SEC Power Rankings: Who’s hot and not with week of rivalries in store?
Each week we’ll take a look at every Southeastern Conference football team’s performance and rank them, in ascending order.
Click here for this week’s scores.
14. Vanderbilt (0-7)
The Commodores on two different occasions led the No. 6 Florida Gators on Saturday, which in a season full of defeats on and off the field, is about as close as they’ve gotten to something worth celebrating. An intrastate duel with Tennessee might be juicier than it looks on paper; Vandy has played pretty good football despite its outcomes the last few weeks.
Derek Mason says: “This football team is getting better. We still have some depth deficiencies on the defensive side of the ball, but we’re working hard on the back end to keep us functionally going.”
13. Mississippi State (2-5)
A battle between Bulldogs was settled late as a shorthanded MSU squad unexpectedly made a game of it in Athens. They brought just 49 scholarship players with them but played Georgia evenly into the fourth quarter until the debut of UGA quarterback J.T. Daniels proved too much for them to overcome. Up next? The Egg Bowl.
Mike Leach says: “We were just excited to have a game.”
12. South Carolina (2-6)
It has two more wins than Vanderbilt, but South Carolina at this point is playing like the worst team in the SEC. Interim head coach Mike Bobo, the team’s first-year offensive coordinator, brought freshman quarterback Luke Doty off the bench in the second half, and the move sparked a small rally, so perhaps it can be something on which to build.
Mike Bobo says: “Here’s a unit that everybody had written off as dead. And they’re not dead. They showed some pride tonight in wearing that uniform and playing for each other, and I was proud of that.”
11. Kentucky (3-5)
The Wildcats went to Alabama and left with their worst loss under head coach Mark Stoops in his eight seasons in charge. Worse, it played out that way in part because a promising start offensively devolved into multiple game-changing errors that early on told the Crimson Tide they were no threat to their throne.
Mark Stoops says: “I don’t like it. It’s not a good look. It’s not somewhere we want to be. We’re over that.”
10. Tennessee (2-5)
A 10-0 lead evaporated after the Volunteers gave up 27 unanswered to host Auburn, and they lost their fifth straight. The good news: Vanderbilt, their last remaining strong hope for a victory this season, is up next. The bad news: Over the last month or so, the winless Commodores have looked better than the pride of Knoxville.
Jeremy Pruitt says: (On whether Jarrett Guarantano should be the starting quarterback) “Absolutely. If I didn’t I wouldn’t play him. I mean, guys, he didn’t miss two field goals. He didn’t blow a coverage. There’s lots of things. Did he make a mistake? He made a mistake, absolutely. I made mistakes in the game. OK? So, the bottom line is, guys, we all have to execute a little bit better to be productive so we can score more points on Saturday than the other team does.”
9. Mississippi (3-4)
The Rebels’ game against Texas A&M was postponed because of COVID-19 protocols. They’re scheduled to host Mississippi State on Saturday.
8. Arkansas (3-5)
The Razorbacks, record-wise, are trending closer to what most expected of them entering 2020 but other than their beatdown at Florida, they’ve been in every single loss (and two were decided in the final moments by a total of five points). A .500 season is all but out of the question now (it closes with Alabama), but a matchup with Mizzou next weekend provides opportunity for one last win in Sam Pittman’s first go-around.
Sam Pittman says: “Anytime you lose by three, there’s so many points in a game that can go one way or another.”
7. Missouri (3-3)
The Tigers kept South Carolina at bay after building a 17-0 lead, and won for the first time in nearly a month following a three-week hiatus due to COVID-19 cases within their program. With Arkansas, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt up next before a possible postponement make-up with Georgia, Missouri’s got a better shot at finishing with a winning record than other team below it on this list.
Eli Drinkwitz says: “I’ve got a couple of screenshots of people that predicted us to only win two games, so they can have those screenshots back.”
6. LSU (3-3)
The Tigers looked the most like a total football team that they have all season in a come-from-behind victory over Arkansas, and did so with freshman quarterback T.J. Finley at the helm. A field-goal block by cornerback Jay Ward prevented a likely overtime period. As of now LSU only has three games remaining, as its postponed game against Alabama has yet to be rescheduled.
Ed Orgeron says: ”We knew it was gonna be a battle and we won.”
5. Auburn (5-2)
Is Auburn actually good or has it been the biggest beneficiary of shaky officiating and scheduling in the league this year? It didn’t exactly run away against a Tennessee team that’s done little to impress this season, though perhaps the Tigers were looking ahead to next week’s date at Alabama. Texas A&M comes to town after that, and we’ll know who the Tigers really are if those games get played.
Gus Malzahn says: ”We were sleepwalking. They flipped the switch. The last three quarters we played good Auburn football.”
4. Georgia (5-2)
J.T. Daniels became the first Georgia quarterback to eclipse 400 passing yards since Aaron Murray in 2013, and in his debut appears to have locked up the Bulldogs’ starting job through the remainder of the 2020 season, not that it probably matters too much who suits up for Georgia the rest of the way; its remaining scheduled games are against South Carolina and Vanderbilt (a postponement against Missouri could be made up, too).
Kirby Smart says: (On J.T. Daniels’ debut) “He took the bull by the horns and he took advantage of it tonight. And Mississippi State played us to stop the run, too. They took a lot of chances and he took advantage of that.”
3. Florida (6-1)
Kyle Trask padded his Heisman résumé with 383 yards and three touchdowns against Vanderbilt. Based on the play of its remaining opponents, the only thing standing between the Gators and their first SEC title-game appearance since 2016 is themselves.
Dan Mullen says: “I have a smile on my face. You never take a win for granted. I’m fired up. We stubbed our toe along the way and still come out with a 21-point victory.”
2. Texas A&M (5-1)
The Aggies’ game against Mississippi was postponed due to COVID-19 protocols. They’re scheduled to host LSU on Saturday.
1. Alabama (7-0)
A three-week layoff did the Crimson Tide some good, as if they needed it. They steamrolled Kentucky ahead of what should be a more competitive meeting with Auburn in the Iron Bowl.
Nick Saban says: (On Kentucky’s time of possession) “The last time I checked, you get nothing for time of possession. So that means you score fast on offense, you don’t have very much time of possession. If you don’t score and you take the ball for, you know, six minutes and you don’t score, what do you get for that? Is there something you get for that? I don’t know.”
