SEC Daily: A New Team Rises to the Top of the Power Rankings

That is what you call a gut check day.

It all started with No. 8 Ole Miss going into Norman and taking down a No. 13 Oklahoma team who had a great defense coming into the game.

Then in the middle of the day, there were two barnburners in Columbia, South Carolina and Nashville, Tennessee. No. 4 Alabama blew a 14-6 lead to South Carolina only to come back to win 29-22 after trailing 22-14 in the 4th quarter. No. 10 Vanderbilt then found a way to survive and advance to the next day with a 17-10 win over No. 15 Missouri in a game that was controlled defensively.

Of course, Texas’ win cannot be forgotten about. The Longhorns came back against Mississippi State and won a 45-38 thriller in overtime. After another great weekend of college football, it is time to revisit the SEC power rankings.

1. Texas A&M

Mike Elko is that guy for Texas A&M. As head coach for the Aggies, he will almost certainly be bringing his team to the College Football Playoff. A 49-25 statement win in Death Valley says it all. This team can flat out play. Texas A&M goes on a bye before going to Missouri.

2. Alabama

Boy, that was a gut check win for Alabama. The Crimson Tide gave its fans a heart attack after falling down 22-14 in the final quarter before the offense put together 15 points in the final 2:30 of the game. But Alabama moves down a spot because of what Texas A&M did.

3. Vanderbilt

Who would have thought in August that the Commodores would be among the best in the SEC as November approaches. Vanderbilt won an ugly game, but it was a game it needed to experience. Nothing went Vanderbilt’s way in the number game, but the ‘Dores put up enough on the scoreboard to move to 7-1. What a scene it will be in Texas next week.

4. Georgia

Georgia was on a bye to prepare for Florida, but moved down via Vanderbilt’s win.

5. Ole Miss

Ole Miss got a nice road win over Oklahoma, but not enough to push the Rebels up any spots given what happened with the teams at the top. At 8-1, Ole Miss has an extremely favorable schedule remaining, starting with a home game against South Carolina.

6. Texas

It was not too little too late for the Longhorns. What a comeback by Texas against Mississippi State. The entire trajectory of the season changed in that fourth quarter and overtime. Moving up to 6-2 instead of falling to 5-3 is a huge difference. Texas has a massive game against Vanderbilt in Austin next week.

7. Tennessee

Nice win from Tennessee offensively. However, letting up almost 500 yards to Kentucky is not something to brag about. It was a good bounce back, but Tennessee still needs a signature win this year.

8. Oklahoma

Where was Oklahoma’s defense? Ole Miss put up over 400 yards of offense and 34 points on Venables. The Sooners have lost two of their last three with a brutal finish to the season. Next up, they head to Knoxville.

9. Missouri

Missouri and Eli Drinkwitz just cannot win the big one. They had plenty of opportunities to go take it to Vanderbilt, but it was the Commodores who came out victorious. The Tigers go on a bye week to prepare for Texas A&M. Feels like Missouri has to win out now to make the playoffs.

10. LSU

Should LSU really fire Brian Kelly? That is what the LSU crowd thinks according to its chants Saturday night in the blowout loss to Texas A&M. The Tigers are almost certainly out of playoff contention now with three losses. 5-3 going into its second bye week of the season is not what the coaching staff envisioned.

11. Florida

Florida was on a bye this past weekend to prepare for Georgia in Jacksonville next week.

12. Auburn

Auburn finally broke through and came up with a desperation win over Arkansas. It was not pretty, but the Tigers closed out a game. The intriguing thing to watch for going forward is Auburn’s quarterback situation. We’ll see what it looks like against Kentucky next week

13. Mississippi State

Another heartbreaker for Mississippi State. It was up 17 points to begin the final quarter over Texas, the Bulldogs just folded. That makes it four straight losses with a trip to Arkansas coming up. Maybe they can get back on track next week.

14. South Carolina

Just a brutal loss for the Gamecocks. They had Alabama where they wanted it. But in the end, Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson came up clutch and crushed the hopes of dreams of South Carolina. South Carolina drops to 3-5 with a trip to Ole Miss coming up.

15. Arkansas

It looked like for a while that Arkansas was finally going to get a win, but after Auburn benched starting quarterback Jackson Arnold for Ashton Daniels, the entire mood of Auburn shifted as it came back to beat Arkansas 33-24. Another tough loss for Arkansas, who cannot close a single game out. Still though, the Razorbacks showed more life than Kentucky did.

16. Kentucky

I mean hey, at least Kentucky scored 34 on Tennessee, right? The Wildcats challenged the Volunteers a bit offensively, but Kentucky’s defense was no match for Huepel’s team. Kentucky drops to 2-5 with a trip to Auburn coming up.