Southbound and Down SEC Football Power Rankings: Week 2

We’ve seen two weeks of the college football season, so it’s time to overreact to what we’ve seen so far and give you our SEC Football Power Rankings.

After two weeks of the season, almost every SEC football team has played at least one challenging game, and if they haven’t, they will in Week 3.

Only Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, and Vanderbilt have yet to play a Power 5 conference school, but each will be challenged this week. Vanderbilt and Ole Miss will face a Power 5 opponent this week, while the other three will begin conference play.

Without further ado, here is the Southbound and Down SEC Football Power Rankings:

14. Missouri (1-1)

I don’t really think Missouri will end up being the worst team in the SEC, but they were last season, and through two weeks in 2017, they still look like it. We knew Missouri would struggle on defense, but we didn’t expect them to give up 43 points to an FCS opponent. Then last week, South Carolina held the offense to just one touchdown. They’ve already fired their defensive coordinator, and who knows what will happen next.

13. Vanderbilt (2-0)

Vanderbilt has taken care of business in the first two weeks of the season, outscoring opponents 70-6. But we are going to find out just how good the Commodores are after they go through this gauntlet of a schedule the next four weeks They host no. 18 Kansas State this weekend before playing no. 1 Alabama at home, no. 24 Florida on the road, and no. 13 Georgia at home. The Wildcats have scored 55 points in each of their first two games, so they should provide a tough test for the Commodores on Saturday night.

12. Kentucky (2-0)

Kentucky is 2-0, but they haven’t been impressive at all. They beat Southern Miss 24-17 in the season opener, then beat Eastern Kentucky 27-16 in the second week. They’ll be tested this week when they go on the road to South Carolina this weekend.

11. Florida (0-1)

Florida was a train wreck against Michigan. The defense scored 14 points on back-to-back pick-sixes, but the offense managed just 3 points the entire game. And even worse for the Gators, because of Hurricane Irma, they weren’t able beat up on an FCS opponent, Northern Colorado, to gain some confidence. The Gators will host Tennessee this weekend, and that should give us a better idea about both of these teams.

10. Tennessee (2-0)

Tennessee was absolutely shredded apart by Georgia Tech’s triple option attack in the opening week, but the Volunteers got out of Atlanta with a victory and that’s all that really matters. They’ll travel to The Swamp to take on no. 24 Florida this weekend, and the Gators managed just 11 rushing yards in the season opener against Michigan.

9. Ole Miss (2-0)

OXFORD, MS – SEPTEMBER 9: Quarterback Shea Patterson /

Ole Miss has to be encouraged by the play of their sophomore quarterback Shea Patterson. He’s thrown for 918 yards, 9 touchdowns, and 1 interception while completing 76.9 percent of his passes. Those are video game numbers. But the defense surrendered 27 points to South Alabama in Week 1, then 23 points to UT-Martin last week. They host Cal this weekend before a bye week prior to conference play.

8. Arkansas (1-1)

Arkansas struggled to get anything going in their 28-7 loss to TCU. I think they’re ultimately better than they looked on Saturday, but they need to prove it. Unfortunately they have a bye week this week, then they’ll have to play 10 straight weeks. Their Week 4 matchup with Texas A&M will determine a lot about each of those teams’ fate.

7. Texas A&M (1-1)

I’m not overreacting to Texas A&M’s opening loss to UCLA. Yes, they blew a 34-point lead with 19 minutes left in the game, I’m not sure how that’s even possible. But they did have a 34-point lead on a UCLA team in the Rose Bowl before things went south and snowballed after that. Now we find out what kind of coach Kevin Sumlin truly is. They didn’t look great against Nicholls last week. Does this team hang their heads since their coach is on the hot seat, or do they battle?

6. Mississippi State (2-0)

Mississippi State has looked good against inferior competition to begin the season. But through two games Nick Fitzgerald is only completing 59.6 percent of his passes. After completing 54.3 percent last season, that’s an area he was supposed to improve this season. It’s not going to get any easier for the Bulldogs. They host no. 12 LSU this weekend before traveling to no. 13 Georgia and no. 15 Auburn in back-to-back weeks.

5. South Carolina (2-0)

South Carolina has made a bigger jump than anybody in the SEC through the first two weeks of the season. The Gamecocks probably wouldn’t have been in the top 10 of an SEC football power rankings list prior to the season. But after good wins over NC State and Missouri, the Gamecocks look like a contender in the SEC East. They host Kentucky this week.

4. Auburn (1-1)

Gus Malzhan’s hot seat is as hot as it’s ever been. The Tigers were shut down by Clemson in their 14-6 loss last weekend. They were held without an offensive touchdown, and Jarrett Stidham was sacked 11 times. Auburn fans are on the edge of the cliff right now, but they need to step back. Clemson is very likely one of the best defenses Auburn will face all season, but what does it mean for their future matchups with LSU, Georgia, and Alabama?

3. Georgia (2-0)

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Georgia is probably as high as any team and fanbase in the SEC right now. The Dawgs invaded South Bend, Ind. and came away with a 20-19 win. However, Notre Dame did go 4-8 last season, and there’s a chance they’re not any better this season. Georgia looks to have an elite defense, but it will be interesting to see what happens at quarterback. Jake Fromm has looked good in two games since Jacob Eason got injured, but he’s still a freshman. There may be a quarterback controversy if and when Eason returns.

2. LSU (2-0)

LSU has looked good to start the season. They blanked BYU in the season opener, and blew out Chattanooga in Week 2. The biggest game I’m looking forward to this weekend is when the Tigers travel to Stark-Vegas to take on Mississippi State. Their defense will be put to the test by the Bulldogs’ dual-threat quarterback.

1. Alabama (2-0)

Alabama is, well, Alabama. They handled Florida State 24-7 in the season opener, then made easy work of Fresno State last week. I don’t see how they can be as dominant defensively as they were a year ago, but I also wouldn’t put it past the Crimson Tide. They reload like nobody in the business.

Next: What we learned from Week 2

This has been the first edition of SEC Football Power Rankings, we’ll check back with you next week.

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