SEC power rankings entering Week 7: Alabama vs. Georgia for top spot

SEC football enters its fourth weekend of play this coming Saturday.

Going conference-only has yielded us two undefeated SEC football teams through three weeks.

Instead of playing an eight-game conference schedule like the SEC typically does, playing two additional games in-conference to make it 10 this year has been awesome, but at a price. Only one team will get to 4-0 in the SEC this season, as the No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide will host the No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs meet on Saturday in what feels like the 2020 SEC Championship game.

Here are the weekly SEC football power rankings through Week 6.

The Vanderbilt Commodores are the only winless team in the SEC through three games. While they played the Texas A&M Aggies tough on the road in Week 4, the ‘Dores have scored 26 points this season, which are the fewest in the SEC. Normally a strong defensive-minded team under head coach Derek Mason, Vanderbilt has given up 99 points, the fifth most in the SEC this year.

Admittedly, there’s not very much separating No. 7 to No. 13. These seven teams are all 1-2. However, the reigning national champions come in at No. 13 this week is expectations. The LSU Tigers should be 3-0, but have lost to the Mississippi State Bulldogs at home and to the Missouri Tigers on the road in Columbia, Missouri. The offense is fine, but this defense can’t stop anybody.

My oh my, how Mississippi State has fallen. As it turns out, LSU isn’t very good either. Mike Leach’s team has gone out at lost at home to the Arkansas Razorbacks and to the cross-divisional rival Kentucky Wildcats on the road. The Air Raid offense that beat the former No. 6 team in the land has gotten progressively worse each week. A safety were their only points scored Saturday.

I don’t think the South Carolina Gamecocks are very good, but this is about where I’d thought they’d be through three games. They’d give the Tennessee Volunteers a battle in their home opener, fall to the Florida Gators in Gainesville and then beat the snot out of Vanderbilt. They are plus-16 in point differential, so maybe they’re slightly better than what their record indicates.

It might be a bit of an overreaction here, but Mizzou is not the worst team in the SEC this week. Though LSU doesn’t look to be any good, Eliah Drinkwitz got his first win on Saturday over the Bayou Bengals. Wins will be hard to come by for the Tigers this year, but they seem to be getting better each week, which is a fantastic thing in a clear rebuilding season for the Missouri program.

Who knows if the Ole Miss Rebels are any good? All we know is Lane Kiffin brought a high-octane offense to Oxford and the Rebels are a fun watch these days. Though they played Alabama tough at home last week, it’s still a loss. Frankly, Ole Miss should be 0-3 because college kickers handed the Rebels a win vs. Kentucky. The defense is rancid, but we love watching the offense go to work.

This isn’t the same, old sorry Arkansas team. It’s pretty clear Sam Pittman is the right man for the job in Fayetteville. The Hogs are 1-2 and should be 2-1, but the SEC officials in the Auburn game thought otherwise. They held a lead at home heading into halftime vs. Georgia in their season opener and upset Mississippi State in Davis Wade two weeks ago. Progress is being made here.

Though you are what your record says you are, Kentucky should be 2-1, and maybe even 3-0 if they didn’t get hosed by a terrible call before halftime on the road vs. Auburn. Crushing cross-divisional rival Mississippi State in Week 6 was a statement win for the ‘Cats. Mark Stoops is a good coach and got his team ready to play to avoid starting the year out 0-3. Kentucky is decent.

Tennessee has the right head coach in Jeremy Pruitt, but the gap remains between the Vols and the Dawgs in the SEC East. Pruitt has shown us his team can beat teams it should convincingly against the likes of South Carolina and Mizzou. However, this supposedly elite offensive line of his was thoroughly embarrassed by the UGA pass rush in the second half on Saturday afternoon.

There’s not a ton to like about what you’ve seen out of Auburn other than the Tigers have found ways to win games they probably shouldn’t have. They should be 1-2 with back-to-back losses to Georgia and Arkansas. Auburn can’t play like it has and expect to beat quality teams like Alabama or Texas A&M in divisional play, but you can’t overlook the concept of just win on Saturday.

After barely getting past Vanderbilt at home in Week 4 and getting throughly outclassed by Alabama in Week 5, Jimbo Fisher’s team responded by getting him his first signature win as the Aggies head coach. It may have been only by a field goal at home over Florida, but this was the type of performance Fisher and his program can build on heading into the latter part of 2020.

Even though Florida lost on the road to Texas A&M, we get the feeling the Gators would beat the Aggies in Gainesville and four out of five times in College Station. The offense is fantastic under head coach Dan Mullen, but it looks like Todd Grantham’s defense will end up costing the Gators at shot at getting back to Atlanta and contending for a College Football Playoff berth.

There is no doubt which SEC has the best defense. The Dawgs have allowed 37 combined points in their first three games, while simultaneously putting up 108 on offense. Georgia is the No. 1 scoring defense in the SEC and the No. 5 scoring offense heading into their huge Week 7 game vs. Alabama. Will the Dawgs be able to exorcise their Crimson Tide demons this time? We’ll see.

Alabama edges out Georgia for the top spot this week for two reasons and only two reasons: Past performance vs. Georgia and this Week 7 game being played in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide easily have the best offense in the SEC with 153 total points. However, they have allowed 91 points in three games, which has them as the No. 8 scoring defense in the SEC this season.

Overall, we’re going to have a clear No. 1 by this time next week in the SEC. It’ll be the winner between the Dawgs and the Crimson Tide. What we are also hoping for is teams ranked No. 7 to No. 13 to separate a bit. Vanderbilt will remain No. 14 until the ‘Dores win a game, but the middle of the pack remains incredibly confusing, as you could argue for a few teams to come in at No. 7.

Two of the top three teams in the country will be getting after it in Tuscaloosa Saturday night.

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