SEC football power rankings 2020: Florida makes noise in quiet Week 11

Though over half of the SEC football games in Week 11 were postponed or canceled, Florida still managed to cruise while Ole Miss keeps scoring in bunches.

Saturday was supposed to give fans one of the best SEC football gifts of every season: Alabama-LSU. But it’s 2020 and we can’t have nice things. So as we saw the rivalry clash between the Crimson Tide and Tigers called off due to COVID-19, it should come as no surprise that three other games throughout the conference slate were also postponed or canceled.

With Georgia-Missouri, Texas A&M-Tennessee and Auburn-Mississippi State also not being played, it was a light SEC football slate this week. However, it did offer the opportunity for the Florida Gators to be showcased. And in a tricky matchup with Arkansas, Kyle Trask once again proved to be a Heisman favorite in a phenomenal win.

Elsewhere on the light slate, Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss poured it on South Carolina, which was ultimately the nail in the coffin for Will Muschamp in Columbia as he’s since been fired. And then Kentucky got back to the win column but just narrowly against Vanderbilt.

So where does that leave us? We’re taking stock of the conference once again with another batch of SEC football power rankings heading into Week 12.

SEC football power rankings entering Week 12

Vanderbilt actually showed signs of life against Kentucky, which is more than can be said of many of the Commodores’ performances this season. But at the end of the day, they suffered another loss and their 0-6 mark still has them on track for a winless campaign in 2020.

Firing Muschamp in the midst of the pandemic is somewhat head-scratching but, considering the state of South Carolina on the field right now, it may not be surprising that they want to get ahead in a coaching search. A 59-42 loss to Ole Miss has the Gamecocks reeling and that’s not likely to improve with Mike Bobo now taking over on the sidelines.

Prior to the matchup with Auburn getting postponed, Mike Leach finally brought another win to Starkville, albeit against Vanderbilt. This is another team that’s in complete disarray right now and, as they eye a Week 12 matchup with an angry Georgia team, Mississippi State will likely revert back to losing form.

In all honesty, LSU’s matchup against Alabama getting canceled might be best for the Tigers. Even if COVID-19 hadn’t left TJ Finley as the only scholarship quarterback on the roster and the rest of the team short-handed, the Crimson Tide would’ve been out for blood after last season and it wouldn’t have been pretty. They, fortunately, avoid that and can now face more level competition.

Tennessee is one of the biggest disappointments of the SEC football season to this point. Jeremy Pruitt had hopes of turning things around and it hasn’t happened. The Vols would be best served to give freshman quarterback Harrison Bailey some late-season reps to ready for next year. At this point, the tease of future success is all the Knoxville faithful have to cling to.

Yes, Kentucky beat Vanderbilt on Saturday to end a bit of a skid and a previously anemic offense hung 38 points on the ‘Dores behind Terry Wilson and Chris Rodriguez. But should we be that impressed? Vandy is the worst team in the conference and they made it close against the Wildcats. In some cases, a win doesn’t eliminate a bad taste and this is one of those instances.

The fact that Eli Drinkwitz has Missouri sitting at 2-3 should be considered an impressive feat. Yes, it’s not an ideal record but he’s also a first-year head coach who’s not working with “his guys” on the roster. He’s clearly a terrific football mind and, though they may continue to hover at or below .500, the Tigers appear to be in good hands for the long term.

Suffice it to say that the Feleipe Franks revenge game didn’t go to plan. The quarterback played relatively well against Florida but the Arkansas defense, a unit that’s performed impressively this season, didn’t have an answer for the Gators potent offense. Still, the Hogs have earned respect this season as they were supposed to finish with Vandy in the SEC basement.

Moving Ole Miss up to No. 6 in the SEC football power rankings might be a bit of an overreaction to what we just saw. And it was just a win over South Carolina. But with Matt Corral, Jerrion Ealy and Elijah Moore continuing to light up the scoreboard, we could see a late-season surge from the Rebels that sees them finish the year at .500.

Few people have been as critical of Auburn as me. The lack of belief in the Tigers with Bo Nix at quarterback and a questionable defense remains intact. Having said that, Auburn is still 4-2 on the season and they are clearly in the top five of the conference given their record. Still, with matchups against Alabama and A&M still losing, we’ll surely see that the Tigers are still a cut below the top tier.

Getting boat-raced by rival Florida a week ago is still fresh on the mind when talking about Georgia and you have to think that a quarterback switch to J.T. Daniels should be in order. Having said that, they have an easy finishing stretch to the season that they should cruise through, assuming that the Dawgs don’t flip off the switch now that their SEC title and College Football Playoff chances are dead to rights.

COVID-19 is wreaking havoc on Jimbo Fisher and Texas A&M right now and it couldn’t come at a worse time. Their Week 12 matchup against Ole Miss has already been postponed/canceled after the Aggies had been surging since their loss to Bama. Now it does seem as if they might not end up with enough chances to make a CFP case or even make an outside run at the SEC West if the Tide were to stumble at all.

Florida is clearly on the fast track to the SEC Championship Game now. Trask is lighting it up every time out, even this week against a quality Arkansas defense with star tight end Kyle Pitts ruled out with a concussion. The defense still has its warts but, with the way this offense is playing, they don’t seemingly have any challengers in the SEC outside of their eventual title-game opponent.

Can we go ahead and fast-forward to the SEC Championship Game for the Crimson Tide? They won’t get to play LSU this season and they still have the Iron Bowl looming but Alabama is clearly miles better than every team on their remaining schedule. Mac Jones is a bonafide stud and the talent around him, as per usual, is elite. SEC football runs through Tuscaloosa once again and, even with the quality of Florida, it may not be all that close.

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