AllGators SEC Power Rankings After Week 7
Was Florida's victory over Georgia in Jacksonville the most important win of the entire season for the SEC? Assuming the SEC Championship is Alabama vs. Florida, what are Florida's chances?
To answer all of those questions and more, we're back with our weekly SEC Power Rankings here at Sports Illustrated-AllGators. These are compiled weekly after assessing each team following every game, in order to best rank the SEC beyond just team records.
With that being said, how do things look after week seven?
1. Alabama (6-0)
The Crimson Tide had the week off and sit pretty at No. 1. Alabama is playing the best football of anyone in the country and is not only the conference's best football team, but the nation's as well.
In all likelihood, UA gets Florida in the SEC Championship for its next competitive game. Until then, it will be interesting to see if anyone makes Nick Saban's group sweat.
2. Florida (4-1)
What a victory.
The Gators finally defeated rival-Georgia for the first time in three years and for the first time in the Dan Mullen era. But UF did not just win, it dominated.
In a final score of 44-28, the score was closer than the game. Florida took its foot off the gas late and let UGA inch closer but this was truthfully more of a three-four-score game than a two-score game as the score shows.
Florida quarterback Kyle Trask should at the very least get an invitation to New York this season as a Heisman Trophy finalist. The signal-caller was 30-43 for 474 yards, four touchdowns and just one interception. This was against what is supposed to be the conference's best defense.
Everything offensively is clicking for the Gators. And defensively, Todd Grantham's unit is doing what it has to to win games. Florida proved in Jacksonville that it is the conference's second-best team, and there is a sizeable gap behind it.
3. Texas A&M (5-1)
The one year that Jimbo Fisher and Co. seemingly fly under the radar and people stop acknowledging the Aggies as the conference's "sleeping giant," they actually become the conference's sleeping giant.
While Georgia got throttled by the Gators this weekend, TAMU embarrassed South Carolina, 48-3. The Gamecocks are not good, but they aren't 48-3 bad. It takes a talented group to do that type of damage.
Fisher has quarterback Kellen Mond playing efficient, exciting and mistake-free football, as he was 16-26 this weekend for 224 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions.
That'll work.
4. Georgia (4-2)
The most obvious thing about Saturday afternoon in Jacksonville was that Kirby Smart got outcoached. Not just Smart, the entire UGA staff was outcoached by Mullen and Co.
The Gators had a game plan, on both sides of the ball, that they absolutely knew was going to work. Georgia seemed to change the way it wanted to play three-to-four times during the game just to keep up.
Obviously part of that is getting down by a few scores as a run-first football team. You have to start throwing the ball more than you want to.
However, even defensively, Smart's pride and joy as a coach, adjustments just didn't seem to be happening. UF threw swing passes to its running backs for an easy 10-15 yards all game and Georgia didn't make any sort of stop to it until it was far too late deep into the fourth quarter.
UGA quarterback Stetson Bennett was an embarrassing 5-16 for 78 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Backup quarterback D'Wan Mathis was even worse, somehow, going 4-13 for 34 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.
Georgia has played two teams that could match them athletically this season in Florida and Alabama. The Dawgs lost both games by double-digits.
5. Auburn (4-2)
Auburn continues to be the conference's strangest team, which is nothing new. The Tigers on a week-to-week basis can look like a bottom-five or top-five team in the SEC.
Except the bye week. Auburn did not play Saturday and gave its fans a week off of the regularly-scheduled heart attack.
Like a lot of placements on this list, the Tigers are at No. 5 by default.
6. Ole Miss (2-4)
The Rebels did not play Saturday either. So at the six spot, it remains status quo.
7. Kentucky (2-4)
Same story for the Wildcats.
8. Arkansas (3-3)
Tennessee has been an embarrassment this season, but nonetheless, Arkansas got itself another victory.
Thought to be the conference's doormat before the season, the Razorbacks have had a really solid season under first-year head coach Sam Pittman. Who would have thought Pittman would have a better quarterback situation that Georgia?
Feleipe Franks has played a solid season for the Razorbacks, as he was 18-24 on Saturday for 215 yards and three touchdowns. Arkansas will not beat Franks' former team, Florida, when the Razorbacks plays the Gators this coming Saturday in Gainesville, but it could be a very intriguing contest.
Before the season, this was supposed to be a snooze game.
9. LSU (2-3)
The Tigers have leapfrogged South Carolina without giving any effort this week. One of many teams with the week off, LSU jumped South Carolina simply because South Carolina got slaughtered by Texas A&M, 48-3.
10. Missouri (2-3)
This Tiger team, along with LSU, also jumped South Carolina without doing anything. Missouri had the week off, and playing nobody is more impressive than losing 48-3.
11. South Carolina (2-4)
Last week, this list talked about South Carolina being next to Arkansas. Up to that point, the Gamecocks had only won two games, but were competitive in every game.
After getting slaughtered by Texas A&M, they'll be humbled just a bit on this list.
12. Tennessee (2-4)
The Vols tried three different quarterback and all were equally as embarrassing as the last against Arkansas.
Jarrett Guarantano was 5-8 for 42 yards, no touchdowns or interceptions. Harrison Bailey was 6-9 for 42 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions. Brian Maurer then replaced no talent with even less talent to throw four passes for no reason, going 0-for-4.
The narrative is over that Tennessee is "not that bad." With quarterback play like that and a coaching staff that clearly knows nothing about developing quarterbacks, Tennessee is that bad.
13. Mississippi State (2-4)
An unimpressive and uninspiring victory over Vanderbilt gave Mike Leach his first SEC victory since week one when the Bulldogs were actually considered good.
This win meant nothing. It's Vanderbilt.
14. Vanderbilt (0-4)
No surprise here.
