SEC Power Rankings Week 3: Where does Kentucky land after almost upsetting Georgia?

As we prepare for Week 4 in the SEC and many of the SEC teams will start playing each other in earnest. Where do they all fall in the power rankings? Where should we rank Kentucky with a 1-2 record but a near upset of Georgia? These are the questions that I will seek to answer as we dig into this week's power rankings.

The Texas Longhorns continue to impress after three weeks of action and they haven't only played tune-up games to do so. They were able to take down a #10 Michigan in convincing fashion in week 2. There may be some injury issues after this most recent game, especially at QB but Archie Manning looked brilliant against UTSA.

It wasn't impressive by any means but the SEC is not an easy conference to go on the road and win in. Kentucky almost pulled it off but a win is a win and the margin of victory only really matters for moral victories. What the Bulldogs want, is actual victories and they were able to achieve that. It will be interesting to see how they bounce back after they have this week off.

The Volunteers have impressed for three straight weeks and even though their most recent opponent was an underwhelming team from the MAC conference, they absolutely throttled them. A shutout in college football is always hard to acheive and the Volunteers did it in Week 3. We will see how they do next week when they have to take on their first SEC opponent in Oklahoma.

The Ole Miss Rebels continue to roll through their schedule and they still won't have to head into SEC play in Week 4 as they play another tune-up game in Georgia Southern. This Rebels team looks to be one of the top teams in the SEC and will rival any of the three above them.

Week 2 was a bit unimpressive for the Crimson Tide but they rallied back to take on a tough Big 10 opponent in Wisconsin. While the Tide were favored to win in that contest many were expecting there to be a bit more of a contest at display. However, Alabama was able to handle the Badgers with relative ease.

I debated moving them up as they were able to beat a ranked team in Boston College and maybe they will eventually persuade me to move them up as they move into SEC play. For now, they seem to be somewhere between good and great.

The Sooners have been a little bit up and down to start the season. They haven't yet lost but they do not look like they are one of the great teams in the SEC this year. At least not yet, a win over Tennessee this week would propel them towards the top of the power rankings and the top of the conference.

If I found the Oklahoma Sooners hard to place, I'm not sure what to do with these next two teams. LSU is an enigma so far this season. They have a loss to USC (who looks really good so far this season) and then a couple of wins against lesser teams. They've had explosive passing and some fun-to-watch offense, but also some befuddling moments on both sides of the ball. The SEC win against South Carolina who recently embarrassed Kentucky, propelled them to 8.

The loss to Notre Dame felt very understandable at the time. Then Notre Dame went and lost to Northern Illinois and then it became hard to understand how the Texas A&M loss felt. Yet, the Aggies then went on the road this week to the Swamp and beat the Gators (who don't look great, but still a hard place to play and win).

The Gamecocks have played the most SEC football so far this season and because of that, they deserve to be in the top 10 of this ranking list. They embarassed Kentucky but lost to LSU and that's the entirety of their SEC resume right now. South Carolina looks like they will get to play upset in the SEC a few times this year but where will those moments come and against what teams?

I'm honestly not sure the Razorbacks should be ranked this high. They lost to Oklahoma State when it looked like they should have won and they only beat UAB by 10 points but this middle-of-the-pack SEC power rankings is tough to figure out until they start playing each other.

The big stain on their record and from being higher on this list is the loss to Cal. They underestimated them and came in with a lack of a clear plan to beat them. Justin Wilcox and company were ready to knock off the favored Tigers. Auburn may move up these rankings but for now, it's an ugly scar.

This is a Kentucky Wildcats site remember, but truly taking the #1 team in the nation to the final seconds and almost pulling off the upset, makes them better than any of the teams below them. They were embarrassed by South Carolina but they will be able to make plenty of noise in the SEC.

The Commodores lost to Georgia St. That should be all this description says and I would put them lower if not for the fact that they were able to beat Virginia Tech in week 1. They don't look good and will hover towards the bottom of the power rankings every week.

While the benefit of the doubt says that they have played the hardest set of opponents in the opening weeks with only one tune-up game in Samford (which they won 45-7). They lost to Miami who has a Heisman candidate in Cam Ward at QB and they lost to Texas A&M this last week. The hot seat is really hot right now for Billy Napier and he may be done in weeks rather than months. If they can't find a way to beat Mississippi St this week, it may be the end of the road. Which leads me to team #16 in the SEC power rankings.

It is really ugly for the Bulldogs. They lost a game they paid another opponent to come in and play. Here's the kicker, they lost-handedly. Mississippi State looked like the team that was tuning up Toledo, not the other way around. It's going to be a long year for the Bulldogs.