
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Let’s see where everyone stands as the home stretch nears.
The bye week is boring. There, I said it.
You’re telling me I still have to generate just as much content when Mizzou is actively doing nothing? And that I have to [sigh] pay attention to what’s happening elsewhere? Ugh. Let’s fast forward to my heart attack in Athens next weekend.
But since we’re here and we’ve got all this free time on our hands, I suppose it might be worth checking in to see where the rest of the SEC sits headed into week nine.
How do we want to structure this… power rankings? Yeah, power rankings are always good. They get the people going!
1. Georgia

Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
“Businesslike.” That’s the word that comes to mind whenever Georgia plays this year. Is beating a floundering South Carolina squad 24-14 good for public relations? Not exactly, but you can spin it. How about sleepwalking to a win over Vanderbilt? OK, you’re asking a lot, but look at that record! Still pristine. Oh, wait Brock Bowers is out? Hmmm…
Georgia looks gettable for the first time in two and a half years, and yet no one has gotten them. Maybe that changes this weekend in Jacksonville, a place of strange, unappealing magic. Maybe it happens next weekend when a hyper-confident Mizzou team rolls into Athens. Maybe it happens in the semifinals or the finals or next year…
Someone will get Georgia at some point. It’s statistically guaranteed. Until then, you have to respect their business acumen.
2. Alabama

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Reports of Alabama’s death were greatly exaggerated. Sure, a loss to Texas and an early season stinker against South Florida weren’t great for morale, but since when has Alabama ever won anything in September? Jalen Milroe seems to be figuring out this whole “quarterback” thing and the Tide, despite looking shaky at least once in every game, keep finding ways to win. And taking a blow torch to Tennessee last week has done wonders for their national perception.
The next two weeks will tell us a lot about how much they’ve course corrected. After a bye week, they’ll welcome LSU to Tuscaloosa with the SEC West on the line and then head to Lexington for a tricky road match up against Mark Stoops. Maybe things will fall off the rails during those two weeks. This writer sort of doubts it.
3. LSU

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Some might quibble with the fact that a two-loss Tiger team is this high. But you wouldn’t if you’ve watched the Bayou Bengals over the past few weeks. After losing a boat-race to Ole Miss, the Tigers knocked off a very good Mizzou team in Columbia before annihilating both Auburn and Army. The defense seems to have found its footing, and Jaylen Daniels has a rightful claim as the conference’s best player… and probably more Heisman hype than he’s currently receiving.
They’ll need some help to get to the top of the SEC West, but they can drastically help themselves by going to Tuscaloosa in November and knocking off the Tide. And while hopes of a CFP berth are likely off the table, an unlikely SEC Championship would serve as a nice consolation for Brian Kelly in 2023.
4. Ole Miss

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Lane Kiffin’s team crashed calamitously into their ceiling during a throttling at the hands of a second-tier Nick Saban team. But they’ve still got the best social team in the game and are otherwise scoring a million points and moving one billion yards per game. You have to respect a program whose peak is the fourth-best team in the conference and yet struggles to break into the top two of their division.
5. Missouri

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If this was a measurement of ~vibes~ then Mizzou may be the first team listed here. After three years of mediocrity, Eli Drinkwitz’s Tigers have firmly established themselves as a Top 25 team and, potentially, a threat at the top of the SEC East. Behind an offense and defense that both rank in the SP+ top 25, the Tigers have one of the conference’s best non-conference wins (Kansas State) and a few statement victories against peer programs in the SEC East.
The next few weeks will tell us a lot about where the Tigers land at the end of the season. They’ll travel to Athens for a (potentially) division-clinching match up before getting Florida and Tennessee at home. If Missouri can somehow pull the upset against Georgia and take care of business elsewhere, they’ll have a chance to match or best their highly-ranked finishes of 2007 and 2013.
6. Florida

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Is Florida good? Are we alone in the universe? Can you ever truly know another person?
These are the questions that keep us up at night despite the fact that we’ll never have a firm answer. How in the world does a team hang 29 on this Tennessee defense and then give up 39 to that South Carolina offense?
I have to stop or I’m going to need to lie down. There’s a very real chance the Gators end up 6-6 as they only have two winnable games left on the schedule. But, hey, this isn’t the week 12 power rankings!
7. Tennessee

