Updated Week 7 SEC power rankings: Texas continues to fall, Alabama takes the top spot

Both the college football writers who vote in the AP top 25 poll and the coaches who shape the, well, coaches poll seem to agree that Ole Miss is the best team in the SEC right now.

That's all well and good, but what fun is it if everybody agrees? In our updated SEC power rankings for Week 7, we do not agree in this case.

Ole Miss is a very good team, but this is how we size up the best (and the rest) of the SEC as the season nears its midpoint.

1. Alabama (4-1, 2-0 SEC)

In fact, there are three teams ranked ahead of Alabama in the AP poll with No. 4 Ole Miss, No. 5 Texas A&M and No. 6 Oklahoma, but the rankings and the power rankings are different things. Those teams are undefeated, and Alabama is not, so the Rebels, Aggies and Sooners get the benefit of that zero in the loss column from those voters.

But we're simply trying to evaluate who we think are actually the best teams in this conference, and guess what? Alabama is unbeaten within the SEC, owns the single best conference win so far with its 24-21 win at Georgia and backed that up with a 30-14 win over a ranked Vanderbilt team.

The Crimson Tide lost to ACC foe Florida State in Week 1, in quarterback Ty Simpson's first career start. Since then, Alabama has looked a whole lot like Alabama, silencing the Kalen DeBoer critics for now.

Simpson is a Heisman Trophy candidate, having passed for 1,478 yards, 13 TDs and 1 INT (plus 2 rushing TDs), and the Tide is rolling again, entering another intriguing matchup this weekend at No. 14 Missouri.

This week: at No. 14 Missouri, 12 p.m. ET Saturday on ABC

2. Ole Miss (5-0, 3-0 SEC)

It's not as if we're dismissing Ole Miss and what it's done so far! The Rebels are the clear No. 2 here, with their signature win so far coming 24-19 against LSU two weeks ago.

Overall, though, Ole Miss has yet to truly dominate in the conference, winning 30-23 at Kentucky and 41-35 over Arkansas. That said, this is a fun team to watch, and Trinidad Chambliss is arguably the best story in college football, going from Division II Ferris State to Ole Miss's backup QB to open the season to seizing his opportunity when Austin Simmons was sidelined with injury. Chambliss has passed for over 300 yards in each of his three starts while combining for 6 passing/rushing TDs in that span.

The Rebels have never played in the SEC championship game since its debut in 1992 -- could this be the year? There's a long way to go with back-to-back road games at Georgia and Oklahoma later this month.

This week: vs. Washington State, 12:45 p.m. ET on SEC Network

3. Texas A&M (5-0, 2-0 SEC)

The Aggies are always entertaining with quarterback Marcel Reed and wide receiver Mario Craver lighting up the scoreboard.

Texas A&M grabbed its signature win in Week 3 with a 41-40 victory at Notre Dame. Within the conference, the Aggies have a 16-10 win over Auburn and a 31-9 beating of Mississippi State.

Texas A&M has an interesting opportunity ahead of it as it avoids Alabama, Ole Miss and Georgia this season, although tough road games at LSU, Missouri and Texas remain.

This week: vs. Florida, 7 p.m. ET Saturday on ESPN

4. Georgia (4-1, 2-1 SEC)

We're going to deviate from the AP poll ordering once more here, skipping over Oklahoma in favor of Georgia.

The Bulldogs' lone loss came by three points in a highly competitive game with Alabama. If anything, Georgia is too far down these power rankings, but because it has a conference loss and narrowly took another when Tennessee had a shot at a game-winning field goal at the end of regulation before the Bulldogs won 44-41 in overtime, this seems a fair slot.

This week: at Auburn, 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC

5. Oklahoma (5-0, 1-0 SEC)

Oklahoma fans are refreshing their browsers and Twitter feeds feverishly this week for fresh updates on quarterback John Mateer, who is reportedly pushing to return and play against Texas after missing just one game (and benefiting from the bye week) after surgery to repair a broken bone in his throwing hand.

Even with Texas reeling after its ugly loss at Florida last weekend, this rivalry game vs. the Longhorns is one that will dictate how to view the Sooners' strong start.

Oklahoma owns an impressive 24-13 home win over No. 15 Michigan and also beat Auburn 24-17 at home when the Tigers were ranked. It was the first road start for Wolverines true freshman QB Bryce Underwood, who struggled in that game, and Auburn has since proven to be rather mediocre. Otherwise, the Sooners have dominated lesser competition. A win over a Texas team with its back against the wall would show a lot about this Oklahoma team.

And maybe it's not too late for Mateer (1,215 passing yards, 6 TDs, 3 INTs and 5 rushing TDs) to reestablish himself in the Heisman Trophy race if he's able to play -- and play well -- this weekend.

This week: vs. Texas (at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas), 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC

6. LSU (4-1, 1-1 SEC)

The Tigers had a bye week coming off their 24-19 loss at Ole Miss, which was a good opportunity to reset after a lackluster start to the season offensively, in which they failed to score more than 20 points in any of their three games against Power Four foes.

LSU has wins at Clemson and over Florida that looked far better in the moment. There are plenty of opportunities upcoming to better evaluate this team, though, as the Tigers host South Carolina this week and then play three straight ranked opponents: at No. 20 Vanderbilt, at home against No. 5 Texas A&M, and at No. 8 Alabama.

