CI's Week 3 SEC Power Rankings
Another week of college football is in the books and this week’s Cats Illustrated SEC Power Rankings are updated to reflect all that we learned.
Keep in mind the power rankings take the full season into account.
1. Georgia
The Bulldogs won at Tennessee on a day when the Volunteers were locked in and ready to snap a streak. UGA did a great job of staying focused and remaining methodical when things looked bleak. The win at Tennessee means there’s a great chance the Bulldogs will make the playoff if you break down the rest of its schedule.
2. LSU
LSU has taken care of business the last two weeks, against Louisiana Tech and Florida, but there haven’t been a lot of style points. The win at Clemson was a great way to start the season and Brian Kelly needed to get that Week 1 skid behind him but we don’t know how good that win is now. Clemson is 1-2 with a close win at Troy and a loss to Georgia Tech.
3. Texas A&M
The Aggies have one of the league’s best wins. That was A&M’s 41-40 win at Notre Dame over the weekend. A&M was penalized a lot and Marcel Reed completed less than 50% of his passes but the Aggies hit on big plays.
4. Oklahoma
The Sooners handled Temple on the road on Saturday. They get Auburn and Kent State at home each of the next two weeks so there’s a chance OU is 5-0 when it takes on Texas.
5. Texas
Arch Manning continues to struggle but the floor is very high with that defense. Still, Texas is approaching the part of the schedule where they will need Manning to be much better.
6. Alabama
Alabama had that ugly loss to Florida State in Week 1. It looks like Ty Simpson is playing better than he did against the Seminoles, but we need to see him sustain that or do it against a really good team to forget that game. The Tide had no trouble with Wisconsin on Saturday.
7. Ole Miss
The Rebels remain undefeated but that’s through two of their “easier” SEC games, against Kentucky and Arkansas. Both games were in doubt in the fourth quarter so we have yet to see Ole Miss tested against a top tier SEC opponent.
8. Auburn
Auburn wasn’t always pretty against South Alabama but the Tigers did take a 28-9 lead into halftime. The run game was solid and the defense was in control but there’s still room for the pass game to improve.
9. Tennessee
Tennessee could end up being higher here. You saw the good and the bad from Joey Aguilar and the Vols had Georgia on the ropes but couldn’t quite reverse the trend in this rivalry series.
10. Vanderbilt
Saturday’s win at South Carolina was a Diego Pavia special. The Commodores look like a team that’s benefiting from seniority, experience, and continuity in an era when a lot of other teams don’t have that. Against South Carolina the Commodores dominated time of possession and won situations.
11. Missouri
The Tigers rushed for more than 400 yards against an overmatched opponent. We haven’t learned as much about Missouri as most of the other teams in the league but the schedule sets up well for them yet again.
12. Arkansas
The Razorbacks offense is impressive and they nearly won on the road at Ole Miss. Arkansas actually outgained Ole Miss. They appear to be good enough to pull an upset or two this year.
13. Florida
The Gators played LSU tough in Death Valley but came up short. That’s two losses in a row following the home loss to USF. And that home loss to USF doesn’t look quite as good now that Miami handled the Bulls.
14. Mississippi State
The Bulldogs handled Alcorn State to start 3-0, a big achievement in Jeff Lebby’s second year. MSU averaged 9.5 yards per play against Alcorn State.
15. South Carolina
The Gamecocks saw LaNorris Sellers leave Saturday’s game against Vanderbilt with an injury. Then the Gamecocks lost the game at home. That was a big blow in a game both teams needed to have the kind of season they want.
16. Kentucky
Kentucky’s offense looked better against Eastern Michigan but that was expected. Cutter Boley does help the vertical passing game and that could be something to build on but the defense gave up too many yards to an inferior opponent.