SEC Football Power Rankings: Week 8
The SEC featured a lot of byes last week as teams got ready for the stretch run. South Carolina, Texas A&M, Florida and Georgia were all idle, and the teams expected to win took care of business, which means there wasn't much of a shake-up in the power rankings.
The only move this week came from Ole Miss, which barely put up a fight in a lopsided loss to Auburn that dropped it a spot.
Once you get that low in the rankings, does that even matter? Everybody at the bottom of the list has a ton left to prove, anyway.
Kentucky won coming off its bye, while Mississippi State couldn't take advantage of the extra preparation against LSU. Alabama romped Tennessee to win its 12th consecutive Third Saturday in October game, and Missouri and Arkansas dispatched of out-of-conference foes.
Let's take a look at the rankings following Week 8 of action.
14. Arkansas Razorbacks
1 of 14
Arkansas went with quarterback Connor Noland against Tulsa while Ty Storey sat out with an injury in a battle of one-win teams, and the move wound up paying off.
He was effective enough, completing 10 of his 16 passes for 124 yards, a touchdown and an interception as the Razorbacks finally got that elusive second victory with a 23-0 shutout win over a hapless Tulsa team.
"I tried not to [think about the situation]," Arkansas native and lifelong Hogs fan Noland told reporters. "You grow up watching the Hogs play, and to be out there and get my first start meant a lot to me. It was a big moment, but I just tried to downplay that a little bit and focus on the game."
The Golden Hurricane wound up just 4-of-15 in third-down conversions, and the Hogs held them to 260 total yards.
After some recent struggles, it was good to see coordinator John Chavis' unit return to its solid early-season form.
This is going to be a difficult year, but the Razorbacks' getting a win they should have and doing it convincingly was a step in the right direction. If they can somehow steal a conference win in the final month, it would be a boost for the Chad Morris era.
13. Vanderbilt Commodores
2 of 14
Things continue to tumble for the Vanderbilt Commodores, and it's hard not to think Derek Mason could be in trouble after the season unless they do something drastic between now and then.
The 14-7 loss to Kentucky featured few redeeming moments for a VU offense that wound up 4-of-13 on third-down conversions and never could get untracked.
Despite how Vanderbilt started the season and that Kentucky is a one-loss team coming off a bye week, this game instead looked like a game between two bottom-dwellers in recent memory. The Commodores defense rose to the challenge on the road trip, but it wasn't enough.
It was a game of squandered opportunities for VU.
Facing 4th-and-1 in the fourth quarter from the Kentucky 16, Jamauri Wakefield was hit in the backfield and fumbled, ending that drive. The Wildcats responded with a go-ahead Benny Snell Jr. touchdown run, and Kyle Shurmur fumbled on a sack to end the threat.
The loss drops Vanderbilt to 0-4 in the conference and 3-5 on the season. The Commodores didn't have top running back Ke'Shawn Vaughn, who didn't make the trip due to an injury, and he might have made a difference.
VU is staring at another big void this season.
12. Ole Miss Rebels
3 of 14
Ole Miss had a major opportunity to kick a struggling Auburn team while it was down on Saturday, especially considering the Rebels got to play the Tigers at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
But it didn't quite work out as planned.
AU returned to the team everybody expected it would be, and Ole Miss' defense didn't have any answers for JaTarvious Whitlow in a 31-16 loss to the Tigers. He finished with 170 rushing yards as the Rebels defense continued to struggle.
Auburn's vaunted rushing defense was up to the challenge all day, making Ole Miss one-dimensional. Scottie Phillips had just 59 yards, and though Jordan Ta'amu finished with 324 passing yards, he couldn't single-handedly carry Ole Miss to victory.
It was Ole Miss' third loss of the season to drop the Rebels to 5-3. The Rebels converted field goals of 35, 36 and 37 yards, but they struggled to punch the ball into the end zone.
"The story of the day is the red zone," Mississippi coach Matt Luke told reporters. "When you get down in the red zone against a good defense, and Auburn has a really good defense, you've got to find a way to score touchdowns."
The loss dropped Ole Miss to 1-3 in the league.
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11. Tennessee Volunteers
4 of 14
It's easy for all the positivity to be stripped from big wins when your next game is against Alabama, and that's what Tennessee had to guard against in the Third Saturday in October tilt with the Crimson Tide.
