SEC power rankings: Missouri ends Dan Mullen’s run at Florida, Arkansas gives Alabama a scare

Dan Mullen has been fired as the Florida Gators’ head coach as the Missouri Tigers pulled off an unlikely win. What does that do to the SEC power rankings entering Rivalry Week?

The Florida Gators have made the decision to move on from Dan Mullen after a fairly embarrassing display in the Gators’ game against the Missouri Tigers. That wasn’t the only reason Florida fired its head coach, but it was apparently the last straw for the Gators.

Now Florida will be without a head coach during its rivalry game as it tries to become eligible for a bowl game.

The Gators weren’t the only disappointment this week. Elsewhere in the SEC, the South Carolina Gamecocks earned bowl eligibility with a surprising win over the Auburn Tigers. To a lesser degree, the Ole Miss Rebels disappointed a little as the Rebels looked a little sluggish when facing the Vanderbilt Commodores compared to their typical performances.

How do the SEC power rankings look this week?

If not for Vanderbilt, Florida would be at the bottom of the SEC power rankings

The Vanderbilt Commodores fell behind the Ole Miss Rebels early, but it appeared as if Vanderbilt refused to give up. The Commodores don’t have many things to hang their hats on this season, but forcing Ole Miss to play Matt Corral pretty much the entire game is a little noteworthy.

It was really tempting to put the Florida Gators at the bottom of the power rankings this week. At the beginning of the year, it appeared as if Florida might be able to go out and make things interesting in the SEC West. Well, things are interesting, but in the worst possible way for Florida football fans. The Gators have fired their head coach and they may not make a bowl this year. Nothing good is going on in Gainesville right now.

The LSU Tigers drop a bit this week. Some of that has to do with the way other teams moved up and some of that has to do with the sheer fact that LSU really had issues scoring against the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks. Can Ed Orgeron find a way to help LSU get to a bowl? All the Tigers need to do is upset Texas A&M. That’s not impossible, right?

Congrats, Missouri Tigers! Y’all ended another coach’s tenure at his current school! The Tigers, in bizarre fashion, found a way to beat the Florida Gators. Eliah Drinkwitz still has a mess of a team in front of him, but at least it got a fun win. We’ll see if Mizzou can build off of this win moving forward.

Well, the Auburn Tigers probably aren’t feeling all that great right now. What was once a promising season has devolved into a 6-5 campaign as Bryan Harsin’s team prepares for the Iron Bowl. The Tigers have a lot of work to do.

Look at you, South Carolina Gamecocks! Y’all are bowl eligible! A year after struggling considerably, Shane Beamer led the Gamecocks to six regular season wins! A (slightly controversial) win over the Auburn Tigers has set South Carolina up for a matchup with the Clemson Tigers. Can South Carolina find a way to upset their rival the way they made it past Auburn?

When presented with the New Mexico State Aggies, the Kentucky Wildcats went out and got a huge, blowout win. The Wildcats’ annual rivalry matchup with the Louisville Cardinals might turn out to be an interesting game to keep up with.

The Tennessee Volunteers absolutely punished the South Alabama Jaguars. It wasn’t necessary, but the Vols racked up 60 points on Saturday. There’s a good chance they’ll do the same to Vanderbilt this week.

As Jimbo Fisher continues to fight off rumors that he’s going to run away to Baton Rouge, those Texas A&M Aggies cruised to victory over Prairie View A&M. The Aggies are now rolling into their annual game against the LSU Tigers as the clearly better team than the bunch in Baton Rouge. To make this not-rivalry game interesting, can we make it so that the winner gets Fisher as their head coach?

Mike Leach and the Mississippi State Bulldogs have plenty of momentum moving into Egg Bowl week. The Bulldogs, clearly, looked dominant against the Tennessee State Tigers and Will Rogers continued his assault on Mississippi State’s record books. Leach and the Bulldogs have a chance to snag second in the SEC West if they can win the Egg Bowl, but Ole Miss isn’t a team to take lightly and the weather may not be conducive to a pass-heavy offense.

The Ole Miss Rebels took care of the Vanderbilt Commodores and they won by two touchdowns, but for some reason, Ole Miss wasn’t able to put Vanderbilt away. It’ll be fascinating to see how Ole Miss shows up in the Egg Bowl. With the rivalry game being the deciding matchup for second in the SEC West and Ole Miss chasing 10 wins in the regular season, there’s a lot at stake on Thursday in Starkville.

Sam Pittman and the Arkansas Razorbacks did everything they possibly could to put a scare into Alabama on Saturday. And really, Arkansas looked promising. The future is bright for the folks in Fayetteville. Arkansas fans should be thrilled with the way Pittman is developing this program.

Nick Saban has one of the best teams in the country and one of the most talented rosters and yet, somehow, the Alabama Crimson Tide continues to find ways to stumble against teams they should have no trouble putting away. The Iron Bowl is here and Saban’s bunch should get a solid warm-up before the SEC Championship Game with the Auburn Tigers.

The Georgia Bulldogs continue to be the best team in the SEC and they’ll get one more opportunity to pummel an opponent before facing off against Alabama in the SEC Championship Game. Kirby Smart’s bunch look ready to win a conference title and they seem set to go on to compete for a national championship.

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