College Football Rankings Week 7: Who Is the Best Team in the SEC?

It's definitely a debate that could last for hours on end until the games are actually played. When determining who the best team in the SEC is, well, you're also determining who's the best in the country, as evidenced by the previous five national titles and six of the last eight.

And with Sunday's recently released Coaches' poll, there are four SEC schools ranked, and all are in the Top 15.

Click the link for a full view of the Week 7 Coaches' Poll.

No. 13 South Carolina Gamecocks

Currently looking like the front-runners of the SEC East, the South Carolina Gamecocks are only one spot back of their No. 12 preseason rank.

That being said, due to their unimpressive wins during their 4-0 start, the Gamecocks only got as high as No. 9 before they were upset at home against Auburn.

In any event, the Gamecocks are slated to repeat in the SEC East and only Georgia may contend with them, which is what South Carolina should want as they defeated the Bulldogs in Week 2.

There's no shame in being the worst ranked SEC school, because frankly, that also puts them under the radar.

No. 11 Arkansas Razorbacks

After their 3-0 start, the Arkansas Razorbacks had to play three consecutive ranked teams in Alabama, Texas A&M, and Auburn.

Long story short, Arkansas answered the call, is now 5-1 and ranked No. 11.

With two road cakewalks in Ole Miss and Vandy the next two weeks, the Razorbacks should be 7-1 when they play host to the South Carolina Gamecocks on Nov. 5.

They don't play LSU until the regular season finale, and by then Arkansas could very well be 9-2 or 10-1, so the SEC West is still in sight for a team that lost a big time quarterback (Ryan Mallett, NFL) and their starting running back (Knile Davis, injury).

In other words, very impressive.

No. 3 Alabama Crimson Tide

The only team that really has any shot at defeating the Alabama Crimson Tide is the LSU Tigers. Period.

At least, that is if they get to the national title game but then fall against their expected opponent, Oklahoma.

Until Nov. 5 however, we won't know anything else about Alabama other than they "Roll Tide" over every opponent and don't appear to be slowing down by any stretch of the imagination.

QB A.J. McCarron is managing games to a T, and the defense has only allowed 8.4 ppg.

Even if the Bayou Bengals defeat the Tide, it would be surprising to see them score any more than 14 points against the nation's best defense.

No. 2 LSU Tigers

Fellow SEC West rival No. 3 Alabama has three wins over ranked opponents with two coming on the road.

As for LSU though, they have four wins over ranked opponents and three have come away from home, thus, slightly one-upping the Crimson Tide by the slimmest of margins.

And with two ranked opponents left on the schedule (Alabama, Arkansas), even losing to the Tide could sneak the Tigers back into the national championship if Oklahoma and Wisconsin fall.

Can you imagine LSU and Alabama playing twice in one season, and the second being for the actual national championship as opposed to playing for the right to qualify?

That would arguably be the game of the still young 21st century.

Sure it's a little far-fetched, but it's also still quite possible.

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