Like everybody else this season, the Volunteers' weaknesses were exposed in a 58-21 loss to UA at Neyland Stadium. It could have been 88 points had Tua Tagovailoa stayed in the game and Nick Saban chose not to run the football much of the fourth quarter against his old pupil Jeremy Pruitt, who now coaches UT.
The Vols hope they made it through the game without any major injuries. Quarterback Jarrett Guarantano left the game with an upper-body injury and receiver Josh Palmer left too, and neither returned.
UT may need both down the stretch as winnable games against South Carolina, Charlotte, Kentucky, Missouri and Vanderbilt remain.
The 3-4 Vols need to find three wins in that stretch to reach bowl eligibility, and it starts next week with a pivotal trip to Columbia.
Tennessee needs more recruiting classes to battle with the SEC elite, and Pruitt didn't sugarcoat that after the game. But the Vols can beat the Gamecocks. Guarantano or Stanford transfer Keller Chryst, who played well in relief Saturday, could get the road nod. Pruitt told reporters he expects Guarantano to play.
10. Missouri Tigers
5 of 14
After a disappointing stretch of football that included losses to Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama, Saturday's Missouri game against Memphis went about like you'd expect.
Mizzou's set of Tigers rebounded offensively against a team that had few defensive answers, and coach Barry Odom's team continued to struggle on defense against Memphis. Even though the nation's leading rusher Darrell Henderson went out with an injury, Memphis still scored 33 points.
Thankfully for Mizzou, it has Drew Lock, who got back on track with a 350-yard showing in a 65-33 homecoming win.
After playing Central Florida closely a week ago, Memphis had no answers for Mizzou, which is a big positive for the Mizzou offense moving forward. Lock and Co. had struggled during the three-game losing streak but moved to 4-3 on the season with the win.
It is important for Odom to find a remedy for what ills the Tigers on the defensive side of the ball. This season can still result in eight or nine wins, which would be a huge step in the right direction for the program that must deal with Lock's departure to the NFL after this season.
It is vital for the Tigers to capitalize on this performance and improve going forward.
9. South Carolina Gamecocks
6 of 14
Perhaps this last week has given coach Will Muschamp and his team some soul-searching time to re-evaluate their goals for this season.
There is still time for a good year, even if the Gamecocks are coming off an odd stretch in which they lost 24-10 to Kentucky, beat Missouri 37-35 and lost 26-23 to Texas A&M.
The team needs some work on the defensive side of the ball, where it needs to be a lot more consistent. It also needs receiver Deebo Samuel to return to the player he was before last year's injury. Samuel hasn't been bad, but he can be a game-changer.
The Gamecocks are 3-3 with games against Clemson and Florida remaining. Those will be tall tests, but it's vital South Carolina does things like take care of business this weekend against the Vols.
While this still looks like quarterback Jake Bentley's team, the question looms if Muschamp should give an extended look again to Michael Scarnecchia. He did, after all, lead the Gamecocks to a big home win over Mizzou before heading back to the bench and watching another loss.
There are some major decisions to be made to close out the year.
8. Auburn Tigers
7 of 14
Simply put: The struggling Auburn Tigers needed Saturday's 31-16 win over Ole Miss.
There were numerous reports about locker room dissension, coach Gus Malzahn watched players like receiver Nate Craig-Myers leave the program and the losses were piling up on the field. The low point came when Tennessee snapped an 11-game conference losing streak in Jordan Hare Stadium.
"We went through a storm last week with all the negativity that goes with it," Malzahn told reporters. "It either divides—and I think a lot of people root for that—or it brings you together."
It remains to be seen which is true long-term for the Tigers, but JaTarvious Whitlow's 170 rushing yards and the Tigers' vaunted rush defense helped them take care of business against Ole Miss.
Auburn still has a long way to go to be able to compete with Georgia and Alabama, and that may not happen this year. But Whitlow's big game and quarterback Jarrett Stidham showing flashes of the signal-caller AU hoped he would be are baby steps forward.
After a much-needed bye to further sort through some of the early-year frustrations, AU plays Texas A&M and Georgia on back-to-back weekends to start November.
The Tigers have to find some answers quickly.
