SEC Football Power Rankings: Uga may be barking, but is Alabama No. 1?
With nothing but one Vanderbilt game to go by, ranking the SEC entering Week 1 is a tricky task. By season's end, it will all make sense. For now, here's how things look entering the first full week of games:
1. Alabama
This week: vs. Utah State
What to know: No sooner did Nick Saban nip Kirby Smart as the game's highest-paid coach, he nips his former defensive coordinator here as well. This isn't a team without questions, but for now, the clout returning in Bryce Young, Will Anderson Jr. and a host of others puts the Crimson Tide on top.
2. Georgia
This week: vs. Oregon
What to know: Uga can woof all he wants, but the Bulldogs' live mascot knows deep in his canine soul that reloading on defense isn't easy, and that this team must prove it's still that team.
3. Texas A&M
This week: vs. Sam Houston State
What to know: Sam Houston State's namesake is the only person ever to serve as governor for two states (Texas, Tennessee). And with that, you now know a lot more about Sam Houston than his football team will teach us about Jimbo Fisher's.
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4. Kentucky
This week: vs. Miami (Ohio)
What to know: I'll say it − give Mark Stoops a lifetime contract at UK. He's taken the program to a level of consistency rarely seen in Lexington. After all, John Calipari has one, and he's got the benefit of coaching at a "basketball school."
5. Tennessee
This week: vs. Ball State
What to know: South Carolina and Missouri have had shorter waits than Tennessee since their last trip to the SEC title game. Tennessee has been short on Volunteers for 15 years, to be exact.
6. Arkansas
This week: vs. Cincinnati
What to know: Coach Sam Pittman has brought enthusiasm back to Fayetteville. Maintaining it will require more than just an opening win over the Bearcats.
7. Florida
This week: vs. Utah
What to know: Florida is now on its third former Nick Saban assistant in the head coaching chair. Following Will Muschamp and Jim McElwain, is Billy Napier finally the right guy to make the Swamp scary again?
8. Ole Miss
This week: vs. Troy
What to know: Rebels fans have to get to know a lot of new faces from the transfer portal this year. If we're handicapping highest sales of game programs among SEC teams in Week 1, Ole Miss is the favorite to lead the league.
9. Mississippi State
This week: vs. Memphis
What to know: SEC schools aren't supposed to have to play the revenge game against the AAC, unless you're Mississippi State and you lost at Memphis 31-29 a year ago.
10. LSU
This week: vs. FSU
What to know: The last time LSU beat the Seminoles, Dalton Hilliard was in the backfield and Ronald Reagan was in the White House.
11. South Carolina
This week: vs. Georgia State
What to know: The Gamecocks' live mascot is getting a new name, and there are jokes. If the team tanks, they'll only get funnier.
12. Auburn
This week: vs, Mercer
What to know: There's something not right about Auburn and LSU sitting at the bottom of the SEC West, but here we are, opening the rankings with both needing to pay the power bill.
13. Missouri
This week: vs. Louisiana Tech
What to know: The Tigers won all of one game on the road last season, and this year, they travel to Kansas State, Auburn, Florida, South Carolina and Tennessee. Show me.
14. Vanderbilt
This week: vs. Elon
What to know: Anchor down. Right here in the power rankings.
Reach Chase Goodbread at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter @chasegoodbread
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: SEC Football Power Rankings Alabama or Georgia, which is No. 1?
