2022 SEC Football: Program Power Rankings Ahead of Week 3
Most SEC teams have played just two games to start the college football season, but some programs are already starting to separate from the rest.
Arkansas and Kentucky picked up key conference wins, while Alabama narrowly survived a scare from the Texas Longhorns. Six other SEC teams picked up non-conference victories over the weekend as well. Texas A&M was handed a dramatic upset, and South Carolina, Florida, Vanderbilt and Missouri had losses of their own.
Here is where each team in the SEC stands heading into Week 3 of gridiron action.
1. Georgia
There's no doubt that Georgia has proven itself as the SEC's best team to open the season. The Bulldogs may have lost a handful of talented defenders in the 2022 NFL Draft, but the program hasn't felt that loss so far with lopsided victories over Oregon and Samford. Quarterback Stetson Bennett has also looked just as solid as he did towards the end of last year.
2. Alabama
There could be a little bit of trouble in paradise for the Crimson Tide: a ridiculous number of penalties and slow offensive performance nearly cost the team a victory over Texas last weekend. Still, the program has consistently been among the best in the nation under coach Nick Saban, and that isn't likely to change with Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young leading the offense.
3. Tennessee
Right now, Tennessee looks to be one of the few teams that can compete with Georgia in the SEC East. Veteran signal-caller Hendon Hooker has been just as good as expected, and there are top-notch playmakers all over the field to support him. The Vols' gutsy overtime victory over a ranked Pittsburgh team on Saturday certainly showed the nation that they have the potential to compete.
4. Arkansas
Arkansas has already faced two legitimate threats to start the season, but the Razorbacks haven't been bothered. The team picked up an opening weekend victory against College Football Playoff participant Cincinnati and a conference win over South Carolina to start the year off on the right foot. Things will settle down a bit for the Hogs before a tough SEC schedule begins.
5. Mississippi State
When watching the Bulldogs play, it's evident that they lead the SEC in returning production from last season. Mississippi State is getting things done on both sides of the ball and has started the season 2-0 after wins over Memphis and Arizona. Quarterback Will Rogers is already leading the conference in countless passing categories, but things will certainly get tougher for Mike Leach and the Air Raid.
6. Kentucky
The dynamic duo of quarterback Will Levis and currently-injured running back Chris Rodriguez will reunite just in time for SEC play. The Wildcats have fared well enough without their star rusher, picking up a huge conference win over Florida to set the tone in the SEC East just last weekend. The program could once again reach new heights under head coach Mark Stoops.
7. Ole Miss
Ole Miss currently features one of the biggest quarterback competitions in the nation, with USC transfer Jaxson Dart and sophomore Luke Altmyer both vying for a consistent starting position. Both signal-callers have done well enough in the Rebels' two victories over Troy and Central Arkansas, but one of them needs to rise to the top before SEC play starts.
8. Florida
In two weeks, Florida has experienced a massive high and a major low. The Gators upset Utah to open up the season, and quarterback Anthony Richardson was instantly discussed as an early Heisman Trophy contender. The signal-caller and his team didn't fare so well against Kentucky and have raised some major questions within the program. Florida will need to find more consistency to keep up with its divisional opponents.
9. Texas A&M
Texas A&M certainly didn't look like the team with the nation's top recruiting class last weekend. The Aggies struggled tremendously against an unranked Appalachian State team and were ultimately defeated by a score of 17-14. Now, they've nearly fallen out of the college football polls and already have a pretty big hole to dig themselves out of if they truly believe that they can contend for a spot in a major bowl game.
10. LSU
The Tigers -- and new head coach Brian Kelly -- are a mystery. LSU couldn't do much on offense in its loss to Florida State to open up the season but put up sensational numbers against Southern over the weekend. There is a major difference between the two programs faced, but the team itself looked vastly different from one game to the next. The Tigers will have to wait and see which team emerges when it faces Mississippi State this Saturday.
11. South Carolina
Oklahoma transfer quarterback Spencer Rattler hasn't done quite as well as expected for the South Carolina program over the first two weeks of the season, but his team hasn't given him much help. The Gamecocks couldn't pull through and claim a victory against Arkansas in Week 2, and the schedule only gets tougher from here.
12. Auburn
It's looking like Auburn might struggle to compete in the SEC West. The team simply lost too many players to the transfer portal in the offseason and hasn't had much of a chance to rebuild into the program, that it once was. Although the Tigers do have some standouts, it might not be enough to keep up with the rest.
13. Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt started the season 2-0 with easy victories over Hawaii and Elon, and for the Commodores, that's pretty good. The team wasn't able to do too much against Wake Forest over the weekend, but things looked better than in years past. Unfortunately, conference play will likely be a whole different story for Vandy and look very similar to how things have gone over the last few seasons.
14. Missouri
Out of all of the teams in the SEC, Missouri has shown the least promise when facing stiff competition. The Tigers picked up a 28-point victory over Louisiana Tech to start the year but were throttled by Kansas State the following weekend. It was a hard-to-watch matchup for a team that once saw success on the gridiron.
