Other Half of the SEC Power Poll Ballot
by Year2 on Oct 26, 2025 5:00 PM EDT
in SEC Football
Email
Print
Like last week, I'm going to add a stat to my power poll rankings. This time, it's yards per point differential. That's yards per point allowed minus yards per point gained. It's one way of measuring team efficiency, though it's not perfect.
1. Auburn (2.39, 37th nationally)
Auburn is the number one team in the BCS, but it's not a dominant team. It beat Mississippi State by three, was fortunate to beat Clemson, and needed a meltdown from South Carolina to win. But, it's got a zero in the loss column and that's all that matters.
2. Alabama (10.44, 3rd nationally)
The Tide has been kind of lurking after its loss in Columbia, taking care of business and biding its time until the Iron Bowl. Not a bad strategy.
3. LSU (4.26, 24th nationally)
It took all the tricks LSU had to keep it close, but the Tigers somehow kept it close. A win might have been the biggest upset in terms of the box score ever.
4. Arkansas (-0.78, 69th nationally)
It took some perseverance to put the Rebels away, but they got the job done. Still, I think we can put any illusions about whether the defense has improved to rest.
5. Georgia (3.91, 28th nationally)
The surging Bulldogs might be the hottest team in the country outside the state of Oregon. They're definitely the turnaround team of the season.
6. South Carolina (4.51, 19th nationally)
That one against Vanderbilt is the kind of game South Carolina might have lost two years ago. The Gamecocks probably have turned a corner, even if it doesn't feel much like it at the moment.
7. Mississippi State (5.41, 14th nationally)
It's no fluke that these Bulldogs are 6-2. It's also not a big surprise that they nearly got caught napping by the UAB team that took Tennessee to overtime.
8. Florida (3.98, 27th nationally)
Florida hasn't gone into the Cocktail Party in this bad of shape since the week Ron Zook got fired. It's going to take some serious bye week magic to pull it out this year.
9. Ole Miss (-1.12, 76th nationally)
The Rebels are becoming more feisty, but the hole has already been dug for the year. Also, the defense is astonishingly bad.
10. Kentucky (-1.17, 77th nationally)
Kentucky has some fight and isn't terrible, but it's not really good either.
11. Vanderbilt (-0.37, 66th nationally)
The Commodores put up a pretty good fight against the Gamecocks, That counts for something, I guess.
12. Tennessee (-4.08, 97th nationally)
This team is frightfully bad. We knew depth was a problem, but it just dies in the second half.
Tweet
8 comments
|
Add comment
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
UGA above South Carolina?
I understand the Power Poll is about who would beat whom today, but I think saying UGA is the 5th best team in the conference, even just this week, is a little much. Sure they’ve looked good in their last three games, but look at the competition. They played your 12th, 11th, and 10th best teams. If you’re going to put Bulldogs ahead of the Gamecocks, at least make it Mississippi State!
Dum spiro spero - "While I breathe, I hope"
State motto of South Carolina
by The Feathered Warrior on Oct 26, 2025 5:28 PM EDT reply actions
Agreed.
Subconsciously or not, he’s promoting his team’s next opponent by overinflating its achievements.
Would Georgia beat South Carolina if the two teams played this Saturday? Maybe, maybe not . . . but the two teams did play earlier in the season, and the Gamecocks won. South Carolina has a better record and won the head-to-head meeting; there’s no way to justify putting the Bulldogs ahead of South Carolina.
Go 'Dawgs!
by T Kyle King on Oct 26, 2025 7:57 PM EDT up reply actions
Kyle
I’ll be honest. I am glad we had Georgia early in the season (usually its the opposite, wish we had Florida early and Georgia late). Having said that, The second half of Kentucky and the first half of Vandy didn’t look good. Other than that, we’ve looked pretty good all year.
by Charlestowne on Oct 26, 2025 8:09 PM EDT up reply actions
I agree completely, except for one thing.
