SEC Power Rankings – Week 3: This league makes no sense

E Wayne

Mon, Sep 18, 2023, 5:42 PM·4 min read

Chaos reigns.

The 2023 college football season has been an unusual one, already, just three weeks into the year. The fact is especially true in the SEC, where the league is losing – or maybe even has lost – its grip as the most dominant league in the sport.

Locally, Arkansas fans are at a bit of a loss when it comes to their Razorbacks. Saturday’s defeat at the hands of Brigham Young felt like a major ding to Arkansas’ hopes of an eight-win regular season. Nine wins were always optimistic, but eight felt like they could have come.

Now? Who knows. The league is a mess. Some teams that were supposed to be in the bottom have pulled upsets. Some teams that were supposed to be at the top have already fallen or have looked even worse than Arkansas has.

The first part is bad for the Hogs. The second is good. So where does that leave Arkansas?

Well, for now, they’re OK. But with conference play just getting started, the real stakes are yet to come.

Here is how we have the SEC Power Rankings after three weeks.

14. Vanderbilt (14)

Vanderbilt lost on the road at UNLV. That’s never a good thing as the Rebels have been one of the worst teams in FBS for years. They have former Arkansas defensive coordinator Barry Odom as coach this year, though, and are hoping to turn things around. Vandy, though, well, they’re in a spot they’re familiar with.

13. Mississippi State (10)

The first year of Mississippi State football without coach Mike Leach, who died in late 2022, was always going to be tough, no matter the wins or losses. After Saturday’s 41-14 defeat at the hands of LSU, the Bulldogs fit the No. 13 spot.

12. South Carolina (9)

South Carolina should probably be higher than what they are here. But at 1-2, even if the losses came to two good teams, nets them the No. 12 spot.

11. Auburn (13)

A bunch of people are putting Auburn much higher. Sorry. We’re not convinced, Tigers.

10. Missouri (13)

Missouri’s big upset of Kansas State was a positive step forward. The field rush that followed was silly, but, hey, when mired in mediocrity, take what you can.

9. Texas A&M (9)

Texas A&M demolished Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday. That isn’t enough for the Aggies to jump too high. Not yet.

8. Arkansas (6)

Ask Arkansas fans and they may argue the Razorbacks deserve the No. 13 spot. And they very well could be there later, but for now? Nope. Let’s see what comes of the next month.

7. Florida (12)

Where did that come from? Florida had looked downright bad through two weeks, then came a massive upset over Tennessee. If the Gators can hold that style of play, they could be back toward the top.

6. Kentucky (7)

Kentucky has played three non-power-conference teams, so it’s unclear where the Wildcats stand. But they’ve also looked quite good in two of the three and fair enough in the other.

5. Alabama (4)

Alabama didn’t lose Saturday, but its win over South Florida didn’t exactly provide a ton of faith going forward. The Crimson Tide are not only beatable, but very much so.

4. Tennessee (2)

Tennessee’s darkhorse national championship hopes are gone. A miracle is needed to get them back. Expect the Volunteers to turn things around and still be a handful in the SEC.