SEC power rankings and college football top 25 polls for Week 7

Defense seems to be a universal problem in the SEC.

By Adam Haste Oct 11, 2020, 2:42pm EDT

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NCAA Football: Mississippi State at Kentucky

The beginning of the SEC football season has been a wild one with upsets week after week. One thing that seems to be certain is the SEC’s defense as a whole seems to be down from a normal year.

#1 Alabama Crimson Tide (3-0)

Last week: #1

Alabama got all they wanted from Ole Miss in a road battle that turned into a shootout. These teams couldn’t stop each other all night, and if you like offense, this was the game for you.

There was a combined 1,370-yards of offense but it was Najee Harris who fueled the Tide with 206 rushing yards and 5 TDs to lead Alabama to a 63-48 win.

Week 7: vs Georgia

#2 Georgia Bulldogs (3-0)

Last week: #3

This was a week to see if the Bulldogs could build off their impressive showing against Auburn.

The game started out looking like it was going to come down to the final minutes as Tennessee led the Bulldogs 21-17 at halftime.

However, the 2^nd half was a story of defense for Georgia as they forced 4 turnovers and didn’t allow the Vols to score again as they rolled to a 44-21 victory.

Week 7: @ Alabama

#3 Florida Gators (2-1)

Last week: #2

Coming into this week, the question for the Gators is their defense that has struggled so far this season giving up a ton of points each week.

Well, it was an issue again as they suffered their first loss of the season on a last second FG by Texas A&M 41-38.

Florida’s offense looks excellent, they are putting up a ton of points and mostly doing it through the air. The problem is they can’t seem to slow down opponent’s offensive attack which led to this week’s loss.

Week 7: vs LSU

#4 Auburn Tigers (2-1)

Last week: #4

Auburn was able to bounce back after their frustrating performance against Georgia, but they didn’t bounce back in the way many expected.

At first, it looked like they were going to run away from Arkansas jumping out to a 17-0 lead. However, Arkansas battled back and took a late 28-27 lead.

After a missed FG by Auburn, the Tigers’ defense was able to get a stop setting up the game winning FG to give Auburn the 30-28 win.

Week 7: @ South Carolina

#5 Texas A&M Aggies (2-1)

Last week: #7

The Aggies came into this week needing a big win after their subpar start to the 2020 season, and that is exactly what they got.

The Aggies’ offense was hitting on all cylinders as they passed for 338-yards and rushed for 205-yards.

However, the difference was a late fumble forced by the Aggies’ defense that set up the game winning FG as time expired to give A&M the 41-38 victory.

Week 7: @ Mississippi State

#6 Tennessee Volunteers (2-1)

Last week: #6

Tennessee came into this week with a chance to make a big statement if they could get a win over Georgia on the road.

Despite leading at halftime, the Vols were held scoreless throughout the 2^nd half and turned the ball over 4 times as they lost 44-21.

The Tennessee defense does look legit, but the offense needs to do a better job of taking care of the ball because they put the defense in some tough situations in this one.

Week 7: vs Kentucky

#7 Ole Miss Rebels (1-2)

Last week: #9

This Ole Miss team is better than their record shows, as this offense is one of the best in the league. And it’s not like they are doing it against the lower end of the SEC. This offense just put up 647-yards and 48 points against Alabama.

The problem for the Rebels is like a lot of the SEC, they can’t seem to stop anyone as they gave up 723-yards and 63 points to the Tide.

Despite losing 63-48, the Rebels look like a team that could make some noise in the SEC if they can get the defense figured out.

Week 7: @ Arkansas

#8 LSU Tigers (1-2)

Last week: #5

The defending champions aren’t off to a great start in 2020 as they have found themselves off to a 1-2 start after their shocking 45-41 road loss to Missouri.

Once again, the defense is the issue for the Tigers as they are giving up a ton of yards and points to everyone. In this one, they allowed 586-total yards with 406 coming through the air.

On the positive side, new QB Myles Brennan is starting to settle in a has the offense looking very good after putting up 430-yards and 4 TDs in the loss.

Week 7: @ Florida

#9 Kentucky Wildcats (1-2)

Last week: #11

The Wildcats are finally in the win column and did it in the least expected way possible, with defense.

