Final 2021 SEC football power rankings following the national championship
That makes it official, the 2021 college football season has officially come to an end after the Georgia Bulldogs won the title. All teams will now focus on wrapping up their 2022 recruiting classes in February and preparing for spring football.
The SEC claimed another national championship, as they extended their streak to three. It started when the LSU Tigers knocked off the defending national champion Clemson Tigers in 2019. Last season it was the Alabama Crimson Tide and this year it was Georgia.
With the season coming to a close, we look at the final SEC power rankings for the 2021 season after Georgia’s 33-18 victory.
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Why The Ranking
Vanderbilt is the only team that wasn’t initially invited to participate in the post-season. Head coach Clark Lea still has plenty of work to be done with the Commodores to get into the conversation of climbing out of the basement of the conference.
At least they still have baseball.
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Why The Ranking
It was a tough year for the Florida Gators after it looked like they were poised for another run to the College Football Playoffs. However, an early-season slide took them out of the running and cost Dan Mullen his job as the head coach. Heading into 2022 new head coach Billy Napier will focus on righting the ship and getting the Gators back in contention.
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Why The Ranking
In the landscape of the SEC, Missouri and Florida are pretty close to even at this point. We give the Tigers the nod due to their head-to-head matchup. Their offense should be even better with the No. 1 wide receiver recruit coming to Columbia. Luther Burden could be a problem in year one.
LSU Tigers
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Why The Ranking
It was a poor year for the Purple and Gold in 2021. Halfway through the season, we found out that Ed Orgeron wouldn’t return and the mass exodus began. They lost plenty of players down the stretch including top wide receiver Kayshon Boutte to a season-ending injury. New head coach Brian Kelly has plenty of work to do for this team moving forward.
Auburn Tigers
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Why The Ranking
Much like the LSU Tigers, Auburn limped into their bowl matchup. The Houston Cougars were more than ready to deal with them. They started former LSU QB TJ Finley but the Tigers couldn’t do enough. Bryan Harsin has plenty of decisions to be made if they want to jump back into the conversation at the top of the SEC West. Year two should be better.
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Why The Ranking
The Bulldogs were able to win seven games this season, but they looked overmatched and unprepared for their bowl game with Texas Tech. They were absolutely bullied in that game. Will Rogers will return for another season and he should be even better in 2022. Can they keep up on the defensive side of the ball is the real question.
Tennessee Volunteers
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Why The Ranking
The Tennessee Vols under first-year head coach Josh Heupel were much better than expected in 2021. Despite the losses through the transfer portal, the Vols were highly competitive. Once Heupel is able to get some athletes on that team, they will be a problem. Once they stuck with Hendon Hooker at quarterback it was a much different team.
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Why The Ranking
It was quite the performance for South Carolina against North Carolina in the Mayo Bowl. The Gamecocks were able to dominate the game early on against their border rivals. Considering where many thought this team was before Shane Beamer’s arrival, this was a masterful performance. He even used a graduate assistant at quarterback. Next year will be entertaining with Spencer Rattler and Austin Stogner coming to town.
Texas A&M Aggies
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Why The Ranking
The Aggies didn’t play in their bowl game due to COVID-19 within the program, so their season ended on a sour note. The loss to LSU showed flaws on that team and they lost their defensive coordinator Mike Elko. Despite all of that, they put together an 8-4 season in which they took down then No. 1 ranked Alabama. What does Jimbo Fisher have in store for 2022?
Arkansas Razorbacks
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Why The Ranking
Considering the job of head coach Sam Pittman, this team overachieved in his second season on the job. The team won just three games and tripled that number in 2021. His team wasn’t quite up to snuff to roll with Alabama or Georgia but the Razorbacks are trending in a good direction.
Kentucky Wildcats
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Why The Ranking
For the second time in four years, the Kentucky Wildcats won 10 games. They also won the Citrus Bowl again, as they did the last time they cracked double-digits in wins. They flexed their muscle against both LSU and Florida and won a fourth-straight bowl game. Mark Stoops is proving that with patience you can breakthrough in the vaunted SEC.
Ole Miss Rebels
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Why The Ranking
The Ole Miss Rebels were the only other SEC team to make it to the New Years Six. It just didn’t end the way many had hoped in Oxford. Ole Miss finished second in the SEC West and cracked 10 wins for the first time since 2015 and only the third time since 2000. Had it not been for the injury to Corral, they might have won 11 games for the first time ever. He will need to restock but the Rebels look poised to make another run in 2022.
Alabama Crimson Tide
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Why The Ranking
The Crimson Tide took home yet another SEC title and set up the rematch after knocking off Cincinnati in the semifinals. Texas A&M was able to knock them off in the regular season but it seemed to fuel the Tide on their run to another national championship game. They won the conference but Georgia got the last laugh.
Georgia Bulldogs
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Why The Ranking
The Bulldogs went through the regular season unscathed but when they met Alabama in the SEC title game, they were the ones trying to catch up. They clearly learned from their mistakes as they took down Alabama in the CFP national championship game to secure their first trophy in four decades.
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