ole Miss tailgates at Vanderbilt this weekend. Freshman quarterback Shea Patterson had a great start to his career at Texas A&M, so Derek Mason’s defense had better be ready.
8. Georgia (Last week: 8)
UGA fails to move up because of how ugly its win over Auburn was and because the Dawgs didn’t have to face Pettway. I’ll be interested to see what happens in UGA’s regular-season finale in Athens against Georgia Tech.
9. Arkansas (Last week: 5)
The Razorbacks strike me as one of those relatively average-looking SEC teams that will pound whoever it plays in its bowl game. With remaining regular-season games against Mississippi State and Missouri, Arkansas is probably looking at an 8-4 record this year.
10. Kentucky (Last week: 10)
A UK win over Austin Peay this week makes the ‘Cats bowl eligible, as their fans grumble about football cutting into basketball season. And yes, I’m starting a new streak of Kentucky basketball jokes in our power rankings.
11. Mississippi State (Last week: 11)
Honestly, I think Mississippi State might be the worst team in the SEC. But these power rankings are a democracy, so I will defer to our writers and put the Fightin’ Jill Steins at 11.
12. South Carolina (Last week: 13)
South Carolina fans have to be relatively pleased with the team’s three Supreme Elite Conference wins and what will likely be a 6-6 regular-season record. Stay away from whatever bowl the Gamecocks end up in though, as that promises to be an ugly game.
13. Missouri (Last week: 14)
Congrats to Mizzou for avoiding having both its football and men’s basketball teams in last place in our respective power rankings. I don’t think the Tigers are actually better than Vanderbilt, but they get the nod right now based on the head-to-head win.
14. Vanderbilt (Last week: 12)
After playing its second worst game of the year against Mizzou, surely Vanderbilt will come out and shut down Ole Miss’ explosive offense and play the Rebels down to the wire. What a confusing team.