WBN SEC Football Power Rankings: 9/25 Edition
By Paul Jordan
1. (LW -1) LSU (4-0, defeated #16 West Virginia 47-21) – You get an idea of how good this Tigers team is by their performance versus West Virgina on Saturday. It was an uneven game for LSU as they jumped up 27-7 on the road and looked like world beaters. Then Geno Smith passed all over them and got within 27-21 late in the third quarter. How did LSU respond on the road? Like a champion. Morris Claiborne shut the crowd up with a 99 yard kickoff return on the very next play and LSU dominated the rest of the fourth quarter. It’s because of that I am ignoring the 463 yards Smith shredded the Tigers for and still loving the Bayou Bengals right now. THIS WEEK: 10/1 vs Kentucky
2. (LW -2) Alabama (4-0, defeated #14 Arkansas 38-14) – The separation between Alabama and LSU is razor thin at this point. I just keep LSU ahead this week because their win was on the road. Alabama completely dismantled an explosive Arkansas team this week, holding them to 226 yards. There is no running against Alabama, so any team is going to turn one dimensional. That Alabama defense/special teams scored two touchdowns this week as well. AJ McCarron was pretty close to perfect on Saturday and Trent Richardson just has his way with the Hawgs defense, averaging 7.4 a carry. THIS WEEK: 10/1 @ #15 Florida
3. (LW – 3) Florida (4-0, defeated Kentucky 48-10) – You can argue that Florida has had a soft schedule thus far, but when you are beating these teams by an average score of 40.3 – 9, you can’t hold that against them. Florida is the 9th best rushing team in the nation with 259 yards a game and they racked up 405 yards on the ground versus Kentucky. Jeff Brantley has been OK for Florida bu this offense is all about Rainey and Demps thus far. The defense has come together very good as well and is as opportunistic as ever. THIS WEEK: 10/1 vs #3 Alabama
4. (LW – 5) South Carolina (4-0, defeated Vanderbilt 21-3) I’m still not sold on South Carolina and it says something when Steve Spurrier has to apologize to the fan base after this win over Vanderbilt. Stephen Garcia is dreadful. He threw four picks against Vandy, but the defense finally showed up, scoring a TD and allowing just 77 yards total. The Gamecocks still have Marcus Lattimore however, and he seems to thrive despite the performance of Garcia. Lattimore led his team in both rushing and receiving and scored two TD’s. I’m not a big fan of the SC defense, but they have scored four TD’s over the past two weeks. THIS WEEK: 10/1 vs Auburn
5. (LW – 6) Auburn (3-1, defeated Florida Atlantic 30-14) Not an impressive week for the Tigers as they struggled with winless Florida Atlantic from the Sun Belt conference. Truth is, there are maybe three teams in the SEC playing well right now and a lot of very average teams. Auburn has the offense to stay with those teams, but the defense is troublesome. They barely outgained FAU 315-307 and Barrett Trotter is starting to look very ordinary. THIS WEEK: 10/1 @ South Carolina
6. (LW – 4) Arkansas (3-1, lost to #3 Alabama 38-14) After three games of cupcakes, Arkansas got their first real test and were drilled by Alabama. They did keep it close for a half however, and Alabama is going to make a lot of teams look really bad at home. Arkansas suffered breakdowns in almost every aspect of their game and gained just 17 yards on the ground versus Alabama. It’s games like this that really show the separation of power between Alabama/LSU and the rest of the conference. THIS WEEK: 10/1 vs Texas A&M @ Cowboys Stadium
7. (LW – 8) Vanderbilt (3-1, lost to South Carolina 21-3) Really? Moving up a team for losing by 18? You betcha. Mostly due to the fact that the SEC is pretty rancid and Vandy is the only team playing with any life. And they had a respectable performance against the #12 team in the country on the road. They held Marcus Lattimore to just 77 yards and picked Stephen Garcia four times. On offense, the Commodores are bad. Larry Smith is a liability at this point and you have to wonder if Aaron Rodger’s brother starts getting some consideration. THIS WEEK: OFF
8. (LW – 11) Georgia (2-2, defeated Mississippi 27-13) Could the Bulldogs be finally showing signs of life? The 14 point margin of victory was no indication of how much Georgia dominated this game. Normally dependable kicker Blair Walsh missed three FG’s. Georgia’s defense has played very well the last two weeks and Isaiah Crowell is making a case as the best freshman in the SEC. Although the offense sputtered a bit, Aaron Murray is still in the top four of SEC QB’s right now. Look for Georgia to make the SEC East interesting. THIS WEEK: 10/1 vs Mississippi State
9. (LW – 7) Mississippi State (2-2, defeated Louisiana Tech 26-20 in OT) Forget anything positive I may have said about Mississippi State in the past. This seems to be a team in serious trouble. The only thing they have going for them is the 26th best rushing attack at 216 yards a game. QB Chris Relf is in danger of having his “dual threat” moniker taken away from him as the Bulldogs have no passing game. The Bulldogs were just 3-16 on 3rd down versus La Tech and were out gained 359-340. Pretty disappointing from a team I thought could make the SEC West interesting. THIS WEEK: 10/1 @ Georgia
10. (LW – 9) Tennessee (2-1, OFF last week) The Vols were off last week. Nothing else to say really. THIS WEEK 10/1 vs Buffalo
11. (LW – 12) Mississippi (1-3, lost to Georgia 27-13) The Rebels are miserable and the stats prove it. After four games, the Rebels rank 113th in passing yards, 103rd in scoring, and 102nd in rushing yards. The only saving grace is they have an average defense and they look better than Kentucky right now. THIS WEEK: 10/1 vs Fresno State.
12. (LW – 10) Kentucky (2-2, lost to Florida 48-10) Right now, Kentucky has to be one of the worst D1 teams in the country, much less the SEC. For the fourth straight week, the Wildcats appeared strangely disinterested. Injuries are to blame in part, yes, but to be honest, you can’t make many excuses for a team that can not catch the football four games in. THIS WEEK: 10/1 @ LSU
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