This week: vs. South Carolina, 7:45 p.m. ET on SEC Network

7. Tennessee (4-1, 1-1 SEC)

Tennessee is coming off a bye as it prepares to host Arkansas (while surely also doing some advanced work on next week's big matchup with Alabama).

The Vols' lone loss was that 44-41 overtime defeat to Georgia in which they missed a potential game-winning field goal at the end of regulation. Otherwise, they won at Mississippi State and blew out Syracuse, East Tennessee State and UAB. The back half of the schedule gets much tougher.

This week: vs. Arkansas, 4:15 p.m. ET Saturday on SEC Network

8. Missouri (5-0, 1-0 SEC)

The Tigers are coming off a bye and haven't had the toughest of paths to reach 5-0, with wins over South Carolina and Kansas the highlights so far.

However, they have looked good in every game and have developed a real offensive identity, with a rushing attack that ranks third nationally at 292 yards per game. Ahmad Hardy, the Louisiana-Monroe transfer, has been a revelation, rushing for 730 yards and 9 TDs on 7.1 YPC, and Penn State transfer Beau Pribula has been steady at QB (1,203 passing yards, 9 TDs, 3 INTs, 3 rushing TDs).

This week: vs. No. 8 Alabama, 12 p.m. PT Saturday on ABC

9. Vanderbilt (5-1, 1-1 SEC)

Vanderbilt kept it close with Alabama through three quarters last week before losing 30-14 for its first loss of the season. The Crimson Tide held QB Diego Pavia in check as he passed for just 198 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT with 58 rushing yards.

There's no mistaking this is a good Vandy team, though. The Commodores have won every other game by at least 20 points, including a 31-7 win at South Carolina.

Vanderbilt gets a bye this week and then faces a pivotal stretch, hosting No. 11 LSU, No. 14 Missouri and then going on the road to Texas.

This week: Bye Week

10. Florida (2-3, 1-1 SEC)

This is where the drop-off starts to the next tier of SEC teams.

Florida gets a big boost from its 29-21 win over then-No. 9 (and now unranked) Texas last week in the Swamp, but that performance was an outlier compared to the rest of what we've seen from this team. The Gators had lost three straight to South Florida, LSU and Miami (which dominated that game, 26-7).

Coach Billy Napier is still on the hot seat, and this is still a mediocre Gators team until further proven otherwise.

This week: at No. 5 Texas A&M, 7 p.m. Saturday on ESPN

11. Texas (3-2, 0-1 SEC)

The Longhorns needed just five games to go from the preseason No. 1-ranked team in the country to out of the rankings entirely. You don't see that often.

QB Arch Manning continues to struggle, looking rattled in the pocket and missing open receivers. Until that changes, it's hard to have much confidence in an otherwise very talented Texas team.

Needless to say, this is a massive week for both Manning and the Longhorns as they play rival Oklahoma at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

This week: vs. No. 6 Oklahoma (at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas), 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday on ABC

12. South Carolina (3-2, 1-2 SEC)

South Carolina had a bye last week to prepare for its clash with No. 11 LSU this week. The Gamecocks opened SEC play with losses to Vanderbilt and Missouri before a 35-13 win over Kentucky.

This hasn't been the season many expected from QB LaNorris Sellers, who has passed for just 886 yards, 4 TDs and 1 INT plus 1 rushing TD. The Gamecocks leaned heavily on the run in that win over Kentucky, rushing 48 times (including 14 from Sellers) to just 15 passes.

This week: at No. 11 LSU, 7:45 p.m. Saturday on SEC Network

13. Auburn (3-2, 0-2 SEC)

The Tigers started 3-0 and had a brief stay in the top 25 before back-to-back losses at Oklahoma (24-17) and at Texas A&M (16-10).

Both games were competitive against ranked opponents on the road -- it's just that the Auburn offense has looked very limited, managing just 287 yards and 177 yards in those games, respectively.

It's hard to see the Tigers hanging with Georgia this week.

This week: vs. No. 10 Georgia, 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday on ABC

14. Mississippi State (4-2, 0-2 SEC)

Mississippi State has already doubled its win total from last season in coach Jeff Lebby's second year. The Bulldogs have a run over a ranked Arizona State team to their credit and pushed Tennessee to the wire last month in a 41-34 loss, but they got blown out by Texas A&M last time out, 31-9.

This week: Bye Week

15. Arkansas (2-3, 0-1 SEC)

Arkansas has already made the move to fire head coach Sam Pittman and turn the reins over to interim head coach Bobby Petrino, who, of course, had great success leading the Razorbacks with 10-3 and 11-2 seasons in 2010-11.

Coming off a bye after three straight losses to Ole Miss, Memphis and Notre Dame, it will be interesting to see how the team responds to Petrino.

The Razorbacks still have plenty of offensive potential with veteran QB Taylen Green (1,398 passing yards, 12 TDs, 5 INTs, 441 rushing yards and 2 TDs).

This week: at No. 12 Tennessee, 4:15 p.m. ET on SEC Network

16. Kentucky (2-3, 0-3 SEC)

Kentucky has yet to beat a Power Four opponent this season and got blown out in the last two games by South Carolina (35-13) and Georgia (35-14), both on the road. The Wildcats get a bye before hosting Texas next week.

This week: Bye Week