SEC Power Rankings: Florida plummets after third conference loss

Two ranked teams fell to unranked teams this week in conference play, including Florida’s loss to a battered LSU team.

Arkansas also fell to Auburn, and now both the Gators and Razorbacks find themselves unranked. Georgia and Alabama are still the top two teams in the conference, and they seemed destined to meet in the SEC Championship this year.

Tennessee is improving each week, but an ugly scene at Neyland Stadium overshadowed what was a pretty competitive game. Matt Corral was great for Ole Miss in that one and is a legitimate Heisman contender. The conference’s leading rusher, Kentucky’s Chris Rodriguez Jr., was held in check this week but he still kept his place on top of the charts.

Vanderbilt and South Carolina are the two worst teams in the conference, but they even managed to have an exciting finish too. Here’s how all 14 SEC teams stack up after seven weeks of college football.

Vanderbilt (2-5, 0-3 SEC)

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Last week’s rank: 14

This week’s game: South Carolina 21, Vanderbilt 20

Next week: Mississippi State (3-3, 1-2 SEC)

South Carolina might have been Vanderbilt’s best chance at stealing a conference win this year, but a game-winning touchdown drive by Zeb Noland ended those dreams. Missouri is in a few weeks and hasn’t been great this year, so maybe Clark Lea can still make it happen.

Kicker Randy Bulovas bounced back from his three misses against Florida a week ago, and he nailed a field goal to put Vandy up by six before the final drive.

South Carolina (4-3, 1-3 SEC)

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Last week’s rank: 13

This week’s game: South Carolina 21, Vanderbilt 20

Next week: No. 17 Texas A&M (5-2, 2-2 SEC)

Shane Beamer knows that beating Vanderbilt by one point isn’t going to get him much love in any rankings, but he’ll take the win as he tries to get the Gamecocks headed back in the right direction. Zeb Noland, a graduate assistant who put on the pads for another year of eligibility, stepped in for a hurting Luke Doty and orchestrated a 75-yard, game-winning touchdown drive. It doesn’t get more Hallmark than that, really.

Texas A&M should be a different story next week. Jimbo Fisher has the Aggies playing well right now.

Missouri (3-4, 0-3 SEC)

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Last week’s rank: 12

This week’s game: No. 21 Texas A&M 35, Missouri 14

Next week: BYE

The Aggies rolled Missouri but that was expected. The Tigers didn’t help themselves with 13 penalties for 106 yards either. An early deficit led Mizzou to focus more on passing and Connor Bazelak couldn’t make any magic happen. Tyler Badie, the team’s workhorse at running back, also had a slow day.

South Carolina beating Vandy by a touchdown or two would have moved Missouri down a spot, but the Tigers lucked out.

Mississippi State (3-3, 1-2 SEC)

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Last week’s rank: 10

This week’s game: No. 5 Alabama 49, Mississippi State 9

Next week: Vanderbilt (2-5, 0-3 SEC)

Will Rogers threw for 300 yards against Alabama but it was the interceptions that put the game out of reach early. These Bulldogs are nearly as close as the others to threatening Alabama, and the score reflected that. Mike Leach can clean things up and get back above .500 against Vanderbilt next week, though.

Tennessee (4-3, 2-2 SEC)

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Last week’s rank: 9

This week’s game: No. 13 Ole Miss 31, Tennessee 26

Next week: No. 4 Alabama (6-1, 3-1 SEC)

Hendon Hooker brought Tennessee within five points of Ole Miss in the fourth quarter, but an injury forced him out in the game’s final moments. Joe Milton came in and nearly completed the upset with a pass that just missed, but then he closed things out with a bizarre scramble out of the pocket that went nowhere. The Vols look a lot better than they did when the season started, that’s for sure.

Florida (4-3, 2-3 SEC)

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Last week’s rank: 7

This week’s game: LSU 49, No. 20 Florida 42

Next week: BYE

What an ugly loss for the Gators. LSU came into this one with half its team injured and still dominated Florida. Dan Mullen and Todd Grantham are both under fire from fans after the loss, and starting quarterback Emory Jones may not have that title for much longer. This is just about the worst-case scenario for Florida, and a light schedule after what should be an expected loss to Georgia in two weeks won’t help them move up.

