The week two action in the SEC was heart-pounding from start to finish— some teams are showing they're the real deal, while others look more and more like paper tigers. While it's tempting to overreact to some of the results, though, a close look at how things actually shook out on the field is worth taking.
Let's jump in and power rank the SEC after an exciting week two.
Power ranking the SEC after week two: Clear top three emerging for a very deep conference
16. Arkansas
What has happened to the Hogs? Arkansas got destroyed at Utah, 43-10, and I'm not even sure that final score communicates just how bad this was. It's increasingly looking like the biggest question for the Hogs is whether they can even manage to get three wins this season, much less make it to a bowl.
15. Vanderbilt
The Commodores managed to eke out a 9-point win over the Delaware Blue Hens in their second game of the year— albeit one in which Jared Curtis looked just as impressive in certain moments as we have been promised. I continue to feel as though this year's Vandy team is not near what they were last year, though.
14. Auburn
The Tigers lit up Southern Miss in a game where they desperately needed to feel some confidence in their offense. Florida this week will be a much better challenge for the Tigers, and I don't feel all that confident in them, but Auburn took care of business this past weekend.
13. Kentucky
The Wildcats put on quite a show in the first half, leading Alabama at the break, before eventually losing by 28. The wheels came off in a big way in this one— it will be interesting to see if Will Stein can rally the troops before one of the most intimidating road trips you can take in the sport to College Station next week.
12. South Carolina
There were some mitigating factors, but the Gamecocks didn't look nearly as crisp on offense in this week's game as they did against Kent State. The weather delay didn't help, and the rushing offense still looked pretty good, but if the Gamecocks want to make a run, they need LaNorris Sellers to look a lot better throwing the ball than he did this last weekend.
11. Florida
The Gators still haven't played anybody, but the way they're winning these games continues to infuse onlookers with optimism. Their first real proving grounds will be this week against Auburn in the battle of "who made a better coaching hire this offseason," and it's hard not to like the Gators here.
10. Tennessee
Tennessee took care of business pretty resoundingly against Georgia Tech, but they're still flying under a lot of radars right now. It's hard not to overreact, but I have the Vols at the back of a pack that is pretty tight together right now— no one on this list has more potential to rise in the near future, though.
9. Missouri
The Tigers played a B- game against Kansas and ended up winning by three scores. Not much more you can ask for than that— Austin Simmons looks like the real deal at quarterback, the run game is explosive, and on and on. The big question is whether this will scale against top-level opponents— the one bugaboo that Drinkwitz has had thus far in his tenure.
8. Alabama
The Tide pulled away in the second half, but the way the inexperience of Keelon Russell has manifested has to make the more talented teams on Alabama's schedule pretty pleased. It increasingly seems like the defense will have to carry this team.
7. Oklahoma
I'm not going to penalize the Sooners too much for what happened in the Big House, but their ceiling certainly seems a lot lower than it did after week one. The defense is still very solid, but Mateer's offseason improvement looks like it might have been a mirage after all.
6. Mississippi State
I was slightly tempted to just type "Kamario Taylor" over and over in this paragraph, but I decided against it. But Kamario Taylor. Don't sleep on the combo of him operating a Lebby offense opposite a Zach Arnett defense that is sneakily good.
5. Ole Miss
It's sometimes hard to discern what results over low-level opponents are the result of incompetence and which are the result of conscious coaching decisions, but Ole Miss fans probably wanted to beat Charlotte by more than they did. This week against LSU will be telling.
4. Texas
Texas moved down in every advanced stat profile after beating Ohio State, so why did they move up in this power ranking? It had much more to do with the fall of Ole Miss and OU than it did Texas doing anything— they're about the same team I've thought they were this whole time: Arch can't read the field, the defense is worse under Muschamp, etc. Watch out for the upcoming trip to Neyland.
3. LSU
The Tigers didn't look great on the scoreboard against Louisiana Tech in the first half, but make no mistake— they were absolutely dominating the Bulldogs in the game. Leavitt's interception problem is something to watch going forward, and Baker's defense still has some holes, but this is a good team.
2. Texas A&M
The Aggies forced three turnovers against Arizona State and were gifted with one more in a game that finished with one of the oddest box scores you'll ever see. The advanced metrics liked it, though, as the Aggies moved up in SP+ and FPI after the fact.
1. Georgia
The Bulldogs waxed Western Kentucky this past weekend and now will head on the road to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks in what very well may be a step down in competition. Then, though, they face both Oklahoma and Alabama in the course of the next three weeks— we'll know a lot more about the Bulldogs on the back end of that run.
Add us as a preferred source on Google