7. Mississippi State Bulldogs
8 of 14
For all that quarterback Nick Fitzgerald has done for Mississippi State, it may be time to turn to talented youngster Keytaon Thompson after Saturday's debacle in a 19-3 loss to LSU.
Though the senior who is No. 1 all-time in rushing yards by an SEC quarterback gained 131 on the ground against the Tigers, he also was 8-of-24 for 59 yards and four interceptions. It was a painful performance to watch, and he had no answers for Dave Aranda's aggressive scheme.
Defenses don't have to worry about the pass because Fitzgerald continues to prove he hasn't developed in that area. It isn't just against the vaunted LSU defense, either. It's been a trend.
“You can’t just run the ball to beat people,” Fitzgerald told the Mississippi Clarion Ledger's Tyler Horka. “We have to be able to throw the ball well, and that falls on my shoulders. I've just got to be better.
"I've got to throw it to my team, not theirs."
When MSU is at its best, Fitzgerald is throwing the ball, but Thompson has proved he can run and throw. It may be time for coach Joe Moorhead to make the same difficult decision Syracuse coach Dino Babers did Saturday when he benched popular senior Eric Dungey in the fourth quarter in favor of Tommy DeVito.
That move paid off in a double-overtime win over North Carolina. The Bulldogs need some wins after Saturday night's disappointment. Moorhead has a tough decision to make.
6. Kentucky Wildcats
9 of 14
The off week didn't change Kentucky's most glaring problem: Quarterback Terry Wilson is having a hard time throwing the ball vertically.
In Saturday's 14-7 win over Vanderbilt, Wilson completed just three of his nine passes for 18 yards and a touchdown.
"At the end of the day, we need to get better," UK offensive coordinator Eddie Gran told the Courier Journal's Jon Hale. "We need to get better throwing the ball, we need to get better doing some little things. It’s not just on Terry. That’s us an offense, me as a coordinator, whatever that may be."
At this point, a lot of it is on Wilson. He has to develop, or he needs to be replaced. Wilson is a dynamic runner and is doing a lot of positive things for the Wildcats, but this could be a special season, and they need to fix this thing.
Why? Because everything else is strong.
Benny Snell Jr.'s fourth-quarter touchdown run led UK to the win over Vanderbilt, and he finished with 169 yards on the ground. Coach Mark Stoops' defense is playing at a high level and did again against VU, allowing just seven points and getting the huge strip-sack late.
Every remaining game UK plays is winnable, and though this is an imperfect team, it's also a very good one in a year when the SEC is manageable. It's up to Stoops to fix the passing game, or there will be more losses.
5. Texas A&M Aggies
10 of 14
After a relaxing bye week, Texas A&M wants to flip the script on the past few years and how the Aggies closed out the season.
Under coach Kevin Sumlin, it was not uncommon for them to be sitting at 5-1 entering the second half of the season only to watch things collapse around them. It's a big reason Sumlin is in Tucson coaching Arizona instead of still in College Station, where he once led A&M.
This is Jimbo Fisher's team now, and though the Aggies are 5-2, both losses came against marquee teams in No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Clemson. The game against the Tigers at Kyle Field could have gone either way, too. Perhaps that vibe is why A&M isn't waiting on things to fall apart again.
"It's not that feeling this year," A&M senior fullback Cullen Gillaspia told Sports Daily's Ben Baby. "We've already taken our blows, taken our hits to the chin. We're moving on."
There are a lot of positives to take so far from Fisher's first year. The young receivers are performing, and the tight ends are a part of the offense now that Kellen Mond is settling in and this is "his" quarterback job for sure. Mond is a star in the making, too.
Coordinator Mike Elko has been a revelation to a defense that always has been talented but needed an aggressive direction. With Mississippi State and Auburn staring them down, it's vital for the Aggies to get off to a good start after the bye.
If that happens, it should be a strong finish for a change.
4. Florida Gators
11 of 14
If you thought Florida would have just one loss heading into the game formerly known as the World's Largest Cocktail Party, then consider yourself in the vast minority.
But that is the case as the Gators head to Jacksonville to take on Georgia in a game that will have major ramifications for the SEC East. If they lose, they most likely won't be heading to Atlanta. Beat UGA, and the Gators will need Kentucky to lose again in the league.
The only thing that matters for Dan Mullen's team, though, is winning this week. That's why it's good the Gators had a bye week before this game, though Georgia did, too.