LSU (4-3, 2-2 SEC)

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Last week’s rank: 11

This week’s game: LSU 49, No. 20 Florida 42

Next week: No. 12 Ole Miss

An upset against Florida wasn’t enough to stop the separation between LSU and Ed Orgeron, but the Tigers’ head coach won’t leave the program until after the season. The schedule only gets tougher from here with Ole Miss and Alabama up next, but LSU has found its running game after Tyrion Davis-Price broke the school record for most yards in a single game.

The team is banged up and without some of its best players, but they proved that they’ll fight until the end on Saturday.

Arkansas (4-3, 1-3 SEC)

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Last week’s rank: 5

This week’s game: Auburn 38, No. 17 Arkansas 23

Next week: FCS UAPB (1-5)

It’s been a rough three weeks for Arkansas. After upsetting No. 7 Texas A&M in Week 4, the Razorbacks looked like a team to be feared. Then, Georgia ran through Arkansas and Ole Miss won on a missed two-point conversion attempt. Auburn should have been a bounce-back game, but the Tigers held on in the second half.

As great as KJ Jefferson was against Mississippi, it was his fumble that resulted in a defensive touchdown and changed the game’s momentum.

Auburn (5-2, 2-1 SEC)

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Last week’s rank: 8

This week’s game: Auburn 38, No. 17 Arkansas 23

Next week: BYE

For all the fuss made over Bo Nix being replaced a few weeks ago, he sure looked good in this one. With 292 yards and three touchdowns on the day, Nix was a key player in Auburn’s upset over Arkansas. Bryan Harsin and company will get to enjoy this win for two weeks while they are on bye, but Ole Miss comes next.

No. 17 Texas A&M (5-2, 2-2 SEC)

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Last week’s rank: 6

This week’s game: No. 21 Texas A&M 35, Missouri 14

Next week: South Carolina (4-3, 1-3 SEC)

Missouri isn’t good and Texas A&M just beat Alabama. Jimbo Fisher preached to his team not to get complacent, and the Aggies steamrolled the Tigers easily in response. The running back tandem of Isaiah Spiller and Devon Achane carries most of the load with each going for over 100 yards on the ground.

South Carolina is A&M’s last game to prepare for Auburn and Ole Miss, but a week off before facing those two programs should help on the injury front.

No. 15 Kentucky (6-1, 4-1 SEC)

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Last week’s rank: 3

This week’s game: No. 1 Georgia 30, No. 11 Kentucky 13

Next week: BYE

Kentucky found out how good Georgia’s defense truly is this weekend, but the Wildcats still got into the end zone twice against the Bulldogs. That’s two more times than Kirby Smart would have liked, but Kentucky is legitimately a good team. They aren’t getting punished too much here for the loss.

Chris Rodriguez Jr. did look human with only seven yards on seven carries. The running back leads the SEC in rushing yards this year.

No. 12 Ole Miss (5-1, 2-1 SEC)

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Last week’s rank: 4

This week’s game: No. 13 Ole Miss 31, Tennessee 26

Next week: LSU (4-3, 2-2 SEC)

All the chaos in the final minutes of the game overshadowed what was another Heisman caliber performance from Matt Corral. Without some of his top targets, Corral still managed to throw for 231 yards and tack on another 195 on the ground. It’s hard not to consider him a frontrunner for the award, but there’s a lot of football left to be played still.

No. 4 Alabama (6-1, 3-1 SEC)

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Last week’s rank: 2

This week’s game: No. 5 Alabama 49, Mississippi State 9

Next week: Tennessee (4-3, 2-2 SEC)

That’s exactly how you expect a Nick Saban team to bounce back after a loss. Bryce Young was back to his regular form and ‘Bama looked just about the best it has all year. That’s not a good sign for the rest of the conference, but at least a super-matchup with Georgia in the SEC Championship seems to be in the future.

No. 1 Georgia (7-0, 5-0 SEC)

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Last week’s rank: 1

This week’s game: Texas A&M 41, No. 1 Alabama 38

Next week: Mississippi State (3-2, 1-1 SEC)

Last week’s rank: 1

This week’s game: No. 1 Georgia 30, No. 11 Kentucky 13

Next week: BYE

Georgia doesn’t like giving up points. The Bulldogs made that clear after blocking a point after touchdown attempt with four seconds left to go on the clock. This is one of the best defenses we’ve seen in a while, and holding the conference’s leading rusher to single digits yardage proves that.

A week off might actually be a bad thing for Georgia with the way they are playing right now, but Florida doesn’t look capable of pulling off the upset when both teams return.

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