SEC Power Rankings: Upsets and controversy make for lots of movement after Week 3
Each week we’ll take a look at every Southeastern Conference football team’s performance and rank them, in ascending order.
Click here for week three’s scores.
Click here for week two’s rankings.
14. Vanderbilt (0-3)
Two weeks removed from their moral victory at Texas A&M, the Commodores are still searching for their first actual win after fielding only 56 scholarship players against South Carolina. Vandy is the only winless team in the league and its league-worst 8.7 points scored per game could keep it without one the rest of 2020.
Derek Mason says: “We will be better. I’ve got a lot of confidence in this group, and I just told them this will be the turning point. You’ve played three games. You get to see exactly where we’re at. It’s a good sample size, but it’s not where we want to be.”
13. Mississippi State (1-2)
So much for the Air Raid taking the SEC by storm. The Bulldogs couldn’t get it done at Arkansas last week and followed it up with an even worse showing at Kentucky, which held a Mike Leach-coached team without an offensive point for the first time in his career. Leach questioned the buy-in of some of his team members after the game, so that’s reassuring.
Mike Leach says: “Long story short, offensively we aren’t coaching very well right now. I mean we have to coach better. If you look at this game, nearly every problem that we had was self-inflicted.”
12. South Carolina (1-2)
The Gamecocks got in the win column against a depleted Vanderbilt squad, their 12th straight in the series. Their losses to Florida and Tennessee the last two weeks don’t look quite as encouraging after those teams’ defeats in Week 3, but a strong showing against Auburn could move them up.
Will Muschamp says: “Right now, any win helps, regardless of where it is.”
11. LSU (1-2)
How the mighty have fallen. Its lone win is against Vanderbilt and its latest loss came against a previously winless Missouri team that stood it up at the goal line despite multiple chances to punch it in late. The Tigers’ defense so far is one of the league’s worst, surrendering 494.7 yards per game (12th in the league) and 32 points each outing (ninth).
Ed Orgeron says: “We couldn’t stop anybody. Really a poor showing on defense.”
10. Kentucky (1-2)
A grounding of Leach’s Air Raid is just what the doctor ordered for a UK defense that a week before was torched. It must have traded its offensive abilities for the shutout of State’s offense, though: the Wildcats were abysmal, managing just 157 yards and getting the bulk of their production from the defense, which came away with six interceptions after failing to create a turnover through two weeks.
Mark Stoops says: “I love these night games that last four and a half hours, I could enjoy it for about five hours and get back up and do it again.”
9. Mississippi (1-2)
The Rebels are a couple of plays away from being 0-3 and clearly are unable to stop anyone: they’re surrendering 51.7 points per game — Missouri is next worst at 38 — and 641 yards of offense a night (Florida ranks 13th, giving up 495). An incredible offense, though, will make it a wild card all year; they had ‘Bama on its heels for a bit on Saturday.
Lane Kiffin says: “I would never guess that you’d see an SEC game with these stats here. Only three punts and someone said the most points in the history of an SEC regulation game. Especially against Coach Saban and that defense. It’s kind of a waste.”
8. Missouri (1-2)
Mizzou didn’t just hang 45 points on LSU. It hung 45 points on LSU despite playing the game without its three leading receivers due to COVID-19 protocols. The Tigers held the defending national champs to 0-for-10 on third down and gave their first-year head coach a first win to remember.
Eli Drinkwitz says: “I plan on being part of a lot more wins here at Mizzou. It’s never going to be about me. It’s going to be about our football team, our players, our seniors and the identity they’re trying to create.”
7. Auburn (2-1)
I refuse to put the Tigers above Arkansas, the people’s champion following Saturday’s officiating debacle that resulted in an Auburn victory. Auburn is the better team, but it did not deserve that win and since its record won’t be punished, its standing in this week’s rankings will be.
Gus Malzahn says: “If we can be that team that gets a little better each week, very few teams are going to improve. It’s going to be a really challenging year around our league, so that’s our goal.”
6. Arkansas (1-2)
The Hogs got robbed, but they also found themselves in a 17-0 hole before taking a fourth-quarter lead at Auburn. Since falling in the opener to Georgia, which for now looks like the clear favorite in the East Division, Arkansas has played like a football program that’s tired of being a dreg. How it measures up against Ole Miss’s wild offense will be fun to see.
Sam Pittman says: “The ball went backward 6 yards. I saw a fumble and a spike that went backward 6 yards.”
5. Tennessee (2-1)
For a half, Tennessee looked like a legit contender against Georgia. Then, it wilted. The Volunteers failed to score in the second half of a 44-21 loss, giving up 27 unanswered to the Bulldogs in an early battle of top-15 squads. They got on in their own way several times over the final 30 minutes and it cost them; a home date with Kentucky, against whom it has lost only two meetings since 1984, could be a pick-me-up.
Jeremy Pruitt says: “I learned a long time ago that you have to be able to do what your players can do, and if they can’t do it, you’ve got to do a better job coaching them up. And I have to do a better job doing that.”
4. Florida (2-1)
Florida joined the ranks of the beaten after giving up more than 500 yards for the second time in three weeks. It survived an onslaught from Ole Miss in Week 1 but could not contain the Aggies, not even when it mattered most, as they set themselves up for the game-winning field goal as time expired. A matchup with LSU could be full of fireworks in Week 4.
Dan Mullen says: “We can’t give up 13-of-15 conversions in a day and expect to win any game.”
3. Texas A&M (2-1)
I was hard on Texas A&M the first two weeks, but through three there’s really no reason to think the Aggies are any better or worse than any other team except the two in front of them. The Aggies rebounded after what could have been a dispiriting loss and gave Jimbo Fisher the best win of his tenure in College Station.
Jimbo Fisher says: “They’re all big wins and like I always say what’s a big loss? Any loss. What’s a big win? Any win.”
2. Georgia (3-0)
Georgia fended off Tennessee, setting up a showdown between the league’s only remaining undefeated teams this week in Tuscaloosa. In a year where many in the league seemingly have punted on playing defense, the Bulldogs have stayed steadfast. They lead the league in yards (236.7) and points (12.3) allowed per game, and they’re one of only two teams in the league against whom opponents have completed fewer than 67 percent of their passes, allowing a 55.7 completion percentage (Mississippi State is the other at 57.9).
Kirby Smart says: (on his offense needing to step up) “We have to improve. People are going to score points in college football, guys. They’re too good.”
1. Alabama (3-0)
Najee Harris rushed for 206 yards and five touchdowns, both career bests, for the Crimson Tide, who got all they wanted from Ole Miss in a 63-48 decision. It was the highest-scoring game in league history that didn’t go into overtime. When ‘Bama hosts Georgia this Saturday, it’ll match the league’s top defense against its best offense: Alabama is averaging 51 points and 560 yards of offense per game. That’s pretty good.
Nick Saban says: (on playing defense in 2020) “I think the offense that we have in college football right now is very, very difficult to defend. Not any old-fashioned offense. It’s spread. Lots of very difficult plays to defend. So we have to score a lot of points if we’re going to win. But we have to play better on defense, too.”
