Week 7 saw a lot of changes in the SEC -- LSU lost for the first time in an impressive beat-down by Florida. Auburn continues to tank, losing at home to Arkansas, and Vanderbilt finally lost to an SEC opponent, Mississippi State.
Obviously, the poll has been shaken up quite a bit. This week, Ken and I managed to get together and submit a proper ballot, more or less timely. You can find the official SEC Power Poll results here at Garnet and Black Attack, as always.
As for Kentucky, the home loss to South Carolina has not only hurt their prospects for a third straight bowl, but now puts them firmly in the lower teir of SEC teams. UK does have an opportunity to redeem itself against a newly resurgent Arkansas team, but injuries to key personnel and a struggling offense make every game a major challenge, despite having one of the league's best defenses.
For this week, I have used yet another format in an attempt to make it easier for me to do while still understandable by the readers. Please note that the final rank of the teams was determined by averaging my vote and Ken's vote.
UPDATE Wednesday, 10:30: Well, I just noticed that my rankings were all wrong. In my haste to submit a ballot timely, I forgot to update my ranking system properly. Oh, well, too late to fix it. Next week will be better (God willing).
| Team | cWL | W-L | bWL | SoS | Last | Rank | Tru | Tru Comments | Ken | Ken Comments |
| Alabama | 3-0 | 6-0 | 4-0 | 43.34 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Bye week. | 1 | Bye week -- No reason to drop from the top spot. |
| LSU | 2-1 | 4-1 | 2-1 | 48.01 | 2 | 2 | 2 | The Gators didn't take a bite out of the Tigers, they swallowed them whole. | 4 | Have they been waaaay over-ranked? |
| Florida | 3-1 | 5-1 | 4-1 | 50.26 | 5 | 3 | 5 | Yikes. Just yikes. | 2 | Pulverizing LSU makes Florida a national player once again |
| Georgia | 2-1 | 5-1 | 3-1 | 56.78 | 4 | 3 | 4 | This game did not impress me. Only Tennessee's mistakes made this look respectable. Are the Dawgs offensively challenged? | 3 | Beating UT first step in regaining national rep |
| Vanderbilt | 3-1 | 5-1 | 3-1 | 49.66 | 3 | 5 | 3 | Scored 14 points the past two games, one a close win and one a close loss. | 5 | No shame in losing a close one at MSU, but Nickson seemed very ineffective |
| South Carolina | 2-2 | 5-2 | 3-2 | 45.23 | 8 | 6 | 7 | The Chickens took the 'Cats by surprise | 6 | Spurrier finds a quarterback ... which now makes SC a threat. |
| Auburn | 2-3 | 4-3 | 2-3 | 44.24 | 7 | 7 | 8 | Tuberville looks like a dead man walking. Why I ranked them this high, I really don't know ... | 7 | Loss at home to Arkansas indicative of disarray within the program |
| Kentucky | 0-2 | 4-2 | 1-2 | 48.07 | 6 | 8 | 7 | The Spurrier curse. Will it ever end? | 9 | Loss of Lyons and the ongoing anemic offense costing the 'Cats |
| Mississippi | 1-2 | 3-3 | 1-3 | 49.02 | 8 | 9 | 9 | Bye week. | 8 | Bye week -- I'm not sure if Miss. is good or just average. |
| Mississippi State | 1-2 | 2-4 | 1-3 | 47.98 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Most points scored by Sly's crew this year in the SEC, but against one of the weakest defenses in the league. | 10 | Big win over Vandy for Sly. Is the Bulldogs offense catching up the their defense? |
| Tennessee | 0-3 | 2-4 | 0-4 | 47.68 | 10 | 11 | 10 | Fulmer's seat just assumed the temperature of a supernova. | 12 | Fulmer busy faxing resume' |
| Arkansas | 1-2 | 3-3 | 1-3 | 55.48 | 12 | 12 | 12 | Are the Hawgs coming alive, or was this just another epic failure by the Auburn offense? | 11 | Win at Auburn is impressive |
Your comments are welcome and encouraged, as always.