College Football: SEC Power Rankings After Big Week 5

Larry Burton (Syndicated Writer) Week Five did a lot to separate the contenders from the pretenders and show exactly where the power in the SEC truly lies.

The East has the least and the West is the Best. That is now the truth in the SEC and the power shows little chance of drifting away from that for the rest of the season.

With that said, let's look at the new shape of the East after last week's shake up.

SEC East

South Carolina - 4th out of 12 -

Should South Carolina give Alabama a better game than Florida did last week, they could stay atop the Gators in the power ranking even with two losses.

While the Gamecocks have lost one game, a respectable loss to an up-and-coming Auburn team, they still show they are team to be reckoned with not just in the SEC but come bowl time too.

How they do against Alabama will be the measuring stick to judge how they may do against Florida for the eventual battle of the SEC East Championship.

I don't see South Carolina losing another SEC game after this one to the Tide unless Arkansas can take them down.

2010 OVERALL FBS RANKINGS

PASSING YARDS  221.8  63rd Overall  RUSHING YARDS  168.5 54th Overall

POINTS FOR  30.8  50th Overall   POINTS AGAINST  18.3  33rd Overall

Florida - 5th out of 12 -

One game, and the Gators go from leaders in the East to middle of the pack in the SEC? Yes, they were exposed as one of the great pretenders in the SEC as they couldn't even manage a touchdown in the worst loss of the Urban Meyer era.

Everyone in the stadium in Crimson knew Meyer can't get over his Teboner. He should have called a physician a long time ago when it never went down.

Every player on defense was just waiting for the "jump pass" at the goal line as Meyer still wants to run the Tebow offense with Tebow lite, Trey Burton.

Until Meyer gives up an offense that Alabama has now shown him twice they have mastered, they will continue to be embarrassed and Meyer's stature next to Saban just continues to shrink.

If he would just build around the talent he has and forget the reliance on his old offense, he should finish the season in better shape.

2010 OVERALL FBS RANKINGS

PASSING YARDS  196.2  78th Overall   RUSHING YARDS  136.2 78th Overall

POINTS FOR 25.2  76th Overall  POINTS AGAINST  24.8 70th Overall

Tennessee - 8th out of 12 -

Tennessee can look so good and then fade so badly. Derek Dooley doesn't have as far to go as many think to get this team back into contention.

They almost knocked off an SEC unbeaten, and if they could only count to 11 they would have.

The Vols are just a few players from being a solid team and a lot of they young ones are growing up fast.

If they grow just a little more, they could still have a good season in what seemed like a disaster at the start of the year.

2010 OVERALL FBS RANKINGS

PASSING YARDS  196.2  78th Overall   RUSHING YARDS  136.2 78th Overall

POINTS FOR  25.2  76th Overall  POINTS AGAINST 24.8 70th Overall

Vanderbilt - 10th of 12

Who would have thought that with the coaching change and lack of talent that Vandy wouldn't be at the bottom? The win against Ole Miss changed that.

The Commodores may wind up there at the end, but they are deserving to be ahead to the two new bottom feeders right now.

2010 OVERALL FBS RANKINGS

PASSING YARDS  135.0  111th Overall   RUSHING YARDS  163.3  58th Overall

POINTS FOR  18.3  107th Overall   POINTS AGAINST  26.0  76th Overall

Kentucky - 11th out of 12 -

After beating a few nobodies and then losing to a weakened Florida and a pitiful Ole Miss team, Kentucky now drops to near the bottom of the SEC. I guess the new cheer at Kentucky is "Thank God for Georgia!"

After Kentucky gets the sure-to-be-ugly beatings from Auburn and South Carolina, they will be struggling to stay ahead of those same Bulldogs and out of the SEC East bottom.

With the creme puffs on the schedule, four of them in fact, they only have to get a win over Vandy and Georgia to make a bowl and they could pull that off.

2010 OVERALL FBS RANKINGS

PASSING YARDS 263.8  27th Overall   RUSHING YARDS  189.8 35th Overall

POINTS FOR  36.4 21st Overall   POINTS AGAINST  28.8  87th Overall

Georgia - 12th of 12th

Yes Georgia fans, you can keep telling us what a wonderful coach you have in Mark Richt, you can keep spouting his record and winning percentage, and then you can explain why you are the worst team in the SEC.

Losing to Colorado, another struggling team, means that no one outside the SEC considers you anything but a joke now. Richt is supposed to be an offense guy and the Dog offense is simply laughable.

And now at least we don't have to hear how you didn't have A.J. Green. Despite his two touchdowns, you were just as bad with him as you were with him.

