Aggies rise, Gamecocks slide: Week 5 SEC Power Rankings

It was a strange night for the SEC. A team that got beaten at home by a BIG TEN TEAM went on the road to one of the toughest environments in the SEC…..and won. A team favored by 17 over their young, tortured rivals only won by 3. A team got a monkey off its back. Oh, and people are wondering if Les Miles is completely crazy. Again. All in a week in the SEC….

So here are your Power Rankings. Because Alabama didn’t play, they are moving down…

1) Texas A&M (5-0) – They were big favorites to beat Arkansas in JerryWorld, but ended up winning in overtime in a game they SHOULD have probably lost. Mark Snyder’s ‘D’ actually showed some improvement in the second half, but the question we’re still asking is: Why didn’t Arkansas simply carry on running the ball as they had in the first half? Anyway, Kenny Hill finally found some fourth quarter consistency, and the Aggies remain unbeaten.

2) Alabama (4-0) – A HUGE win over Bye Week this week. The Nick-Lane Lovefest continued with some ‘heavy petting’, and Mrs Saban and Mrs Kiffin are considering divorces because their hubbies have run off with….each other. Florida State’s win at NC State put ‘Bama No.1 in the Coaches’ Poll, but isn’t the mark of a good team one that struggles and then comes back and wins comfortably?

3) Auburn (4-0) – You HAVE to watch this play from Quan Bray and Nick Marshall. Incredible. Otherwise, Louisiana Tech came to town to be Auburn’s Homecoming Slaughter Baby….and they only beat Louisiana Tech by 28 – despite the game really being over at 24-0. Was Gus Malzahn slowing down before LSU? Or did something go astray?

4) Georgia (3-1) – Georgia moved up the list because they won and South Carolina didn’t. They didn’t move up the list because their defense was any good (they gave up 401 yards to a not-particularly-good Tennessee offenses), they moved up the list because Todd Gurley is a Heisman candidate, and his 200-yard performance was something special. They failed to beat the spread (as we predicted), but we thought they’d win by 14. Not 3. Still, they won.

5) Mississippi State (4-0) – Up here because we’re convinced they better than 90% of the SEC East. We’ll see if this is all true when they host Texas A&M on Saturday, won’t we?

6) Ole Miss (4-0) – They are STILL the No.11 team in the country despite their awful offensive performance against Memphis. If Bo Wallace is the third-best QB in SEC Country, the SEC has big, big QB problems. We love Hugh Freeze’s ‘D’, though. We’ll see how good they are on Saturday when they host Alabama, where they are a 5-point underdog.

7) LSU (4-1) – LSU fans have a major problem. And Les Miles is their biggest one. Here’s why: Anthony Jennings, their current starting quarterback is NOT good enough. In fact, he’s worse than not good enough. Dog turd would be a less terrible QB than Anthony Jennings. And not only do the fans think that dog turd would be comparably better at QB, his team feels the same. Hence why Jennings gets pulled out against New Mexico State, and Brandon Harris- his replacement – goes 11/14 for 178 yards and 3 TDs. Jennings’ line? 2/5 for 11 yards and 2 INTs. Seriously. But if LSU keeps Harris and their skill players, the Tigers could be dangerous. You know, if they can tackle, too.

8) Missouri (4-1) – Missouri’s offense did nothing until the fourth quarter at South Carolina, but then rebounded for a stunning 21-20 victory. And managed to really get this woman pissed….

9) Arkansas (3-2) – The Razorbacks SHOULD have beaten Texas A&M this week. They’ve got two excellent running backs in Alex Collins and Jonathan Williams, and a bruising offensive line. But the mistakes that Bielema made in the fourth quarter crucified his team….and that’s why they could well be really good AND finish winless in the SEC West. Then again, they could well beat Georgia when the two teams’ meet.

10) South Carolina (3-2) – This woman‘s pissed. Steve Spurrier may not have seemed pissed afterwards, but he’s pretty pissed. His ‘Cocks are unranked and unloved by the coaches AND the AP. His QB project Dylan Thompson’s not living up to the hype – and nor is Mike Davis. Weirdly, the Gamecocks were pretty good defensively tonight….but awful offensively. A weird season in Columbia. Good atmosphere at the stadium, though – helped by the thousands of Mizzou fans – and College Gameday – who came to town and got the party kicked off early.

11) Florida (3-1) – Florida’s only loss of the season was to get ripped to pieces by Alabama. They struggled against Bye Week this week, but made it through. Jeff Driskel was pretty medicore though.

12) Kentucky (3-1) – HUGE win for Big Blue Nation, who won their first SEC game. Yay! This team isn’t going to be anything to write home about, but at least the monkey’s off its back.

13) Tennessee (2-2) – The young Vols battled against Georgia, and maybe were unlucky not to come away with the victory. But in the end, they couldn’t stop Todd Gurley. They shouldn’t be too upset. No-one else can.

14) Vanderbilt (1-4) – Dear. God.