SEC Power Poll: A Sea of Blue's Ballot for Week 5

by Glenn Logan on Oct 1, 2008 8:37 AM EDT in Kentucky Wildcats Football

The full results of the SEC Power Poll is up now at Garnet and Black Attack.

Once again, it's time for the SEC Power Poll. This week sees lots of changes due to upsets, particularly in the SEC East. Alabama has become dominant by beating Georgia so convincingly. Florida's 1-point loss to Ole Miss also hurt their standing, and Tennessee's downright pitiful performance against a seriously offense-challenged Auburn team is the straw that broke the camel's back for me.

Do I really think Tennessee is the worst team in the league? No, I don't, but I have run out of defensible arguments. Until the Vols can stop fumbling in the end zone and bumbling about with a quarterback that makes Mike Hartline look like Archie Manning (dating myself a bit, eh?), I'm going to dump them into the cellar. It's more principle than anything else --everyone expected Arkansas and MSU to stink, and they do. Tennessee has no excuse.

To a lesser extent, the same can be said about South Carolina. Their offense is so AWOL right now that every game is a nail-biter despite an incredible defense that deserves a tremendous amount of praise. But the offense is so bad, it is sucking the life out of the team. If the Gamecocks can find consistent offense, they could easily shoot up into the top half of the league in a week or two. The only reason I have them this low is that no defense is good enough to consistently win the game for you. Nobody knows that, perhaps, better than a Kentucky fan who witnessed the MTSU game.

Finally, I can't quit without a word about Auburn. Their Spread Option offense is an insult to the scheme. They are getting by on the fact they haven't had any bad losses despite Herculean efforts to the contrary. This team is fully capable of losing to the Vanderbilt Commodores on Saturday, which would mark the breaking of the 3rd Seal, with the Commies playing the part of the black horse. I'm not ready for this ...

So with all that said, here is my ballot:

Team	cWL	W-L	bWL	SoS	MoV	Score	Last	Rank	Remarks
Alabama	2-0	5-0	3-0	49.74	23.6	2.25	4	1	The Devil Saban went down to Georgia and stole the Bulldog's soul. Mark Richt's head is now permanently rotated 180 degrees.
LSU	2-0	4-0	2-0	48.24	20.3	3.16	2	2	LSU is 89th in opponent's red zone conversions. Not impressive. Neither was this game, but a win is a win.
Georgia	1-1	4-1	2-1	61.09	15.2	10.75	3	3	Georgia played one impressive quarter and one even quarter. Two quarters too few.
Auburn	2-1	4-1	2-1	50.53	9.2	13.28	5	4	Perhaps the most inefficient Spread Option in the history of the scheme. Only Crompton's utter incompetence for UT saved this game for them.
Florida	1-1	3-1	2-1	51.59	23	14.95	1	5	You look at the stats, and you wonder how Ole Miss won – 'till you look at big plays and turnovers.
Vanderbilt	2-0	4-0	2-0	53.58	12.8	17	6	6	Open date.
Kentucky		4-0	1-0	47.18	26	32.4	7	7	Beat Western worse than the Tide. Does that mean UK's better? We'll find out next week.
Mississippi	1-1	3-2	1-2	52.29	6.8	35.25	9	8	Rebels had themselves a little surprise Gator barbecue down in the Swamp.
Mississippi State	0-2	1-4	0-3	56.25	-5.2	57.6	12	9	Well, at least they kept the Bayou Bengals from running up the score.
South Carolina	0-2	3-2	1-2	49.57	8.6	62.15	8	10	Beat a hapless UAB team, but stand 90th in scoring offense. The Gamecocks couldn't offend anyone even in pointy white hoods.
Arkansas	0-1	2-2	0-2	57.82	-18	64.35	11	11	Crushed into a fine powder and smoked by Texas. I don't think the Longhorns even caught a buzz.
Tennessee	0-2	1-3	0-3	50.09	0.8	69.5	10	12	How pitiful is Crompton? Smelley is rated higher. Right now, the Vols suck like a singularity.

Critique away.

Tweet Comment 8 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Remarks

Love the remarks on Alabama and Ark….good stuff!

" I believe in pipedreams"

by Magnoliacat on Oct 1, 2008 9:42 AM EDT reply actions

Remarks

Arkansas remarks were my favorite, followed by South Carolina. Funny AND true! Great work, Tru!

by kentuckygirl0724 on Oct 1, 2008 12:50 PM EDT reply actions

Thanks to all.

I try to say something amusing each week, but only occasionally succeed. :-)

A Sea of Blue -- Kentucky Sports for the Discerning Fan

by Glenn Logan on Oct 1, 2008 5:03 PM EDT reply actions

I always enjoy your rankings

I agree Bama and LSU should be the top 2 and I would accept either order. I am curious how you come with the strenght of schedule because I would be tempted to elevate Ole Miss over UK based on their schedule and results. They lost on a last second FG at ranked Wake, to a ranked Vandy team and won on the road against #3 ranked UF. Although the UL win looks better UK has beaten no one of note.

by SevenRings on Oct 1, 2008 6:42 PM EDT reply actions

I have ...

… a handy, dandy piece of software that does the SOS stuff for me. :-)

A Sea of Blue -- Kentucky Sports for the Discerning Fan

by Glenn Logan on Oct 1, 2008 6:53 PM EDT up reply actions

thanks tru

I figured you did but I am not sure I agree with it….lol

by SevenRings on Oct 1, 2008 6:55 PM EDT up reply actions

But, to address your point ...

… Ole Miss has two losses. I can’t see how I could rank Ole Miss higher than UK based only on SOS, especially when UK is undefeated, albeit against weak comp.

A Sea of Blue -- Kentucky Sports for the Discerning Fan

by Glenn Logan on Oct 1, 2008 6:55 PM EDT up reply actions