SEC Power Rankings After Week 2: SEC Proving To Be a Powerhouse

Larry Burton (Syndicated Writer) Week one saw Ole Miss lose to a sub division team leaving some worried about the strength of the SEC as a whole, but this week, all teams managed to win their out of conference opponents.

Weeks like this show why a one loss SEC team may be deserving over an undefeated Boise State for a title game.

SEC East

South Carolina -

Still looking like the SEC East leader with the least problems, the old ball coach may have finally assembled a team that can challenge Florida for an SEC East title.

With an absolutely dominating game over last week's no. two team, South Carolina may indeed have what it takes to take Florida and shake up the the power structure in that division after such a long run for Florida. 

Marcus Lattimore proved that a freshman can carry the running load for a full game with an amazing 182 yards and the quarterback play seems pretty consistent from senior Garcia while the defense is as good as ever.

Florida -

This past week Florida showed some signs of life and began to look like the Florida of old, even if it was just against the South Florida Bulls.

But with Pouncey finally learning to snap the ball instead of dribbling it to Brantley in the shotgun formation, Florida finally seems to have gotten over their biggest hurdle. 

The defense still has some questions but you just know that all the problems will be ironed out soon enough and the Florida - South Carolina game will be a good one. 

Georgia - 

Yes the dogs lost and Kentucky is still undefeated, but it a head to head match up, the Bulldogs still come out on top of Kentucky. 

Last week, Georgia had a dog day afternoon and nothing seemed to go right. They couldn't manage a touchdown when they needed it, and the defense was simply shredded by letting a freshman run down their throat.

Georgia seems to have a game like this every year, yet they always rebound and come back to be stronger team later and this is what is anticipated to happen again this year as they finish the season as just another mid tier SEC team.

Kentucky -

The Cats keep winning, but this was a game they were supposed to win. Still putting 63 points on any team is impressive. However, giving up 28 is troubling and why they are behind a one loss Georgia.

In a head to head match up, they lose to the Dogs and they may lose to Tennessee, but until they do start losing, they continue to occupy the place they always do, mid pack in the SEC East and headed to another lower tier bowl.

Tennessee -

An impressive game for three quarters against a nationally ranked team shows two things about the Vols.

The first is that Derrick Dooley may have a better starting first team than many thought, the second is that they don't have the quality depth to hang with the big boys for four quarters.

The Vols showed last night, even in losing, that they are a team to be taken seriously, and that they could sneak up and defeat some teams that many didn't they would at the first of the year.

Either Derrick Dooley is doing a better job coaching them up and motivating them, or the Vols weren't as bad as many of us "experts" thought at the first of the year.

The bad days may not be as long as predicted and the good days may be back sooner than many of the Vol opponents wanted.

Vanderbilt -

A two loss team with no wins of course deserves to be at the bottom, but the Commodores aren't as bad as many thought and did put up a fight against a much more talented LSU team.

Yes the final score of 27-3 looks like a blowout, but holding them to 10-3 at the end of three quarters showed that at least the starting team is decent before simply wearing out. LSU got 17 in the forth quarter to pull away.

Vandy should be able to do some damage in the out of conference games and help hold up some pride for the SEC.

SEC WEST

Alabama -

They dismantled a top 20 team just as they should have, winning by more than the line and doing it in typical Alabama style, smothering defense, turnovers and a smash mouth offense sprinkled in with great passes from Greg McElroy.

With Darius and Ingram coming back next week, things will only get better for the Tide in the coming weeks.

The young secondary picked off balls and covered good receivers like a blanket for most of the day. The confidence they are building up will only help them in the coming game against a gun slinger by the name of Ryan Mallet.

Right now it's hard not only to see the Crimson Tide as the best of the SEC, but the best of the nation.

Arkansas -

Though they looked a bit sluggish for the first half, they pulled away with ease as the Ryan Mallett air show continues its quest for a title run of its own and a quickly approaching date with Alabama.

The defense looked good, but that was Louisiana-Monroe and not LSU they were playing. 

The biggest thing that should worry the Hog fans right now is that the prolific passing attack is not opening up the running lanes, and even against a pitiful opponent, the Hogs couldn't get the running game going.

Being one demensional against a good team could be the thing that bites them in the butt later, but for now, it's fun to just sit back and watch the pigskin fly.

Auburn -

Yes it was a close game, but many of us saw that coming and said so in print before the game. This time it's not as much winning a close game against Miss. State, but winning a game over a fast improving State team.

Cam Newton appeared to cool off a bit and the offense didn't look as great against an SEC opponent as it did in week one against much less competition, but the defense stood up much taller than most thought they would and looked rather good.

Still Auburn is there and waiting to take over the number two spot after the upcoming Alabama - Arkansas game.

LSU -

The Tigers looked kind of like kittens for much of the first half of the game against cellar dweller Vanderbilt until pulling away at the end with much deeper depth and talent. Yet the 0-0 first quarter and the 10-0 score until the forth quarter gives a lot of LSU fans much to fret about for the future.

Jordan Jefferson still hasn't taken the next step to SEC superstar quarterback and his paltry 96 yard passing day leaves fans worried about what his numbers would have looked like against a decent SEC team.

Despite the huge payout LSU would pay to get rid of him, Les Miles is not putting a team out there that would cause them not to pay it if he falls apart in the meat of schedule again this year.

So far LSU has done little to show they're not just another mid pack den of underachieving Tigers.

Mississippi State - 

Even in a loss, State gained some respectability as a good team as they almost pulled off the win against a good Auburn team.

Dan Mullen had far to go when taking over this team, but is getting them back to respectability now and soon will be getting them wins as well.

Based on the record, you have to give LSU the nod over them now, but in a head to head game, I'd go with the Dogs over the Tigers.

Ole Miss -

Even though they won, the Rebels still have proven very little and give even less reasons why they're not the worst team in the SEC West. A 27-13 win over lowly Tulane is little reason for an SEC team to jump up and down about.

Also disturbing is the 300+ yards of offense allowed by the Ole Miss defense.

Without Masoli at quarterback, you have to wonder if they would have even pulled off the win. The Rebels have much work to do, and the SEC schedule won't be kind to them.

SEC as a Whole -

As a whole, the SEC stood up made others take notice this week, with no out of conference losses as they had last week. They may have had the conference showing of any last week top to bottom and there is no reason to think they are still not the dominant conference in the world of college football.