An update to the power rankings:
1. Georgia 11-0, (8-0): Stetson Bennett is good enough to win a national title no matter what your annoying friend says.
2. Alabama 10-1 (6-1): Alabama is eighth nationally in defensive yards per play but didn’t play like it against Arkansas. It will have to against Georgia. Bo Nix’s injury and Auburn’s loss to South Carolina likely removed the drama from this week’s Iron Bowl.
3. Ole Miss 9-2 (5-2): Matt Corralripped into his offense after a lackluster performance against Vanderbilt. Lane Kiffin didn’t have to. That’s a big reason this has been such a great season for the Rebels, who clearly have the league’s third-best team. Kiffin’s team is a bowl win and a win over Mississippi State away from the first 11-win season in program history.
4. Texas A&M 8-3 (4-3): The Aggies’ lackluster start feels like a million years ago. They beat Alabama, routed three more SEC teams and have a loss to a very good Ole Miss team.
5. Mississippi State 7-4 (4-3): Like the Aggies, the Bulldogs shook off a shaky start and have won four of five games, with the lone loss coming to Arkansas, in part because of a kicking nightmare.
6. Arkansas 7-4 (3-4): The Razorbacks put a real scare into Alabama, but the Crimson Tide offense had one of its best days of the season. Texas A&M is the only other team to score 30 points on Alabama this season.
7. Tennessee 6-5 (3-4): The Vols are thin but dangerous and will head to a solid bowl after spending most of the offseason assuming it was off the table. Hendon Hooker’s offseason decision looms, and he was noncommittal about whether he’ll participate in Senior Day festivities this week.
8. Kentucky 8-3 (5-3): Kentucky is somewhere between finishing the drill and the wheels falling off before the finish line. It must avoid a loss at Louisville this week that would ruin some of the sweet taste of a once-promising season.
9. Missouri 6-5 (3-4): Scared money doesn’t make money. Missouri was a double-digit underdog, but the presence of a lightsaber says plenty about the Tigers’ confidence going into Saturday’s matchup with the Gators.
10. South Carolina 6-5 (3-5): No team has improved more in the last month than Beamer’s team, which will be happier to go to a bowl than anyone in the SEC. And rightfully so. What a debut. One more win would give the Gamecocks the program’s third winning season since 2014.
11. Auburn 6-5 (3-4): The Tigers are skidding into the finish line after coughing up big leads in consecutive weeks. Auburn was flirting with a division title after beating Ole Miss and Arkansas, but … it will not win the division.
12. LSU 4-6 (2-5): Taking the fifth-most talented roster in the country and finishing last in the division is a recipe for a midseason coaching change. Get the jokes in now. LSU won’t be down for long.
13. Florida 5-6 (2-6): I’m amazed to see the Gators down here, too. And yet, it’s impossible to rationalize putting the Gators anywhere else. Sixth place in the East! And UF’s only wins since September are Vanderbilt and Samford (allowing 52 points in that one).
14. Vanderbilt 2-9 (0-7): Beating Tennessee feels like a big ask, but the Commodores aren’t rolling over every week. They’ve been relatively competitive more often than not in the second half of the season.
1. Georgia 11-0, (8-0): Stetson Bennett is good enough to win a national title no matter what your annoying friend says.
2. Alabama 10-1 (6-1): Alabama is eighth nationally in defensive yards per play but didn’t play like it against Arkansas. It will have to against Georgia. Bo Nix’s injury and Auburn’s loss to South Carolina likely removed the drama from this week’s Iron Bowl.
3. Ole Miss 9-2 (5-2): Matt Corralripped into his offense after a lackluster performance against Vanderbilt. Lane Kiffin didn’t have to. That’s a big reason this has been such a great season for the Rebels, who clearly have the league’s third-best team. Kiffin’s team is a bowl win and a win over Mississippi State away from the first 11-win season in program history.
4. Texas A&M 8-3 (4-3): The Aggies’ lackluster start feels like a million years ago. They beat Alabama, routed three more SEC teams and have a loss to a very good Ole Miss team.
5. Mississippi State 7-4 (4-3): Like the Aggies, the Bulldogs shook off a shaky start and have won four of five games, with the lone loss coming to Arkansas, in part because of a kicking nightmare.
6. Arkansas 7-4 (3-4): The Razorbacks put a real scare into Alabama, but the Crimson Tide offense had one of its best days of the season. Texas A&M is the only other team to score 30 points on Alabama this season.
7. Tennessee 6-5 (3-4): The Vols are thin but dangerous and will head to a solid bowl after spending most of the offseason assuming it was off the table. Hendon Hooker’s offseason decision looms, and he was noncommittal about whether he’ll participate in Senior Day festivities this week.
8. Kentucky 8-3 (5-3): Kentucky is somewhere between finishing the drill and the wheels falling off before the finish line. It must avoid a loss at Louisville this week that would ruin some of the sweet taste of a once-promising season.
9. Missouri 6-5 (3-4): Scared money doesn’t make money. Missouri was a double-digit underdog, but the presence of a lightsaber says plenty about the Tigers’ confidence going into Saturday’s matchup with the Gators.
10. South Carolina 6-5 (3-5): No team has improved more in the last month than Beamer’s team, which will be happier to go to a bowl than anyone in the SEC. And rightfully so. What a debut. One more win would give the Gamecocks the program’s third winning season since 2014.
11. Auburn 6-5 (3-4): The Tigers are skidding into the finish line after coughing up big leads in consecutive weeks. Auburn was flirting with a division title after beating Ole Miss and Arkansas, but … it will not win the division.
12. LSU 4-6 (2-5): Taking the fifth-most talented roster in the country and finishing last in the division is a recipe for a midseason coaching change. Get the jokes in now. LSU won’t be down for long.
13. Florida 5-6 (2-6): I’m amazed to see the Gators down here, too. And yet, it’s impossible to rationalize putting the Gators anywhere else. Sixth place in the East! And UF’s only wins since September are Vanderbilt and Samford (allowing 52 points in that one).
14. Vanderbilt 2-9 (0-7): Beating Tennessee feels like a big ask, but the Commodores aren’t rolling over every week. They’ve been relatively competitive more often than not in the second half of the season.
