SEC Power Rankings: South Carolina Moving On Up To The East Side (Elite)

The SEC has a clear No. 1 team in Alabama.  After that, things get a little fuzzy. 

South Carolina proved the most on Saturday, beating a good Georgia team soundly to jump an underwhelming Auburn team to second in the SEC power rankings.

Mississippi State (who I foolishly thought would take a step back this year), continues to impress with a second good showing. Florida struggled again. 

Who knows how this SEC season will turn out?

1.  Alabama(2-0, AP No. 1, Last Week's Ranking: No. 1)

Alabama is clearly the best team in the SEC.  Penn State looked overmatched for the entire game, and the only performance of the week more impressive was Ohio States game against Miami. 

Alabama has a clear shot to the title.  However, things will get tough for them.  It will be interesting to see their game against a rested South Carolina in a few weeks. 

2.  South Carolina (2-0, AP No. 13, Last Week's Ranking: No. 3)

South Carolina LOOKS like the best team in the East after a thorough whipping of Georgia.  Marcus Lattimore is the real deal, although one has to worry about how many 37-carry games this young man can handle in the SEC.

Garcia is getting a fair amount of criticism, but he does look improved.  He hasn't had to throw as much, but when he does, he looks better.

The next match up is a cake walk against Furman, but then South Carolina gets its first major road test against Auburn.

3.  Arkansas (2-0,  AP No. 12, Last Week's Ranking: No. 5)

Ryan Mallet is an incredible quarterback, and the Arkansas Razorbacks played another well-rounded game. 

The defense was most impressive as well, which is a great sign for Arkansas.  If the defense can remain solid, they can compete for the SEC. 

The first real test of the season is next week, as they face off against the Georgia Bulldogs.

4.  Auburn (2-0, AP No. 16, Last Week's Ranking: No. 2)

I am having a hard time deciphering last week's match up against Mississippi State.  I know that I had Mississippi State underrated at the beginning, but it is clear now that I had Auburn overrated, because I don't think Mississippi State is that good yet.

Almost, but not quite. 

Cameron Newton is still very dangerous, but they may struggle against the elite teams.  We will know a lot more about this team when South Carolina visits. 

Clemson may be a test as well.

5.  Florida (2-0, AP No. 10, Last Week's Ranking: No. 6)

Florida still looks shaky on offense, but that defense is scary.  They can win a lot of games with that defense.  If Florida gets it together on offense, they still can win the east, and should still probably be favored.

Until then though, South Carolina looks to be the beast in the east.

6.  LSU (2-0, AP No. 15, Last Week's Ranking No. 9)

It feels a bit like this team came together more during its beat down of Vanderbilt then during its close win against UNC. 

Honestly, I feel like I should have put Georgia here, but I am going to give LSU the benefit of the doubt after beating an SEC team, if you can call Vandy an SEC team this year. 

Big test this week against Mississippi State.

7.  Georgia (1-1, AP N/A, Last Weeks Ranking No. 4)

Georgia was dominated all game long in almost every category, save passing yardage.  Aaron Murray is the real deal, and will get very good with time.

One problem though...Georgia isn't a young team anymore.  Murray has to mature even more and quicker for the Dawgs to pull off a run at the SEC East title.  They have a lot to prove going in to this Saturdays game against Arkansas.

8.  Mississippi State (1-1, AP N/A, Last Weeks Ranking No. 7)

I am still very impressed with this team, even after last week's loss. I think if they played all seven of the teams in front of them, they could beat one or two on a good day.

Until they beat one of these big boys, they will have to stay around the seven to eight range.  You can tell they are well coached, and they have a sense of urgency on each play.  I was really impressed with the emotion level they ensued.  This team will be a thorn in many teams sides this year. 

9.  Kentucky (2-0, AP N/A, Last Weeks Ranking No. 10)

Kentucky had a really nice game last weekend against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.  However, the Hilltoppers are 0-2 and have lost by a score of 112-38.  That isn't an impressive feat.   

Watching Louisville struggle to eek out a win against a bad Eastern Kentucky team (23-13) reinforces my previous notion that Louisville may not be any good.

Truth is, we don't know what Kentucky is yet.  We won't know until September 25th against Florida, so even if they go 3-0 don't look for them to rise too much.  I don't see them beating any of the teams above them yet.

10:  Tennessee (1-1, AP N/A, Last Weeks Ranking No. 8)

Tennessee looked terrible against a really good Oregon team.  This year is going to be a rough one for the Volunteers.  They just don't have a lot of talent on that team this year. Tauren Poole looks very good, and the running game seems to be rolling.

Two of 15 on third down just will not cut it, and the passing game is atrocious.  They have alot of work to do if they even want to make it to a bowl game. 

11:  Ole Miss (1-1, AP N/A, Last Weeks Ranking No. 12)

Even in a win, Ole Miss proves they are no longer a player in the west.  After looking like an SEC team against Tulane for the first half, Tulane comes back with a 10 point second half. 

Masoli was decent with 308 total yards and two touchdowns.  He may end up being a good SEC player, but the coaches may wish that they gave him a year to sit because this team just is not talented enough to compete.

There is a total lack of confidence on this team right now.  If they don't figure out how to get the swagger of an SEC team back, they will lose a lot of games.

12.  Vanderbilt (0-2, AP N/A, Last Weeks Ranking No. 11)

Vandy is Vandy again.  Gone are the days of Cutler and Coach Bobby Johnson... the "legends" of Vandy.  This is a terrible team that would struggle in the ACC. 

They don't seem well coached, and they certainly don't have much talent.  They did fight for three quarters, to a 10-3 score after three.  Then, LSU released the dogs and dominated the fourth quarter. 

They only had 135 yards of total offense.  That is a recipe for a loss every time. 

They better hope they get a win against Eastern Michigan on October 9th, or they are in some big trouble.  1-11 looks like the record this year.