SEC Power Rankings: Week 12

Remember all those things I said about these teams? After last week, I may have to scrap everything and attempt to decipher what just happened.

Out of the seven games that were played on Tuesday and Wednesday, at least half of them finished a way that I didn’t expect.

Texas A&M beating Tennessee on the road?? Mississippi State beating Florida on the road?? Missouri beating Georgia?? Ole Miss taking Auburn to OT??

It’s as if no one wants to run away with this conference. The competition level is apparently lower than I once thought, but the entertainment level is at a season high.

Oh, and the BIG 12/SEC Challenge happened, which is always fun.

Following some major adjusting, here are my updated SEC rankings.

1. Kentucky

The Wildcats finished the week 2-0 with a road victory over a ranked Texas Tech squad and an unofficial off day playing Vanderbilt. They keep picking up wins and good ones at that. As they are also the highest ranked team in the conference, Kentucky takes the #1 slot.

2. LSU

I previously brought up the fact that LSU loved to keep teams around, with that being one of their only weaknesses. They then decided to end the trend against Alabama, an impressive team. These wins aren’t flukes either. There is no reason to put LSU any further down in these rankings.

3. Auburn

This team hasn’t been playing like the team they were to start SEC play. Yes, the Tigers did finish the week undefeated, but they picked up two ugly wins. The first was one that was too close for comfort against an Iowa State team with more losses than wins. The second win was Ole Miss and it required overtime. To make things worse, they were getting dominated the whole game and were honestly lucky to have come out on top. They are still Auburn, though, and unless something very bad happens, they will stay here.

4. Alabama

This is the highest I’ve had the Crimson Tide all year. I’m finally buying the hype. Scoring in the mid-70s in both contests, Alabama was only able to come out with a win against Kansas State, but losing to LSU isn’t one you will lose sleep over. At the end of the day, Bama is a talented team with playmakers and will continue to compete.

5. Florida

The Gators’ tough schedule continued as they played Baylor and Mississippi state last week, losing both. Not protecting home court must sting a tad, but a loss to Baylor is understandable. The one thing I fear with Florida, though, is that we never see the same team in each game. They can beat Auburn yet lose to Missouri and Mississippi State (not an insult). The potential is there, but we don’t always see it.

6. Arkansas

The Razorbacks are too good of a team to be playing this poorly. Yeah, they handled TCU, but they responded by getting shocked by South Carolina at home in a game where it felt like Mason Jones was the only one able to get cooking. They just need to find what’s wrong and right the ship, but they are running out of time.

7. Mississippi State

Reggie Perry played a rough game in the team’s loss to Oklahoma, but found his stroke in the next contest versus Florida, putting up a career-high 27 points. If beating Arkansas wasn’t enough of a statement, hopefully beating Florida got the people’s attention.

8. South Carolina

This was a positive week for the Gamecocks. First USC demolishes Vanderbilt after getting Keyshawn Bryant back, and then they beat Arkansas on the road. Their schedule only continues to get lighter too... shall this be the beginning of a run?

9. Georgia

I’m selling my Bulldog stock. What is up with them? After a solid start to the season, Georgia proceeded to start 1-6 in SEC play. To be fair, they have played Kentucky twice, but you can’t lose to Ole Miss AND Missouri as the games get easier. This doesn’t change my stance on Anthony Edwards, but maybe this team was just all smoke and no sizzle.

10. Texas A&M

Against all odds, the Aggies are 3-0 in their last three road games with their last victim being Tennessee. I will just stop being surprised at this point and admit this team isn’t an easy out in any contest. If only they played as well at home as they have been doing away from College Station...

11. Tennessee

I gave up on this team a while back, and it just keeps getting better and better. After a pretty easy first month of conference play, the Vols are 4-3, but they end it with a loss to Texas A&M. They gave Kansas all they had, but things will not be looking up from here.

12. Missouri

One game the Tigers get embarrassed and the next they do the embarrassing. Following a poor performance against West Virginia, they welcome Georgia to town and send them home with a bad taste in their mouths. When Missouri is able to score, things usually go well, but when they only score 51 against the Mountaineers, for example, they look like one of the worst teams in the conference.

13. Ole Miss

We finally get to celebrate Ole Miss’ first SEC win of the year! They then follow that up with a nail-biter versus Auburn, which they really should have won. It was a good week for their standards, but a moral victory and a win against Georgia, who also only has one conference win to their name, won’t get you many brownie points with me.

14. Vanderbilt

The losing continues and it’s getting ugly at this point. They aren’t even competing. The only silver lining for this team is that they covered the spread when playing Kentucky. Not many positives to go around.