SEC Power Rankings: Middle gets muddier after rough week for East Division
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Game day: Missouri 20, Kentucky 10
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s Kentucky-Missouri football game at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium in Columbia, Mo.
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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 five’s scores.
Click here for week four’s rankings.
14. Vanderbilt (0-3)
The Commodores had a scheduled off week. They host Mississippi on Saturday.
13. Mississippi State (1-3)
The Rebels had a scheduled off week. They travel to Alabama on Saturday.
12. Mississippi (1-4)
Ole Miss was the latest victim of a questionable call that happened to benefit Auburn, and as a result might have a case as the best one-win team in college football. That’s not good for much, though a trip to Vanderbilt this week should bolster their confidence.
Lane Kiffin says: “Usually only one side has a shot. We didn’t do our job. It was a chance for a really big win against a very talented team. It’s a tough one to swallow, probably tougher than the other ones because it was right there.”
11. South Carolina (2-3)
After hanging in the first quarter, the Gamecocks got hammered on the road by an LSU squad seemingly hellbent on showing that its 1-2 start was a fluke. Carolina looks like the worst of several 2-3 East Division squads, but there’s plenty of time to prove otherwise.
Will Muschamp says: “We got outcoached and outplayed, bottom line.”
10. Tennessee (2-3)
A loss to Alabama was all but inevitable for the Volunteers, who dropped their 14th straight game to the Crimson Tide. UT has an off week to prepare for Arkansas, the league’s biggest upstart in 2020, and to figure out whether Jarrett Guarantano (13-of-24 for 162 yards and two touchdowns) should start in that game.
Jeremy Pruitt says: “I see a lot of guys that are trying really hard, but we’re making mistakes. As coaches and players, we’ve got to go back and we’ve got to be able to execute at a higher level.”
9. Kentucky (2-3)
One week after getting one of the most significant wins under head coach Mark Stoops, UK laid an egg at Missouri, its offense the easiest target to blame (145 yards on 36 total plays). The Wildcats won’t get to rest until next week, following a home date with Georgia.
Mark Stoops says: “They just kicked the tail out of us from the beginning to the end.”
8. Auburn (3-2)
It’s honestly kind of impressive at this point how often Auburn has benefited from blown calls by the SEC’s officials. Tigers kick returner Shaun Shivers appeared to touch a kicked ball before it went into the end zone, recovered by an Ole Miss specialist for what should have been a touchdown to extend the Rebels’ lead to, at a minimum, 34-27 with a little more than five minutes to play. Instead, the Tigers made the plays necessary to go ahead and Ole Miss failed to answer. Good on ya Auburn, but you’re still not currying any favor here.
Gus Malzahn says: (On Bo Nix responding after a tough loss last week) “You know, he came back and fought his tail off. We protected the football. And when you protect the football, especially on the road, you got a real chance of winning.”
7. Missouri (2-2)
What was more impressive: the Tigers’ goal-line stand against LSU or their suffocating defense for most of the 60 minutes played against Kentucky? It doesn’t really matter, since they won both games and will travel to Florida for a matchup that suddenly raises at least one eyebrow.
Eli Drinkwitz says: “I’m shocked by these stats. I’ve never been in a game like that.”
6. LSU (2-2)
For the first time this year, LSU looked like LSU. It might already be out of the running for an SEC title, given Alabama’s stranglehold over the standings and the remaining schedule before the Crimson Tide (even if the Tigers beat ‘em, it might not make a difference), but LSU moved the ball with ease against South Carolina and has a chance next week to show the world just how much of a fraud Auburn is this season.
Ed Orgeron says: “This is a total team effort.”
5. Arkansas (2-2)
The Razorbacks had a scheduled off week. They travel to Texas A&M on Saturday.
4. Florida (2-1)
The Gators had an off week due to COVID-19 protocols. They host Missouri on Saturday.
3. Georgia (3-1)
The Bulldogs had a scheduled off week. They travel to Kentucky on Saturday.
2. Texas A&M (3-1)
The Aggies had a scheduled off week. They host Arkansas on Saturday.
1. Alabama (5-0)
Another win over Tennessee. Another win for Nick Saban over a former assistant. Another game in which they scored 35-plus points (a college football record 18 straight times). The only thing that went badly for ‘Bama on Saturday was a likely season-ending ankle injury for Jaylen Waddle, a potential first-round NFL Draft pick. That’s a shame for Alabama and college football fans as a whole, but if there’s a program that can probably withstand such an injury, it’s the one in Tuscaloosa.
Nick Saban says: (On Waddle’s injury) “He’s got a very similar injury to what Kenyan Drake had. It’s a high ankle sprain but also a fracture, so they’ll probably have to do surgery on him. We’re gonna fly him back privately with doctors and take him right to Birmingham and see what we have to do right away. But that’s the case — and we’re pretty certain that it is — that he would probably be out for the year. The guy’s a great player. He’s a great teammate. He’s an exciting player to watch. Hate that people in college football can’t see a great player the rest of this season.”
