SEC West Power Rankings after Week 8: New Last-Place Team

Ranking Everyone in Division for Texas A&M Football

Texas A&M football fans and friends of Aggies: I have some grave news. A day I never thought would come has fallen upon us. There was a time where I had a dream. A simple dream—that one team would go wire-to-wire in these, the SEC West Power Rankings on GigEmGazette.com, as the worst team in the division. I was young, then, and foolish, I know, for I have now discovered that hope—dread hope!—is but a fool’s errand in this life. Would that I could declare, as Puddleglum once did deep within the bowels of the earth, that it is better to have hope; to believe whether or not that belief shall ultimately be justified. Had I the courage and constitution of such a creature, then maybe I could still rank Mississippi State last in the division. But alas, I cannot.

Wait, did you guys think I meant I was putting Arkansas down here? What an embarrassing miscommunication! For you, I mean. Not for me. I already said that LSU was being put in time out for disrespecting the troops. It’s extremely unkind to invite a service academy into your stadium and shut them out 62-0 just because you painted your end zones camo. Not on my watch, buster. I won’t have it.

Since facing off with Texas A&M football at 2-2, coming off a narrow loss in Death Valley, the Razorbacks have been in a tailspin. They’ve lost six straight games, and this contest against Mississippi State was supposed to be a “get right” opportunity at home following a tough road slate. To only put up 3 points against an MSU defense that gave up 41 to LSU, 40 to Alabama, and 37 to South Carolina—not to mention 28 to Western Michigan—kind of seems like the work of a team that might have given up.

I am unironically shocked that the Bulldogs are once more over .500. With Texas A&M football yet to face MSU, I’m just hoping this doesn’t mean that they’ve figured something out that will help them be more competitive at Kyle in three weeks. They’ve got to get through games against Kentucky and at Auburn in the next two weeks before that happens, though.

Auburn is really inconsistent, but is also starting to look like they’re figuring some things out as the weeks wear on. It’s not easy to hold Ole Miss to only 14 points through almost 3 quarters, and the Tigers made things interesting late against the Rebs. The Tigers could go on a bit of a tear here in the later half of the season, as their schedule goes Mississippi State-Vanderbilt-Arkansas-New Mexico State before they host Alabama for the Iron Bowl. 7-5 is very attainable for Hugh Freeze in his first season—and, with a bit of Jordan-Hare magic in the Iron Bowl, maybe even 8-4?

I know Ole Miss’s record is much better than that of Texas A&M football, but every single common opponent the two teams have had has performed better against the Rebels than against the Aggies. It does seem that the Rebels are a bad matchup for A&M, and they have the game at home, but that’s by and large my justification here. Plus, I’m skeptical of this 6-1 record (though it will in all likelihood be 7-1 when they host the Aggies, as they play Vandy next). I guess we’ll find out in two weeks whether I’m right!

The bye week was a welcome respite for Texas A&M football, just as the Gamecocks will be a welcome opponent for the Aggies next week, given each team’s strengths and weaknesses. It seems to me that the defenses down the stretch here that the Aggies will be facing will be much more conducive to better offensive output—though that could just be wishful thinking with Max Johnson at signal caller.

This may not be the best Crimson Tide team that Nick Saban has ever coached, but they certainly have whatever gene helps you find a way to win. In all but one game this year, the Tide have had a counter-punch for everything thrown at them, and they keep growing tougher by the week. Bama finally gets a bye after 8 straight games next week, and will likely be resting and recovering ahead of a tough contest versus LSU.