Poll Watching: SEC Now Has Seven Ranked Teams

The new week's rankings are out, and South Carolina's sharp showing against Southern Miss lead the SEC to have a remarkable seven teams in each major top 25 list.

In the AP Poll, Alabama held on to the top spot despite losing seven first place votes (mostly to No. 3 Boise State). Florida understandably slid from fourth to eight, while Arkansas surged from 17 to 14. LSU picked up a couple of spots after beating North Carolina to end up at 19, while Auburn and Georgia each advanced a spot to 21 and 22, respectively. The Gamecocks entered the poll at 24, while no other league teams picked up a vote.

Meanwhile in the Coaches' Poll, no first place votes changed hands as Alabama actually picked up a point to remain comfortably in first. Florida dropped from third to sixth, getting more of a pass for its struggles from the coaches than the writers. Arkansas, which had been No. 19, leapfrogged LSU to come in at 15, while the Tigers themselves stood pat at 16. Georgia moved up from 21 to 19, while Auburn got a bigger boost in going from 23 to 20. South Carolina debuted at 25, Mississippi State picked up five points, and Tennessee was granted a single point.

The same seven are ranked in ESPN's power poll as well, though Disney's sports scribes dropped Florida to 11 and LSU down below Auburn and Georgia. Alabama is either No. 1 or No. 2 in everyone's ballot except for Pac-10 guy Ted Miller's, who had the Tide fourth. The most interesting ballot award goes to Ivan Maisel, who had eight SEC teams in his poll: Alabama (1), South Carolina (10), Auburn (11), Georgia (16), Florida (18), Arkansas (21), LSU (22), and Mississippi State (25). Good luck figuring out that logic.