CI's Week 2 SEC Power Rankings

Throughout the college football regular season Cats Illustrated’s SEC Power Rankings will be updated. It will be not only a good opportunity to weigh the merits and strengths of each team, but a chance to dive into what’s happening on the field across the league.

As always, join in the conversation and share your agreements or disagreements at the House of Blue.

Full disclosure: The season is still very young and teams are tough to judge because the level of competition has been unbalanced.

1. Georgia

The Bulldogs have been untested through two weeks but that’s what you would expect based on the competition. Austin Peay was no match for Georgia but the Bulldogs stumbled to a 28-6 win at home. One question mark would be the passing game through two weeks. Gunner Stockton hasn’t been bad but you would like to see better explosiveness. UGA lost a couple of fumbles and probably played to the level of its competition. The league is very open but the floor is high for Georgia.

2. LSU

LSU was less impressive in Week 2 than it was in Week 1. The Tigers were pretty uninspiring on offense in a 23-7 home win against Louisiana Tech. But it’s noteworthy and a very good sign that the defense dominated one week after looking so improved in a win at Clemson. In a sign of how little we know about anything, what should we make of the win at Clemson when those Tigers were down 16-0 to Troy at home this week? Barion Brown led LSU in receiving.

3. Texas

It appears the offense will be a work in progress if Texas is to become a national championship contender as it should still be. One week after losing 14-7 at Ohio State, Texas handled San Jose State 38-7. They scored a bunch of points in quick succession but it was another up and down game for Arch Manning and he said it was ugly afterward. The good news is it looks like that defense will be pretty reliable as the offense comes along.

4. Oklahoma

John Mateer is a serious Heisman contender. Anyone who watched his performance against Michigan could tell you that. Whether the Wolverines are eight-win good or 10-win good remains to be seen, but Mateer is the real deal. He controlled the game with his arm and his legs. Brent Venables probably doesn’t want to see him have to run the ball so much moving forward because as long as he’s healthy the Sooners will be dangerous. The Oklahoma defense really bothered the Michigan passing game. I could see Oklahoma beating Texas but I do think in the end the Longhorns defense may be the best unit between either team.

5. Auburn

Jackson Arnold was 24/28 for 251 yards and three touchdowns in Auburn’s 42-3 win against Ball State. The Tigers’ run defense was outstanding and six sacks had something to do with Ball State finishing with -3 rushing yards. This looks like a fairly complete team that could beat you a number of ways. The 400 passing yards allowed to Baylor in Week 1 does make you wonder how they will hold up against other passing attacks they face in the league.

6. Alabama

What do you do with Alabama? You probably don’t give them as much deference after the step back last season and they have to take another hit after the loss to Florida State. But what if FSU turns out to be fantastic? The Tide beat ULM 73-0 and let out a lot of frustration in the process. But this team has a lot to do to regain full trust with that fan base after effort was in serious question from Week 1.

7. Ole Miss

The Rebels won by a touchdown on the road against Kentucky and Austin Simmons is talented enough to give the team a chance against some strong competition. The run defense has room to improve but the pass defense was strong and has been strong through two weeks.

8. Texas A&M

Texas A&M has had similar outcomes in both games so far. The Aggies have defeated UTSA 42-24 and Utah State 44-22. Mike Elko wants to run the ball so he will be happy with 235 yards, but the Aggies also threw it well. Marcel Reed had three scoring tosses. It was 30-6 at halftime so the game wasn’t in doubt.

9. Tennessee

We probably didn’t learn a lot about Tennessee this week. East Tennessee State didn’t offer much resistance in a 72-17 loss. Joey Aguilar put up good numbers and was more accurate this week. The Volunteers defeated Syracuse in Week 1 but they were not dominant throughout, and the Orange struggled with UConn. All that’s to say … we still don’t have much to go on yet.

10. South Carolina

South Carolina started slow but dominated the second and third quarters to blow out South Carolina State. The Gamecocks were picked in roughly this range to begin the season and nothing that has happened should change that judgment to this point.

11. Vanderbilt

The Commodores had to play catch up but surged ahead to win 44-20 on the road at Virginia Tech. Both Vanderbilt and South Carolina have defeated the Hokies now.

12. Missouri

Kansas started strong with a 21-6 lead after one quarter but Missouri prevailed 42-31 in the first Border War game since 2011. Beau Pribula was 30/39 for 334 yards and three touchdowns and Missouri also rushed for 261 yards. Meanwhile, Kansas only rushed for three yards.

13. Arkansas

The Razorbacks have been just fine this season and they dominated Arkansas State 56-14 on Saturday. There’s not much negative to say except the league is very strong and this is about where you expected them to be going into the year. Taylen Green has put up good numbers this year but the big thing is Arkansas both passed and rushed for more than 300 yards in the win.

14. Mississippi State

Congratulations to the Bulldogs for climbing out of the basement, but it’s at Kentucky’s expense. The Bulldogs pulled off an improbable late 24-20 win against Arizona State, which has been regarded as the Big XII favorite a year after winning the league. The Sun Devils struggled to pass but did find success on the ground against Mississippi State, but this was a huge moment for the program in a rebuild with so many new players for Year 2.

15. Florida

It’s a testament to the depth of the SEC that the Gators, ranked in the top-15 going into the weekend, would be this low. But when you lose at home to USF in a game that everyone said could be tricky, you earned that low ranking. DJ Lagway’s offense could only muster 16 points and the Gators lost a lead late. But maybe USF is just a really good team. The Bulls beat then-ranked Boise State 34-7 in Week 2.

16. Kentucky

The Wildcats are the obvious choice after the first couple of weeks with Mississippi State getting the big win against Arizona State at home. Kentucky’s defense held up for a while but Ole Miss dominated the stat sheet and prevailed on the road in Lexington. The running game appears to be improved but the passing game is having all kinds of problems. The schedule remains formidable and this makes the South Carolina game loom large.