Today's SEC Power Poll has some changes, but not at the top. The Kentucky Wildcats are still at the pinnacle of the conference, and Alabama, who had been second on my ballot for the last couple of weeks, drops significantly due to a couple of tough losses.
Meanwhile Florida, Vanderbilt, and Mississippi St. all improve due to either winning or a combination of winning enough while others a head of them lost. Two SEC teams had impressive wins over ranked non-conference foes, Arkansas at home over the Michigan Wolverines, and Tennessee at home over the Connecticut Huskies. Those rare non-conference wins in the middle of conference season really helped the SEC's profile, and has placed at least one of the two, Arkansas, near the bubble for consideration for an at-large bid.
To have any real chance, though, the Razorbacks much find a way to win away from Fayetteville, which they have yet to do this season. There are at least five more winnable games on Arkansas schedule, and if they can pull an upset or two, the Michigan win gives them the kind of credibility they need to sneak into the tournament.
My complete ballot follows the jump.
Rank | Last wk. | Delta | Team | Overall | Conf | Proj | Pomeroy | AdjO | AdjD | AdjT | Conf SOS | Comments |
1 | 1 | 0 | Kentucky | 19-1 | 5-0 | 14-2 | 0.9519 | 117.2 | 87.6 | 68.7 | 0.6676 | #1 in all the land means they are #1 in the SEC as well. No exposition necessary. |
2 | 3 | 1 | Florida | 15-4 | 3-1 | 11-5 | 0.9223 | 123.6 | 97.1 | 67.2 | 0.6416 | Gators have won their last three, and they weren't close. Rounding into form. |
3 | 4 | 1 | Vanderbilt | 14-5 | 4-1 | 10-6 | 0.8553 | 110.2 | 92.7 | 66.8 | 0.6613 | Vanderbilt lost a game they should have won. No excuses. Team defense still a problem, and MSU owned them on the offensive glass. |
4 | 5 | 1 | Mississippi St. | 16-4 | 3-2 | 9-7 | 0.7950 | 111.1 | 97.3 | 66.8 | 0.8040 | Big win on the road thanks to some remarkable shooting by Jalen Steele. |
5 | 2 | -3 | Alabama | 13-6 | 2-3 | 11-5 | 0.9045 | 107.8 | 86.6 | 64.0 | 0.8346 | Tough loss at Kentucky, and now the Tide must travel to Columbia to face the Gamecocks. I like their chances in that one, though. |
6 | 7 | 1 | Arkansas | 14-5 | 2-2 | 8-8 | 0.7339 | 104.1 | 94.2 | 72.1 | 0.8214 | What a huge victory over Michigan. If all the Razorback's games were played at home, they might be undefeated. |
7 | 9 | 2 | Mississippi | 13-6 | 3-2 | 7-9 | 0.6536 | 97.7 | 91.8 | 67.8 | 0.6927 | Big win over favored State, and a road win at Georgia. It gets a lott tougher now, though, only 3 clearly winnable games left on their schedule. |
8 | 8 | 0 | Tennessee | 9-10 | 1-3 | 6-10 | 0.6860 | 102.3 | 94.8 | 64.8 | 0.8547 | If Arkansas' win over Michigan was huge, the Vols win over Connecticut was galactic. Dangerous team is only getting more so as Jarnell Stokes improves. |
9 | 6 | -3 | Louisiana St. | 12-7 | 2-3 | 7-9 | 0.7425 | 99.7 | 90.0 | 66.4 | 0.8035 | Didn't put up much of a fight against the Gators, and they figure to fare no better against Mississippi St. on the road, or Kentucky at home. |
10 | 10 | 0 | Auburn | 12-7 | 2-3 | 4-12 | 0.4590 | 95.3 | 96.9 | 66.0 | 0.7736 | This team is showing some fight, but almost any win from now on will be an upset. |
11 | 11 | 0 | Georgia | 10-9 | 1-4 | 4-12 | 0.5626 | 101.7 | 99.2 | 63.5 | 0.8202 | Quality win over UT in overtime, but close loss to Ole Miss a disappointment to the Dawgs. Finding wins from now on will be tough. |
12 | 12 | 0 | South Carolina | 8-10 | 0-4 | 4-12 | 0.5601 | 104.1 | 101.7 | 61.9 | 0.8567 | Haven't won a league game yet, and hard to see that changing against 'Bama. |
Comments? Suggestions? Agreement, disagreement? I'd love to hear them.