2010 OVERALL FBS RANKINGS

PASSING YARDS  226.6 57th Overall   RUSHING YARDS 137.0  76th Overall

POINTS FOR  24.8  79th Overall   POINTS AGAINST  21.6  48th Overall

SEC WEST

Alabama - 1st out of 12

If there were any doubters remaining after the Arkansas win, the Florida win should have convinced them that the 2010 edition of the Crimson Tide may be just as good as last year's.

Anyone who said the defense couldn't stand up to a top-flight team, they just defeated the No. 10 and No. 7 teams in the nation back to back and held the nation's seventh-best team without a touchdown.

For everyone who said the defensive backfield would be a sore spot, they had three interceptions in those two games. Stop doubting and start enjoying the best team in the nation, not just the SEC.

2010 OVERALL FBS RANKINGS

PASSING YARDS  234.2  46th Overall     RUSHING YARDS  229.8  17th Overall

POINTS FOR  37.8 16th Overall   POINTS AGAINST  9.0  1st Overall

Auburn - 2nd of 12

Auburn may just be squeaking out wins against good teams, but they are winning. In a few weeks, they will play Arkansas for the title of second-best team in SEC.

Cam Newton is proving to be quite a sensation, and a win against Arkansas in a duel with another great quarterback, Ryan Mallett, may put him in Heisman talk and perhaps strong contention.

That game will also show the world a measuring stick to judge how Auburn may fare against Alabama at the end of season.

2010 OVERALL FBS RANKINGS

PASSING YARDS  206.4 72nd Overall    RUSHING YARDS  269.0 8th Overall

POINTS FOR 36.6  20th Overall  POINTS AGAINST  18.8  37th Overall

Arkansas - 3rd of 12 -

Yes I know LSU is still undefeated, but LSU under Les Miles is an accident waiting to happen and the Hogs will get better as the season goes on.

The Razorbacks have two tough games in a row coming up, Texas A&M and Auburn, but they should be able to finish off the rest of schedule with at least a 10-win season.

Bobby Petrino is building a team that he hopes can continue growing even after the post-Mallett years.

From the looks of the defense he's assembling and the talented recruits he's bringing in, it might just happen if he can just get a running game going.

2010 OVERALL FBS RANKINGS

PASSING YARDS  365.0  2nd Overall    RUSHING YARDS 103.0  102nd Overall

POINTS FOR   31.5  45th Overall    POINTS AGAINST   14.5 12th Overall

LSU - 6th out of 12 -

Yes LSU fans, we all know you're undefeated. We also know your coach is clueless Les and it's only a matter of time before his rabbit's foot, four-leaf clover, or lucky star runs out.

This team is the "Dead man walking" in the SEC and the next team after Florida to be exposed as an undefeated pretender.

LSU should lose three of their next four games before Arkansas finally kicks them back to the bottom half of the SEC standings before finishing 8-5 and another 4-4 finish in the SEC.

LSU is rated now at No. 6 and they will finish about there at the end of the season.

2010 OVERALL FBS RANKINGS

PASSING YARDS  131.0  112th  Overall     RUSHING YARDS 195.6  33rd Overall

POINTS FOR  24.4  83rd Overall     POINTS AGAINST  12.4  5th Overall

Mississippi State - 7th out of 12

In just his second year, Dan Mullins will return the Bulldogs to a bowl game. This is something that few outside Starkville thought was possible this fast.

After pushing Florida to the limit last year before finally losing, it is not totally unimaginable that the Bulldogs could upset the Gators this week.

This is a team on the rise who seems to be improving with each passing week and each dose of confidence they get.

A six-win season now looks very probable and with a win over Ole Miss, a seven-win season would be a great thing to build on for next year.

2010 OVERALL FBS RANKINGS

PASSING YARDS  220.2  65th Overall   RUSHING YARDS  172.4 48th Overall

POINTS FOR 28.6  57th Overall   POINTS AGAINST 16.2 22nd Overall

Ole Miss -  10th out of 12

The big question is no longer, will Ole Miss suck, but how bad? How will they react after losing three in a row to Alabama, Arkansas and Auburn. At that point, they'll be a 3-5 team and will for all apparent indications, be out of the bowl picture.

So what will there be left to play for? Pride? Sorry Ole Miss, but that ship has already sailed.

Only Kentucky, Georgia and possibly Vanderbilt can only save you from the bottom of the SEC, but nothing can save you from the bottom of the SEC West.

2010 OVERALL FBS RANKINGS

PASSING YARDS  191.4  81st Overall    RUSHING YARDS  232.0 16th Overall

POINTS FOR  37.2  19th Overall     POINTS AGAINST  32.6  101st Overall

And that's it for this week. Expect some to fall and some to rise as the weeks go on, and come back each week to see where your team stands.