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[Author’s Note: This post was originally published without analysis of Tennessee. While you may be expecting an apology, this writer neither respects nor cares for Tennessee Football and therefore will not be apologizing at this time. Thank you.]
8. Kentucky

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Just a few weeks ago, people were asking if this was the year Mark Stoops and Kentucky would finally take the step from “yeah, they’re pretty damn good every year” to actual contender. Now we’re wondering if Kentucky will get to eight wins.
Seven wins would certainly be a down year for the Wildcats, but it’s nothing to sneeze at… in a vacuum, that is. When you’ve got one of the conference’s best transfer running backs, a highly-touted transfer QB and the return of a celebrated offensive coordinator in the cards, a middling win-loss record feels like folding at the wrong time. And if this was the year Mark Stoops was supposed to take the Wildcats over the top, where do things go from here? If the Cats continue to float through the end of the season, we’ll find out how much expectations really have changed in Lexington.
9. Texas A&M

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Might I offer the following analysis of Texas A&M: Lol. Lmao, even.
Jimbo Fisher, who is paid like a top 10 coach in the sport, is leading the Aggies, a top 5 team by 247’s Talent Composite, to a surefire 7-5 record… that is, unless they can beat Ole Miss in Oxford or LSU in Death Valley. That may be all the analysis you need!
Sorry, I’m starting to laugh again.
10. Mississippi State

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Winning a rock fight against Arkansas injected some life into what was turning out to be an otherwise moribund campaign in Zach Arnett’s first season at the helm. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still feeling like a step backward after finishing in the Top 20 last season. But six wins and a bowl game feel doable now. And who knows? The Egg Bowl is a weird thing. Maybe a feel-good ending to an emotionally difficult campaign is what the fates are drawing up in Starkville.
11. Auburn

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Spirits are low on the plains, where Auburn hasn’t won a game in over a month. Bringing Hugh Freeze to town didn’t them win them any sympathy, but they were at least supposed to get back to winning ways!
The good news for Auburn is that the next month looks fairly manageable, with a 4-0 run into the Iron Bowl very possible. From there, who knows? Alabama hasn’t exactly been their dominant selves this season, and the game takes place at Jordan-Hare. Two months from now, this paragraph may feel pretty silly.
12. South Carolina

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Someone check on Spencer Rattler. Poor guy just wanted to settle into his life as an above-average SEC quarterback at a program on the rise. Instead, his job description was re-written overnight to include crash test dummy responsibilities. Maybe he’ll consider a second transfer this offseason? Somewhere where it’s less swampy. The West Coast is nice this time of year.
I digress. Things are verging on the disastrous in Columbia East, and Shane Beamer is one missed step away from having to lead his team to 4 wins in a wheelchair or on crutches. He’ll probably get another year to right the ship, but he’ll need to find a way to rebuild his cooked defense and get some therapy for Rattler while simultaneously convincing him to take that COVID year.
13. Vanderbilt

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I may be galaxy-braining this one, but I feel like it’s not a given that the Commodores are the worst team in the conference. They just made things difficult for Georgia and get another winnable game (Auburn) at home before the season ends. Plus, one of their road trips is to South Carolina. Who knows what condition they’ll be in at that point?
Sure, things were supposed to get better in Clark Lea’s second season. But you can only do so much when you’re forced to turn to your third-choice QB for the majority of the campaign. They’ve got a decent recruiting class coming next year and, if Clark Lea can play his cards right in the portal, Vandy could be back to the hard-nosed scrapper we all know and love in 2024.
14. Arkansas

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Do you think Sam Pittman will be able to copyright the inverse of his trademark “YYYEEEESSSSIIIRRRRRRRRR” catchphrase? I don’t know if “NNNOOOOSSSSIIIRRRRRRRRR” translates that well to a sound marketing strategy, but it captures the mood around Fayetteville much more accurately.
The Piggies rank 32nd in 247’s Talent Composite and 44th in SP+, but sit at a measly 2-6 with only one reasonably winnable game left on the schedule. They do get Mizzou and Auburn at home, but do we really expect a team that just got stonewalled by Mississippi State’s porous defense to keep up with the Tigers of Columbia West or the Plains?
Most of the conversation around Arkansas right now is about the structure of Pittman’s buyout. At that point, you have to wonder if it’s already too late to right the ship.