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SEC Football: Final Power Rankings (6-1)

By John Richardson

Jan 9, 2016; Phoenix, AZ, USA; General view of the college football playoff trophy during media day at Phoenix Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 9, 2016; Phoenix, AZ, USA; General view of the college football playoff trophy during media day at Phoenix Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jan 1, 2016; Tampa, FL, USA; Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Joshua Dobbs (11), linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin (21) and teammates celebrate as they beat the Northwestern Wildcats in the 2016 Outback Bowl at Raymond James Stadium. Tennessee Volunteers defeated the Northwestern Wildcats 45-6. Tennessee Volunteers Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 1, 2016; Tampa, FL, USA; Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Joshua Dobbs (11), linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin (21) and teammates celebrate as they beat the Northwestern Wildcats in the 2016 Outback Bowl at Raymond James Stadium. Tennessee Volunteers defeated the Northwestern Wildcats 45-6. Tennessee Volunteers Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /

6.  Mississippi State

The offense (31st) and defense (56th) for the Bulldogs played and fairly well nationally for being in the SEC.  The Bulldogs only barely crack the top half of the standings due to their signature win this season coming against Arkansas.  Outside of that, their best game was a 2 point loss to LSU.  Winning all the games they were supposed to helped them jump in front of some teams they lost to (like Texas A&M), though.

5.  Georgia

SEC football wasn’t as good as usual in 2015 and Georiga benefitted.  The Bulldogs won 10 games with zero quality wins.  Auburn?  Missouri?  Nah.  Their 8th ranked defense makes me think they could beat the SEC West teams they are ahead of, though.  Then again I thought they had a chance against Alabama so I’ll just stop.

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4.  Tennessee

Color me unimpressed with Tennessee’s win streak down the stretch.  Tennessee also benefits from SEC football, at least the SEC East, being down by conference standards this year.  Tennessee beat Kentucky, South Carolina, North Texas, Missouri and Vanderbilt to close the regular season.  None of the SEC teams in that group went bowling.  So they’re just better than the worst and somehow managed to beat Georgia.

3. LSU

For all the knocks on LSU, they still managed both a top 40 scoring offense and defense.  Wait?  Top 40 gets you in the top 3 of the SEC this year?  Shockingly yes.  LSU did have an ugly loss to Arkansas but beat everyone else they were supposed to.  While LSU football was ugly in 2014, the Tigers won.  It’s hard to argue against that.

I love to brag about SEC dominance as much as the next SEC fan, but this shows the SEC was heavily flawed in 2015.  The conference’s top teams dominated New Year’s though.

Next: Best of SEC Football

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