Coming into this week, the Cats were 74^th out of 74 teams in passing defense which had BBN worried with Mississippi State being the No. 1 passing team in the country.

Well, the Kentucky defense stepped up and came up with 6 INTs with one being a pick six as they were able to shutout the Bulldogs’ offense getting a 24-2 win.

Week 7: @ Tennessee

#10 Arkansas Razorbacks (1-2)

Last week: #10

The Razorbacks came up just short on Saturday in what would have been a monster upset on the road against Auburn as they fell 30-28.

Arkansas looked like they were going to get blown out as they quickly fell behind 17-0. However, they battled back to take a 28-27 lead late.

Unfortunately, the offense couldn’t get the final first downs needed allowing the Tigers’ offense back on the field an ultimately lost it on a last second FG.

Week 7: vs Ole Miss

#11 Mississippi State Bulldogs (1-2)

Last week: #8

Was the Bulldogs’ road win over LSU to start the season a fluke? Or is LSU just not very good this season?

Nevertheless, the Bulldogs gave Arkansas their first SEC win in 20 games last week and followed that performance up with a 24-2 loss to Kentucky where they threw 6 INTs and the offense looked awful.

The Bulldogs are running the air raid offense with Mike Leach, but it may be time to go away from it and ride Kylin Hill out of the backfield.

Week 7: vs Texas A&M

#12 Missouri Tigers (1-2)

Last week: #13

Missouri looked to be on the brink of an 0-3 start with a tough test coming in this week against LSU.

However, their offense exploded against the Tigers and racked up 586-yards on their way to a monster 45-41 upset win over LSU.

Now the Tigers have a real chance to build momentum this week before a tough matchup in week 8.

Week 7: vs Vanderbilt

#13 South Carolina Gamecocks (1-2)

Last week: #12

While the Gamecocks came up with a big 41-7 win over Vanderbilt, they saw their ranking slip due to the impressive wins of the teams around them.

South Carolina is a few different plays away from being 2-1 or even 3-0. However, they were not able to make the plays needed and find themselves at 1-2 after a win over Vandy.

It will be interesting to see if this allows USC to find their footing going forward.

Week 7: vs Auburn

#14 Vanderbilt Commodores (0-3)

Last week: #14

Well, it’s a new season but it’s the same Vanderbilt.

The Commodores were completely dominated by South Carolina as they fell 41-7 getting off to a league worst 0-3 start and they remain they only SEC team without a win.

Week 7: @ Missouri

As for the latest round of top 25 polls, Kentucky remains unranked in the latest Coaches and AP Poll. Tennessee, who Kentucky faces next, came in at No. 17 in the Coaches Poll and No. 18 in the AP Poll.

At the top of the SEC are Alabama (2) and Georgia (3), who will face off this week in Tuscaloosa.

Coaches Top 25 Poll

1 Clemson

2 Alabama

3 Georgia

4 Notre Dame

5 Ohio State

6 North Carolina

7 Oklahoma State

8 Penn State

9 Florida

10 Cincinnati

11 Texas A&M

12 Miami

13 BYU

14 Auburn

15 Wisconsin

16 Oregon

17 Tennessee

18 SMU

19 Michigan

20 Iowa State

21 Louisiana

22 Kansas State

23 Virginia Tech

24 USC

25 Minnesota

Others receiving votes: Central Florida 93; NC State 89; Oklahoma 87; Marshall 73; Boston College 68; Iowa 53; Coastal Carolina 48; Utah 44; West Virginia 39; UAB 38; Army 37; Boise State 36; Tulsa 20; Mississippi State 20; Memphis 17; Texas Christian 16; Mississippi 13; Air Force 13; Arizona State 12; Liberty 8; Kentucky 8; Texas 7; Houston 7; California 7; Washington 6; Stanford 6; Missouri 6; Nebraska 5; Louisiana Tech 5; Louisiana State 4; Arkansas 1.

AP Top 25 Poll

1 Clemson

2 Alabama

3 Georgia

4 Notre Dame

5 North Carolina

6 Ohio State

7 Oklahoma State

8 Cincinnati

9 Penn State

10 Florida

11 Texas A&M

12 Oregon

13 Miami

14 Auburn

15 BYU

16 Wisconsin

17 SMU

18 Tennessee