ATHENS — Just when it seemed the SEC was sorting itself, last Saturday happened.
Teams on the rise sank down, and down teams rose. Trying to sort the second-best team from the 15th-best team became anybody’s best guess.
“Outside of Texas, it’s hard to find sure things at the top of the rankings,” CBS sports Shehan Jeyarajah said. “Alabama has a strong overall resume with an inexplicable loss to Vanderbilt. Georgia is still hanging onto the dominant win against Clemson, but SEC play hasn’t exactly moved the needle. Ole Miss, Tennessee and LSU don’t have resumes that hold up to scrutiny, while Texas A&M makes things intriguing after a 3-0 SEC start.
“Especially after a week of upsets like this, it’s time to throw out priors and projections and let the complete resume speak for itself.”
To review, previously No. 1-ranked Alabama fell to Vanderbilt, and a few hours later, previously unbeaten and No. 4 Tennessee was dealt its first loss of the season by unranked Arkansas.
There was more carnage in College Station, albeit, the margin more shocking than the winner, as previously No. 9-ranked Missouri was a 41-10 victim of then-No. 25 Texas A&M.
“I think this year we’ve learned that thanks to NIL and the portal, the talent is more spread out than every before, and every single week just about anyone can beat anyone else,” Fox Sports radio host Aaron Torres said.
“People will point to Vandy over Bama or Arkansas over Tennessee, but just look at the sorted, three-way mess that is South Carolina, Kentucky and Ole Miss … make it make sense.”
South Carolina beat Kentucky earlier this season in Lexington, then Kentucky traveled to Ole Miss and beat the Rebels, and then last Saturday Ole Miss hammered the Gamecocks in Columbia.
To Torres’ point, No. 1-ranked Texas led Mississippi State by just one score — 14-6 — until the final play of the third quarter two weekends ago in Austin.
LSU, which has a 36-33 road win at South Carolina this season to go with a split against Big Ten schools USC (27-20 loss) and UCLA (34-17 win) is another curiosity in the SEC to this point.
“LSU, what shall I do with you?” said Anwar Richardson, a Texas beat writer with OrangeBloods.com as he attempted to sort out the AJC Power Poll SEC rankings this week.
“LSU is 4-1 and ranked No. 13 in the AP Poll. That sounds good on paper. However, LSU’s only loss this season was against USC, a team that lost against Michigan and Minnesota. LSU’s wins are against Nicholls, South Carolina, UCLA, and South Alabama.”
The Bayou Bengals will get their opportunity to prove themselves in their next four games against Ole Miss, Arkansas, Texas A&M and Alabama.
“That will show everyone if LSU is legit,” Richardson said, “or just Missouri in a different uniform.”
Rising up: Texas A&M and Arkansas were the big winners, both moving up four spots after their home wins over previously Top 10-ranked teams Missouri, and Tennessee, respectively.
Nothing to crow about: South Carolina tumbled from No. 9 in the SEC to No. 13 after a lopsided loss to Ole Miss. The Gamecocks have their SEC hopes in the balanced as they travel to Tuscaloosa to face Alabama as a three-touchdown underdog.
AJC SEC Power Poll
Note: The parenthetical after the current ranking denotes last week’s ranking.
1. (2) Texas — 144 points (Highest vote 1, Lowest vote 1)
2. (4) Georgia — 126 points (Highest vote 2, Lowest vote 5)
3. (1) Alabama — 124 points (Highest vote 2, Lowest vote 5)
4. (8) Texas A&M — 111 points (Highest vote 2, Lowest vote 8)
5. (3) Tennessee — 108 points (Highest vote 5, Lowest vote 8)
6. (7) Ole Miss — 99 points (Highest vote 3, Lowest vote 12)
7. (6) LSU — 93 points (Highest vote 4, Lowest vote 9)
8. (12) Arkansas — 75 points (Highest vote 6, Lowest vote 12)
T-9. (5) Missouri — 65 points (Highest vote 8, Lowest vote 12)
T-9. (9) Vanderbilt — 65 points (Highest vote 3, Lowest vote 13)
11. (T-9) Kentucky — 61 points (Highest vote 9, Lowest vote 11)
12. (11) Oklahoma — 57 points (Highest vote 7, Lowest vote 13)
13. (T-9) South Carolina — 37 points (Highest vote 10, Lowest vote 15)
14. (T-14) Florida — 28 points (Highest vote 13, Lowest vote 15)
15. (T-14) Auburn — 22 points (Highest vote 14, Lowest vote 15)
16. (16) Mississippi State — 9 points (Highest vote 16, Lowest vote 16)
SEC Power poll voting panel
This week’s SEC football games
Vanderbilt at Kentucky, 7:45 p.m., SEC Network
No. 21 Missouri at UMass, noon, ESPN2
Florida at No. 8 Tennessee, 7 p.m., ESPN
Mississippi State at No. 5 Georgia, 4:15 p.m., SEC Network
South Carolina at No. 7 Alabama, noon, ABC
No. 1 Texas at No. 18 Oklahoma, 3:30 p.m., ABC
No. 9 Ole Miss at No. 13 LSU, 7:30 p.m., ABC
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