I find it odd to hear a South Carolina fan say he usually wishes the Gamecocks got Georgia late. Given the fact that the Bulldogs have tended to finish stronger than they’ve started in the Mark Richt era, and given the fact that South Carolina tends to have starters who match up well with the rest of the league yet depth issues that cause the Gamecocks trouble late in the year (when injuries mount), I think it’s pretty clear that, if Georgia and South Carolina played late rather than early, the Bulldogs would have been considerably more dominant in the recent history of the series. I can’t think of a recent Georgia loss to South Carolina that wouldn’t more likely have been a Bulldog win if the game had been played in November. Other than 2000, when has South Carolina been stronger, and Georgia weaker, in November than in September?
That’s not a shot, but I’ve wished for years that we could move the Georgia Tech game to the front of the schedule and move the South Carolina game to the end of the schedule. I’m surprised to hear a Gamecock fan would consider such a move in South Carolina’s interests.
Go 'Dawgs!
by T Kyle King on Oct 26, 2025 9:13 PM EDT up reply actions
I don't think it matters one way or the other.
There’s probably something to what you’re saying, Kyle, but the argument leaves out what I think is the most important feature of the characteristic South Carolina slide—Carolina’s backloaded schedule. Is it really all that surprising that Carolina starts better than it finishes when its early-season schedule includes Kentucky and Vandy and it’s last four games are Tennessee, Arkansas, Florida, and Clemson? Is it that surprising to Georgia fans that Carolina has had more success against Georgia than it has against Tennessee and Florida, when Georgia has had relatively little success against the Vols and almost none against the Gators? I think South Carolina’s performance late in the season has generally been more in line with what one would expect based on early-season performance than most people believe; we’ve tended to rack up a bunch of wins early against cupcakes and Kentucky / Vandy (with an early-season close loss to UGA thrown in there), followed by losing out to the conference powerhouses that comprise the November schedule. The struggles against Clemson are more difficult to explain, but I think that has more to do with the psychology of the rivalry than anything else.
Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog by and for Gamecocks Fans.
by Gamecock Man on Oct 26, 2025 11:32 PM EDT up reply actions
While its more of a critique against Florida, of late.
Not sure I agree, I think that the exception is 2007 where UGA lost to us early and finished strong. Last year UGA started strong and then struggled a little after Tenn, especially on D. In 2008, you guys were doing really well until the LSU game, and then again, the D started giving up some points. 2006, started 5-0 and lost 4 of the next 5 including blowing us out 18-0 in Columbia (week 2) and then losing to Vandy and Kentucky.
Having said that, I think that UGA has always been more consistent from beginning to end than Fla. I think Florida, while being considerably strong since Herban has been there, plays teams closer in the beginning of the season and becomes a little more unstoppable as the season goes on. In addition, we got Fla late in 2005 and won, 2007 was our collapse from hell, 2006 and 2008, I don’t even want to talk about (both too painful for different reasons), last year Florida played Tenn, Ark, LSU all pretty close early (exception being Ken); teams I think get blown out later.
by Charlestowne on Oct 26, 2025 11:58 PM EDT up reply actions
It's a power poll
This is more about feeling than anything else, otherwise I’d just synthesize the two halves of the conference standings into a single set and put that here. South Carolina in its last two dropped a game to Kentucky and looked lackluster against Vandy. Georgia has scored 40+ in three straight. UGA is on more of a roll and I think this week, it edges out South Carolina.
Team Speed Kills -- SBNation's SEC Blog
If you're so inclined, follow me @Year2
by Year2 on Oct 26, 2025 9:21 PM EDT up reply actions
UGA has definitely improved
getting aj back obviously helped, but theyve been playing like a completely different team the last 3-4 weeks. i’m glad State got them early this year. probably wouldnt beat them at this point in the season.
You can't get there, from here.
by CoastalCowbell on Oct 27, 2025 5:45 PM EDT up reply actions
Something to say? Choose one of these options to log in.
- » Create a new SB Nation account
- » Already registered with SB Nation? Log in!
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
- Start posting on Team Speed Kills
- Team Speed Kills on Facebook
- Follow @TeamSpeedKills
- Subscribe to Team Speed Kills Stories
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recent FanPosts
NCAA Football -- FanHouse
- Somber Day On, Off Field for Notre Dame
- Indiana State Player Born With Birth Defect Makes PAT
- Iowa Throws Up a Roadblock and Stops Michigan State's Unbeaten Run
- Missouri Comes Up a Quarter Short Against Nebraska
Certain photos copyright © 2010 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
