College football conference power rankings: Week 3

3.  SEC

The SEC moves down a spot heading into Week 3, as the gulf between the top two teams and the rest of the conference only got larger based on Saturday’s result

To the conference’s credit, the Alabama Crimson Tide and LSU Tigers have been absolutely dominant defensively so far and are certain playoff threats. However, the conference’s reputation was hurt this week by the Auburn Tigers, who no longer look like a contender after managing all of 117 total yards of offense in the ugly 14-6 loss at Clemson Tigers.

Georgia is the clear-cut SEC East favorite and picked up a nice road win in South Bend, although its fate may depend on how serious the injury to quarterback Jacob Eason is. The Tennessee Volunteers also showed no ill effects from week one’s exhausting win over Georgia Tech, and rolled to a 42-7 victory against Indiana State.

Neither win came against a particularly good opponent, but the South Carolina Gamecocks and Mississippi State Bulldogs both moved to 2-0 with strong offensive performances. There’s concerns elsewhere in the conference, as both Bret Bielema and Kevin Sumlin are on the hot seat, while the Missouri Tigers looked awful in the noncompetitive loss to the Gamecocks.

While the strength of Alabama and LSU at the top keeps the SEC in the top three for now, the Big 12 is quickly closing the gap until a third contender firmly emerges.