The final SEC power rankings of the regular season saw Alabama stay perfect with an Iron Bowl win and Texas A&M outlasting LSU in 7 overtimes.
Ed Orgeron only enjoyed his Gatorade bath for an instant on Saturday night. Almost everyone at Kyle Field thought LSU had clinched a big victory in regulation with what appeared to be an interception late in the fourth quarter. As it turns out, Kellen Mond had taken a knee earlier on the play. Fans were rewarded with arguably the most entertaining game of the college football season.
The Aggies came away with a 74-72 victory and that will shake up this week’s power rankings just a bit. Don’t expect LSU to free fall after such a close loss, but they aren’t going to get away scot-free either.
Elsewhere in the SEC, Alabama seemed to toy with Auburn en route to a pretty easy 52-21 Iron Bowl victory. The final margin might have surprised some traditional fans, but the difference between the two teams has been apparent on the field all season long. The Crimson Tide will charge into their rematch with Georgia with a feeling of invincibility.
There’s plenty more to talk about in the SEC’s final week of regular season action. We’ll start our power rankings with a team that hasn’t been out of the basement in quite a while.
The best news for Razorback fans is that their 2018 nightmare campaign has reached its merciful conclusion. Arkansas might have hoped to trouble Missouri on Friday, but that didn’t happen.
Chad Morris’ vaunted air raid attack failed to get off the ground at all against the Tigers. His quarterbacks only managed to complete 9 of their 24 passes for just 122 yards and an interception. The hope in Fayetteville is that a full offseason will allow their staff to install an effective offense. If that doesn’t happen, Arkansas will be at the bottom of next season’s power rankings too.
Finishing the year in such putrid fashion is going to make for a long offseason in Knoxville. Jeremy Pruitt is going to hear about his team’s lopsided loss at Vanderbilt from a lot of Volunteer supporters over the next few months.
Losing in Nashville is one thing, getting dominated is quite another. The secondary’s inability to do anything with Kyle Shurmur really prevented the Vols from staying in this game. He only threw four incompletions on 35 throws en route to 367 yards and three touchdowns. Tennessee’s pass rush and secondary need a lot of attention in the offseason.