SEC Power Rankings: Week 3

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Hey guys! Poppa Bear here, back to guide you through all that happened in week three of the SEC. What did we learn?

Kentucky, Vanderbilt, and Mississippi State are all 3-0 to start the season. Obviously, we all saw that coming, so don’t look so surprised. More impressive though, is the way Mississippi State demolished LSU with extreme prejudice. And Vanderbilt took down a ranked Kansas State while putting together a solid defensive performance. Kentucky, to their credit, defeated a solid South Carolina squad while maintaining their perfect record. What does this mean?

Obviously it’s the end of days.

There can be no other explanation. Everything is backwards and wrong!

……what’s that? Tennessee lost on a last second play to Florida because of Butch Jones?

Well…..that makes sense. I guess Vanderbilt and Mississippi State are just solid ball clubs this year. Who’d have guessed? Oh well, on to the rankings!

1. Alabama – Yawn. Another lower tier team visiting Tuscaloosa to get beat by the mighty Tide. Not to take anything away from Colorado State, but they aren’t in the SEC for a reason. Alabama had some glaring weaknesses in the LB position, and they’ll need some players back from injury before hitting the meat of the SEC schedule. They travel to Vanderbilt this weekend in what I believe will be a much closer game than planned.

2. Mississippi State – Wow. Talk about a statement. The Bulldogs absolutely massacred LSU on live TV. Here’s the thing: Dan Mullen is the second best coach in the SEC (and he isn’t going to UT, A&M, or Auburn). Nick Fitzgerald is the best QB in the SEC, and he makes the Bulldogs look dangerous. If the defense continues to improve, they’ll be legitimate contenders in the West. We’ll see if they can keep this momentum in a big showdown with Georgia this weekend in Athens.

3. Georgia – Speak of the devil. Georgia was at the second spot last week, and they only drop because of Mississippi State’s performance. Georgia rolled over Samford, which is no big shock. Jake Fromm (State Farm) appears to be settling into his role as a game manager for the Bulldogs. If the running game and defense continue to hold up, they won’t need much else from him. He’ll still need the best game of his career this weekend to fend off the Bulldogs from Starkville.

4. Vanderbilt – Hot damn, would you look at the Commodores? After putting them at #5 last week, they move up a spot to settle in the #4 spot. Now, is this where they will peak? Probably. But my hat’s off to Derek Mason and the ‘Dores. A stingy defense is anchoring (see what I did there?) an overall solid performance. Also, it’s worth noting how well Kyle Shurmur is playing at QB. Big Natural wrote an article about it. I’m sure he’ll link it. Probably HERE. At 3-0, Vanderbilt now starts the rough part of SEC play. They welcome to the Tide this weekend, before Florida and Georgia in consecutive weeks. What if they end up 5-1 after week 6?….

5. Kentucky – “Poppa Bear, you have Kentucky at 5??” You know what? They’re undefeated, so shut up. Are they the 5th best team in the conference? Hell no. But I reward winners. Kentucky’s defeat of South Carolina was actually impressive, so I’m giving them a boost this week. Those Wildcats are not going away quietly and are determined to be in the conversation for the East. I love it. The defense needs to clean up a bit and the offense is starting to find that chemistry that seemed lacking. They host Florida this weekend, where I think they’ll upset the Gators.

6. Auburn – Five turnovers? If the Tigers were playing anyone but Mercer, they wouldn’t have escaped with a win. For all of the preseason hype (including plenty from me), Auburn looks like a team without an identity. This is supposed to be a Gus Malzahn offense, but has yet to look imposing after three games. There’s already chatter about his seat starting to heat up, so Malzahn needs to pull it together for SEC play. Fortunately, they travel to Missouri, so it should basically be a scrimmage and opportunity for Stidham to get more comfortable.

7. Florida – Listen, I didn’t want to put Florida here. They are NOT a good team. However, they still found a way to win (mostly thanks to Butch Jones.) While I’ll give credit to the defense for keeping the Gators in the game, the offense has done nothing to share the burden. Defense might win championships, but it isn’t going to win one for Florida if Felipe Franks doesn’t improve as quarterback. They travel to Kentucky for a possible upset.

8. LSU – After getting eviscerated on live TV, #8 might seem a little too high for the Tigers. LSU seemed poised to be the biggest threat to Alabama until Mississippi State peed in Coach O’s gumbo. That was gross. I apologize. Anyway, I’m still not sure if LSU is that bad, or if Miss State is that good. I do regret saying that Danny Etling is the QB LSU has needed. He looked terrible and will need to find some magic soon. They welcome Syracuse this weekend.

9. Tennessee – What a weekend for the Vols. As a resident of Tennessee, I can legitimately hear the calls for Butch Jones to be fired. And these people aren’t crazy. Tennessee should have dominated Florida, but Jones managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. How do you not hand the ball to John Kelly on the 1 yard line? How do you have THAT defensive scheme called on the last play of the game? The Vols have the talent to win, they just don’t have the coaching. Until that changes, I don’t see Tennessee becoming relevant again. They host UMass this weekend.

10. South Carolina – After a solid start, the Gamecocks were blindsided by a hungry Kentucky squad. It’s troubling when you can’t establish a ground game. It’s more troubling when you can’t establish a ground game against Kentucky. And with the bad news still rolling, South Carolina may have lost star Deebo Samuel for the season. As one of the most explosive players in the conference, his loss is a worst-case scenario for Will Muschamp. They’ll need to rebound (and stop missing field goals. Seriously, that’s Bama’s thing) when they host LA Tech.

11. Arkansas – Coming off of a bye week, the Razorbacks host A&M in a “Battle of Coaches Trying to Not Get Fired.”

12. Ole Miss – After taking a lead into halftime, Ole Miss fell apart in the second half against Cal. They continue to show flashes of greatness in the passing game, while bottoming out in every other aspect of the game. I still maintain that Shea Patterson is a great quarterback, but all of the scandals around the Rebels have not helped build a team around him. They are basically the polar opposite of Mississippi State at this point. They roll into a much needed bye week.

13. Texas A&M – Uninspired is the best way to describe A&M. Players flipping off the crowd seem to be the most fire you’ll see from the Aggies sideline. Kevin Sumlin is on his way out, and his players have given up on him. Pull the plug, and let’s move on. They head to Arkansas this weekend.

14. Missouri – Just bad. I’m just going to ask Stoney to put a funny picture here. It’ll be better for your soul than Missouri football.

(Editor’s Note: Ask and ye shall receive)

Have a great week folks! Poppa Bear loves you.

Poppa Bear is the lead SEC contributor for the SoBros Network, and serves as our resident expert on the human anatomy, fixin’ stuff, and tomatoes. Follow on Twitter:@SoBroPoppaBear

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