1. Florida

Sure, it was only against rebuilding Miami, but I thought the Gators looked solid this past weekend. They seem to have shed the softness that plagued them last year.

2. Georgia

The Dawgs looked solid against an upper-tier mid-major. South Carolina's defense looms as a better test for this team.

3. Auburn

The offense still isn't what Tigers fans were hoping for, but it did look better this past week against Southern Miss. The Plainsmen will face a slightly tougher test against MSU this coming week. The Bulldogs beat them last year, although they haven't shown me anything so far this year that makes me believe that they're capable of a repeat performance.

4. Alabama

I dropped the Tide below Auburn due to their average performance against Tulane. This team showed a tendency to play up or down to their opponents last year, and it looks like they may do the same this year. If Saban doesn't get their heads in the right place, expect them to drop a game to an inferior opponent somewhere along the line.

5. LSU

Didn't learn anything new about them due to their game against Troy being postponed.

6. Vanderbilt

Surprise! I'm not sure if Vandy is really the third best team in the East, but given that they demolished Miami, OH and beat South Carolina, that the Vols lost to a middle-tier Pac-10 team, and that Kentucky has looked unimpressive against cupcakes, I'm going to give Vandy the benefit of the doubt until they prove me otherwise. Bobby Johnson has this team believing.

7. Tennessee

The Vols didn't play this week, so we didn't learn anything new about them.

8. Ole Miss

The Rebs outplayed the Demon Deacons but lost due to poor officiating and inopportune mistakes. This still looks like a solid team that can make strides this season.

9. Kentucky

They looked a little better against Norfolk State, but what does that really mean? This team still has a lot of issues.

10. South Carolina

In a lot of ways they looked better in the losing effort to Vanderbilt, but they showed some of the game-blowing gaffes that plagued them late last year. Can they recover in time for Georgia?

11. MSU

The Bulldogs looked better against Southeastern Louisiana, but beating up on a FCS team doesn't make me forget their loss to Louisiana Tech. MSU plays Auburn next week in Starkville, so they better improve quickly.

12. Arkansas

Sure, they're 2-0, which is better than MSU, South Carolina, Ole Miss, and Tennessee. That doesn't erase the fact that they've struggled to beat pedestrian competition in two consecutive weeks. They were lucky to beat LA-Monroe, needing a big comeback and a missed LA-Monroe field goal as time expired to do it. What will they do when they play an opponent with a pulse? We'll find out soon after they square off against a number of high profile opponents over the next few weeks.