Cats Illustrated's Week 7 SEC Power Rankings

Kentucky was on a bye week and Big Blue Madness overshadowed college football for a segment of the fan base but the Cats Illustrated SEC Power Rankings are once again updated after Week 7 action.

1. Alabama

Alabama has been the hottest team in the league of late. Not many teams in league history have won three consecutive games in consecutive weeks against ranked SEC foes but the Tide has accomplished that. Given Florida State’s decline Week 1 may be regarded as a surprising one-off at the end of the year. Ty Simpson was efficient and did enough to get a road win against a Mizzou team that isn’t accustomed to losing.

2. Georgia

The Bulldogs were on the ropes at Auburn but this game was expected to be ugly, physical, and close. The officiating didn’t hurt the Bulldogs, but a 10-point road win at Auburn is added to the resume nonetheless.

3. Texas A&M

This game followed a similar script to the win against Mississippi State the week before when a close game was gradually extended to a comfortable margin. The Aggies only gave up a field goal to Florida after a high scoring first quarter and won 34-17. Texas A&M is now 6-0 (3-0 SEC).

4. Ole Miss

The Rebels are unbeaten like A&M but some of the margins have been less comfortable than you would like to see. Case in point, this week against Washington State. Ole Miss survived 24-21 at home. Trinidad Chambliss didn’t do much on the ground but had a strong game throwing. Ole Miss held Wazzu to 2/10 on third down but the Rebels didn’t have their most explosive offensive game.

5. LSU

Garrett Nussmeier isn’t putting up the kind of huge numbers many expected and he threw two interceptions but the Tigers generated offense a bit easier than South Carolina and protected home field 20-10. We aren’t seeing dominance from many teams in college football but LSU moves steadily along and has taken care of business for the most part. This may be the kind of season where you just want to be the team that’s hot at the end of the year.

6. Texas

This may prove to be too bullish on Texas and many will question whether the resume is better than Oklahoma’s in spite of the win, but the Longhorns were convincing in that 23-6 Red River victory and the team has the kind of talent that still makes them very interesting.

7. Oklahoma

John Mateer was able to play. He just didn’t play well. He barely completed 50% of his passes, had just 202 yards (and 5 rushing), and threw three picks. Oklahoma’s offense was awful against Texas and the Sooners were shut out in the second half. No outcome in this game is really surprising but OU was the Vegas favorite going in and some readjustment in these rankings is required.

8. Tennessee

The Volunteers may be underestimated here. UT fans may believe they have a case to be ahead of several teams and that may be fair. Tennessee continued to win, but it was a very close game (34-31) against Arkansas. The Razorbacks had about 500 yards of total offense, even more than Tennessee, but UT held on in the end.

9. Missouri

Mizzou had a chance to take down Alabama at home but Beau Pribula wasn’t quite good enough. Missouri is a complete football team but turnovers from Pribula are causing problems.

10. Vanderbilt

The Commodores were off one week after seeing it slip away against Alabama. This team has the ability to beat just about any team in the conference.

11. Arkansas

Arkansas continues to put up a fight but it’s not quite enough. Similar to Auburn this year in that regard. The Razorbacks actually outgained Tennessee in Knoxville but came up short 34-31 in Bobby Petrino’s first game as interim coach. The offense is good enough to put a scare into most teams but defense remains a problem.

12. Mississippi State

MSU was off. The depth may be tested as we get deep into this season but the Bulldogs look like one of the SEC’s most improved teams and with four wins in the first half that’s as good as their fans could have hoped for.

13. Auburn

The Tigers continue to find ways to lose games, though the refs didn’t help against Georgia. Auburn had a chance to do something special against UGA but they watched the game get away from them again.

14. South Carolina

The Gamecocks hung tough in Baton Rouge but came up short 20-10. South Carolina definitely looks like a bottom tier SEC team this year but perhaps still has the potential to jump up and pull an upset or two if they develop the operation a bit.

15. Florida

It looks like Florida’s win against Texas last week was a fluke. The Gators didn’t have enough in the tank against A&M and that one unraveled down the stretch. DJ Lagway made some nice plays again but Florida just isn’t as good as the league’s top teams in most areas.

16. Kentucky

The Wildcats were on a bye and next up are games against Texas and Tennessee. Then Auburn and Florida. But Kentucky will not be favored in any of those games and it seems like we’re barreling toward a tense offseason.