Of course, it's no real surprise to see UK on top of the first SEC Power Poll. After all, they are second in all the land in both polls, so who can gainsay this position?
For the rest of the league, as usual, we have some good teams, some bad teams, and some teams that have not been tested. Florida definitely has been tested, and they are more than worthy of #2. Alabama has also faced several quality opponents and have shown that they are worthy of a top tier spot in the SEC.
But so far, for my money, Mississippi St. has been a bit more convincing, so i'm sticking them at three and putting the Tide at #4. After that, it is pretty much a scrum for leavings and scrapings. I still can't buy into Auburn, because they haven't beaten a soul.
For the rest of the ballot, follow me past the jump.
This is what my ballot looks like for this week:
Rank | Team | Overall | Conf | Proj | Pomeroy | AdjO | AdjD | AdjT | Comments |
1 | Kentucky | 13-1 | 0-0 | 14-2 | 0.9642 | 116.4 | 84.4 | 69.5 | Not much to say. Much the best right now, but could be challenged in the league. |
2 | Florida | 11-3 | 0-0 | 12-4 | 0.9247 | 121.9 | 95.5 | 67.9 | Fantastic offense, but they have to defend somebody. |
3 | Mississippi St. | 13-2 | 0-0 | 9-7 | 0.7959 | 107.9 | 94.5 | 68.3 | A very dangerous, but at the same time vulnerable, team. |
4 | Alabama | 10-3 | 0-0 | 11-5 | 0.8870 | 106.5 | 87.1 | 63.6 | The mirror image of Florida |
5 | Vanderbilt | 9-4 | 0-0 | 9-7 | 0.8281 | 108.7 | 93.3 | 68.8 | Big win @ Marquette. Can they keep the momentum going? |
6 | Louisiana St. | 10-3 | 0-0 | 7-9 | 0.7049 | 98 | 90 | 67.3 | Have the look of an NIT or CBI team right now, but if they can beat Virginia, I'll be buying LSU stock. |
7 | Arkansas | 10-3 | 0-0 | 7-9 | 0.7167 | 101.9 | 93.1 | 71.6 | Remind me of Alabama with a different style. The Hawgs need to learn to offend. |
8 | Mississippi | 9-4 | 0-0 | 7-9 | 0.6714 | 97.4 | 90.8 | 69.9 | Latest 3-game losing skid has exposed them. |
9 | Georgia | 9-5 | 0-0 | 6-10 | 0.6420 | 102.7 | 97 | 64.1 | Only two victories over opponents ranked better than 100. Sell. |
10 | Tennessee | 6-6 | 0-0 | 6-10 | 0.6369 | 106.4 | 100.7 | 65.5 | Has played a couple of opponents tough. Jarnell Stokes will help, but how much? |
11 | South Carolina | 7-6 | 0-0 | 5-11 | 0.6204 | 103.7 | 98.8 | 63.8 | Giving fans very little reason to believe. |
12 | Auburn | 9-3 | 0-0 | 4-12 | 0.4609 | 97.7 | 99.2 | 67.8 | Not buying any improvement over last year yet, at least not in the league. |