1. Alabama Crimson Tide

No brainer.

2. Arkansas Razorbacks

In hindsight, their close loss to Alabama looks like a pretty fantastic performance.

3. Auburn Tigers

Aubie continues to roll along while the Cameron Newton Heisman campaign cranks up.

4. South Carolina Gamecocks

The 'Cocks will have their chance to make their dent on the football season when Alabama and the College Gameday crew come to town next weekend.

5. Florida Gators

The Gators have the talent to be much better than this, but Urban Meyer and his offensive staff's inability to make proper schematic adjustments when the personnel doesn't fit their offensive philosophy (i. e., when Tim Tebow isn't on the roster) is going to hold the Gators back this year. They still have to be the favorite in the East, though; South Carolina may be good enough to give them a run, but with the Gators getting a more favorable schedule and the USC-UF tilt in Gainesville, Florida has the easier path by far.

6. LSU Tigers

Yeah, I know they won and that they have a better record than USC and UF. Just wait and see what happens to them next week when they play a real team and you'll know why I put them here. Their defense is as good as any in the nation and will keep them in games as long as their offense doesn't blow it up for them, but their QBs are Jordan Jefferson and Jarrett Lee, which means the offense will blow it up for them.

7. Mississippi St. Bulldogs

Things continue to look up in Starkville.

8. Mississippi Rebels

Rebels fans, if you didn't already know your team was being coached by Houston Nutt, now you know. The good news is that this team seems to have found a sense of offensive identity and will probably be decent from here on out.

9. Tennessee Volunteers

This team showed some fight yesterday in its loss and by all accounts deserved to win, but the horses just aren't there in Knoxville right now.

10. Vanderbilt Commodores

Meh. Win over Ole Miss looks better now, I guess.

11. Kentucky Wildcats

Those blowouts against cupcake competition seem very far away now. The 'Cats have some nice offensive weapons, but Mike Hartline is mistake-prone and the defense is bad.

12. Georgia Bulldogs

Are they really the worst team in the SEC? I find it hard to believe that they are, but they're certainly playing like it right now, and that's all that really matters at the end of the day.