It was one of the craziest weeks in the history of SEC football, with every top ranked team falling to a lesser ranked foe. This is one of the hardest rankings to make with teams either falling, or the gap closing.
- Georgia (No change from last week)
The previously undefeated Bulldogs dropped their first game of the season to unranked Auburn. Now here is the tricky part, everyone else at the top lost. Alabama and Texas each dropped their second game, and Ole Miss and Tennessee just don’t have the talent that Georgia has, so the Bulldogs will stay at first place in the SEC, just not nationally.
- Ole Miss (+2)
Ole Miss benefited from the chaos in the SEC, and trounced Missouri 31-3. After the loss to Florida, the Rebels have not let up. Quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and running back Kewan Lacy are an elite duo when healthy, and the defense showed up against a talented rushing attack. The problem for Ole Miss is the schedule, and if it can take care of business, it will be top of the rankings.
- Tennessee (+5)
The Volunteers defeated Alabama 26-10 with a backup quarterback in. It is the best defense that head coach Josh Heupel has had, and the offense didn’t need to do much this weekend. Alabama was limited to just 201 yards and turned it over 4 times. The Neyland Stadium crowd was deafening all afternoon, and it propelled Tennessee to the top of the SEC.
- Alabama (-2)
Speaking of the Crimson Tide, now sitting at 2 losses, but it is not a bad 2 losses to have. The rest of the schedule is manageable, even with playoff chances dwindling. The game against LSU on Nov. 7 will be for playoff elimination.
- Kentucky (-)
It wasn’t pretty, but the Wildcats just keep winning. Oklahoma has one of the nation’s best defenses, but that wasn’t the Sooners problem. Kentucky forced 4 interceptions in the game Saturday, and the offense only needed to be slightly positive. A very winnable game at home against Vanderbilt next followed by the high-stakes showdown with Tennessee.
- LSU (+3)
LSU is another team that took advantage of chaos in the SEC, and defeated its opponent in blowout fashion. Mississippi State was a corpse of what it was with no quarterback Kamario Taylor, but that didn’t matter for the Tigers, who needed to get on the board, who now travels to the red hot Auburn Tigers before consecutive playoff elimination games against Alabama and Texas.
- Florida (+5)
Florida hasn’t made sense all season, and really didn’t make sense against Texas, winning 27-24 with backup quarterback Tramell Jones Jr. starting, coming back down 17-3 and playing well considering the circumstances. The Gators are now 5-2 going into the bye week, with Georgia waiting on the other side. Anything can happen with Florida.
- Texas (-6)
It is a collapse in the making for Texas, who now likely has to go perfect to end the season if it wants to make the playoffs. Quarterback Arch Manning just hasn’t been good in the losses to Oklahoma and Florida, and the offense has struggled as a whole. Saturday night against the Ole Miss Rebels will need to be a win.
- Auburn (+4)
Statistically, the best regular season win in Auburn’s history, beating No. 1 Georgia on the road. What most teams failed to do when trying to upset teams on the road was finishing games with big leads, letting the other team come back and win. The Tigers didn’t let that happen, and kicked the winning field goal as Georgia repeatedly handed them the game. Quarterback Byrum Brown threw for 150 and ran for 115, and will try to play spoiler against LSU Saturday.
- Mississippi State (-4)
It is a completely different Mississippi State team without quarterback Kamario Taylor. The offense never got going without him, getting shut out against LSU. The Bulldogs look to get Taylor back as soon as they can with Oklahoma coming to town Saturday, another great defense.
- Missouri (-4)
Similarly to Mississippi State, Missouri looked poor against a superior opponent, but at least the Tigers were healthy for it. Running back Jamal Roberts wasn’t able to get much going with 39 yards on 20 carries, leaving quarterback Austin Simmons out to dry. Missouri has a bye week to try to shake off the loss.
- South Carolina (-1)
No game for South Carolina, and in a week like this, it may have been better not to have played.
- Oklahoma (-3)
Oklahoma’s ranking didn’t get tanked as much as it could have been, but failing to capitalize against a Kentucky offense that struggled, when all you have going for you all season is the Texas win, is not going to score any points. Quarterback John Mateer really struggled throwing the ball to open receivers, tallying 3 interceptions.
- Texas A&M (-)
The Aggies did play this week, but it was a tuneup game against The Citadel. The Aggies can turn the season around with a win against Alabama Saturday.
- Arkansas (+1)
The battle of the bottom ranked SEC teams was won by Arkansas, and quite convincingly. There is still a way to go to finish higher than this at the end of the season, with rival Missouri up next.
- Vanderbilt (-1)
The lone winless team in SEC conference play, who will play nothing but ranked teams, or formerly ranked teams, the remainder of the season.
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