Power Ranking the SEC West After Week 2

Ranking everyone in Texas A&M football’s division

2 weeks into the college football season, and fans of most SEC West programs, including Texas A&M football, all have reasons for concern. From top to bottom, each program seems to have underperformed in one aspect or another. In fact, almost every program in the league has had issues or major flaws exposed thus far. How much we can actually learn from those issues is another matter—2 weeks is not a huge sample size—but here’s how things stand in the West.

If you’re wanting to move out of last place, an overtime win at home over a very poor Arizona team is not the way to do that. Zach Arnett’s bulldogs still have to answer many of their major questions. A test against LSU this week will provide an opportunity for upward mobility in this ranking—or, conversely, a cementing of the last-place spot, given that nothing like Alabama losing against South Florida or something similarly unexpected happens.

Kent State is one of the worst teams in all of FBS. UCF beat them by a score of 56-6 in their opening game. The mighty Razorbacks could only muster 28 points in their contest against the Golden Flashes, and Hog fans have to be concerned with the inefficiency of their vaunted rushing attack thus far. They host BYU this weekend before traveling to LSU on the 23rd, so they could very well be 2-2 coming into the Southwest Classic against Texas A&M football.

Hugh Freeze’s squad somehow found a way to win in a very strange slog of a late-night game against Cal. This victory came despite being -3 in the turnover margin, passing for under 100 yards, and getting outgained in total yardage. That’s a tough offensive game for the Tigers, but there’s something to be said about finding a way to win.

The purple Tigers led FCS Grambling by a mark of only 14-10 after one quarter, but opened it up after that, eventually winning 72-10. That’s what you’re supposed to do against an FCS team, but it doesn’t make up for what happened last week. I still have all the same questions about this squad as I previously did.

I’m still optimistic that this Texas A&M football team can turn things around. Weigman’s performance in the face of adversity was praiseworthy, and given the aptitude of last year’s pass defense for the Aggies and all they returned in the secondary, it seems like what they gave up to Miami is much more the exception than the rule. This is a precarious ranking, though, as the Aggies are on the precipice of plunging if they don’t get things turned around quickly.

This is starting to look like one of the most flawed Alabama teams that Nick Saban has ever had in his tenure in Tuscaloosa. Texas is undeniably talented, but the complete inability by the Tide to take advantage at all of the massive flaws that the Longhorns have exhibited is concerning for Bama’s prospects this season. Jalen Milroe was off-target or hesitant to throw even when receivers were running open in the secondary save for a few key moments, and his mistakes cost the Tide a game at home for the first time since LSU in 2019—though that game much more had the feel of two elite teams battling it out than this one did.

Like it or not, the Rebels have not only looked the best on the field, but have undoubtedly racked up the most bona fides so far. Tulane is not a bad team, and the Rebels were able to pull away on the road—though it should be said that the Green Wave were missing their star QB. They, unlike Alabama or Texas A&M football, passed their first test of the season.