SEC West Power Rankings after Week 9: Top Teams Set to Square Off

Ranking Everyone in Division for Texas A&M Football

We find ourselves once more with the odious task of ranking each team in the division of Texas A&M football. It is indeed odious, dear reader; it is against the spirit of égalité with which I have doggedly conducted this blog ever since I took over to “rank” “teams” based on their “on-field performance.” Such a concept is brutish and outdated—yet for those who faithfully return every week for this muckraking; those who claw the coal from the earth with their soot-covered hands, begging hungrily for Gig Em Gazette to put numbers by the names of these teams, I must do it. It is my solemn duty. That doesn’t mean I have to like it, though. After all, how can one even begin to presume to know how “good” a team is? What level of hubris could possibly possess a man to so self-assuredly assign value to another entity?

Just kidding. These rankings are definitive and for all time! If you are ranked highly: rejoice! If not: weep!

LSU is still in timeout after beating Army so bad last week. This is a blog that respects America, even if the Tigers don’t.

Arkansas fans thankfully got a respite from having to watch their team play, and got the glad news that the man famous for emailing students about gaps defense after a loss was relieved of his duties. Next up for the Hogs? A trip to the Swamp. Fun!

Winning the award for “the most confounding .500 record in the league” this year is the Mississippi State Bulldogs. I guess their schedule wasn’t all that hard, but this is just plain not a good team—more than that, a just plain not good team missing their starting QB. Games against Kentucky and Texas A&M football will have the Bulldogs’ bowl-eligibility hanging by a thread if things go chalk.

A less confounding .500 record sits before us here in the form of the Auburn Tigers. Hugh Freeze’s squad has a real chance to build some momentum here, as games against Vandy, Arkansas, and New Mexico State are all that stand between them and the Iron Bowl.

I really, truly, honestly keep wanting to rank these guys higher. Scout’s honor. But they keep playing average games against bad teams. A 33-7 win against Vandy doesn’t do much to change my opinion of the Rebs, though the distance between 2 and 3 here is about a hair’s breadth as things currently stand—this upcoming weekend’s game could effect a change there quickly.

Texas A&M football did what it needed to do against South Carolina. The final score was closer than the game actually was, as A&M held SC to their season-low in yards, YPP, YPC, and YPA. The offense looked better for Texas A&M football as well, but more red zone issues had them putting out a lower number in the official column.

They say there’s no rest for the wicked, but Alabama gets a bye week just like everyone else. Nick Saban lays in wait, gathering power in his Tuscaloosan lair until the time comes where LSU will show up for their annual humbling. In other words, the calendar is about to shift to November.