While quarterback Feleipe Franks isn't great, he is better than any Florida quarterback at this point since Tim Tebow, 247Sports' Thomas Goldkamp wrote. Only Gators' Adam Silverstein wrote in depth last week on the matter, too:
"Franks is not great, at least not yet. But he's not bad, at least not anymore. When you think about it, he is a top-five quarterback in the conference right now, and there are a number of reasons as to why."
One of the reasons is Mullen and his continued development of quarterbacks. The defense is playing extremely well, forcing a barrage of turnovers in the win over Tennessee and shutting down LSU, among other things.
The Gators are now playing like a team that could win the SEC East.
3. Georgia Bulldogs
12 of 14
It's far too early to sell on the Georgia Bulldogs, in case you were wondering.
Last week's 36-16 loss at LSU was a harrowing experience that exposed a lot of issues and led some to call for the job of quarterback Jake Fromm in favor of freshman Justin Fields. But is it really time for that sort of drastic measure?
Fromm needs to play better; that much is evident. But he has proved he can perform in big games, and UGA is getting ready to play several of those to close the year, beginning with this weekend's game against Florida.
If they win that game, the Bulldogs still control their own SEC East destiny. With their strong running game and defense, as well as bucket loads of talent, there is no reason to believe they're anything but the cream of the division.
But they've got to prove it on the field. Coach Kirby Smart knows that, and while this should still be Fromm's team, there's nothing wrong with giving Fields a more expanded role and seeing what he can do. What if opening up the offense makes the Bulldogs even better?
The 20-point loss to LSU puts Georgia at a crossroads in its season. The Bulldogs have the talent to rebound and not only win the league but also make it back to the College Football Playoff. But a stretch that includes the Gators, Auburn and perhaps Alabama in the SEC Championship Game is daunting.
Smart has to fix the issues quickly.
2. LSU Tigers
13 of 14
If you're coach Ed Orgeron, you are probably sweating a little about quarterback Joe Burrow's continued lack of consistency and inability to put together multiple big drives moving the ball through the air.
But, again, no SEC team outside of Alabama is talented enough to completely cover up its faults, and the Tigers have done an excellent job so far of making do despite Burrow's limitations.
Against Mississippi State in a 19-3 win, Burrow was 16-of-28 for 129 yards and an interception. Running back Nick Brossette, who had carried the Tigers offense several times this season, was held under 60 yards by coordinator Bob Shoop's aggressive Bulldogs defense, too.
None of that mattered thanks to LSU's championship-caliber defense. The Tigers continue to be brilliant on that side of the ball, smothering Nick Fitzgerald at every turn and shutting down the Bulldogs running backs, too.
Now, the Tigers will get a bye week ahead of a crucial game with Alabama where they'll likely be big underdogs.
They'll have to overcome another huge blow, as Devin White will miss the first half of that game after getting ejected for a targeting penalty against the Bulldogs. That means coordinator Dave Aranda will be without his top playmaker for a half against the best offense in the country.
That's not good, but the Tigers are talented enough on that side of the ball to overcome it. This will be a herculean test regardless.
1. Alabama Crimson Tide
14 of 14
Can anybody find a crack in Alabama's armor? Do any exist?
We'll all find out in two weeks when the Crimson Tide follow up a bye week with the big SEC West battle against LSU. Win that game, and it's hard seeing anybody stop them on their steamrolling path to the SEC Championship Game and College Football Playoff.
Tennessee certainly didn't have any answers.
Tua Tagovailoa made several incredible passes, and even though he wasn't at his sharpest, he still threw for 300-plus yards and four touchdowns in a 58-21 cakewalk at Neyland Stadium that gave UA its 12th consecutive win over the Vols.
After Tennessee's resounding victory at Auburn, Alabama continued making opponents look pedestrian with a thorough pounding. The Vols had no defensive answers for Tagovailoa, Jerry Jeudy, Jaylen Waddle, Najee Harris or anybody else.
Alabama has a capable stable of weapons that are designed to destroy opponents, and that's exactly what coach Nick Saban's team is doing so far this season. Right now, it still looks like nobody can topple the Tide. They look like the most invincible team in the country.
Unless otherwise noted, stats courtesy of Sports Reference and CFBStats.com.
Brad Shepard covers college football for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter, @Brad_Shepard.
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