College Football Rankings: SEC Power Poll Has Bama at No. 1, Florida at No. 6 Before Title Game

SEC POWER POLL RESULTS, WEEK 13

	Team (First-place votes)	Points	Change	Standard Deviation
1	Alabama Crimson Tide (10)	140	--	0.000
2	Ole Miss Rebels	129	+1	0.316
3	Arkansas Razorbacks	110	+2	1.15
4	Mississippi St. Bulldogs	109	-2	1.287
5	Tennessee Volunteers	94	+1	0.966
6	Florida Gators	93	-2	2.406
7	LSU Tigers	89	--	1.287
8	Georgia Bulldogs	72	--	0.422
9	Texas A&M Aggies	58	--	1.033
10	Auburn Tigers	56	--	0.699
11	Vanderbilt Commodores	37	--	0.675
12	Missouri Tigers	25	+1	0.527
13	Kentucky Wildcats	23	-1	0.949
14	South Carolina Gamecocks	15	--	1.080

To get an idea of how topsy-turvy this season has been in the SEC, consider this: Ole Miss, a team that beat Alabama and lost to Memphis, is almost the least-controversial team in this week's power poll. The only one less divisive for our voters is Alabama, who sweeps the top place on the ballot for the 97th consecutive week. (That's a rough estimate.)

Arkansas advances into the Top 3 after stomping Missouri -- the Razorbacks' highest place in quite some time -- while Mississippi State drops to a still-strong No. 4 after getting thumped by Ole Miss. The bottom half of the poll is relatively static.

The most controversial team, checking in at No. 6, is Florida. That's what happens when you have an SEC division champion that's scored 25 points over its last three Power 5 games and hasn't beaten a bowl team in about a month. The Gators' votes were scattered from No. 3 to No. 9, and you could pretty much make a case for both of those extremes.

One housekeeping note: Because the SEC Championship Game doesn't usually change anything -- though it might further Florida's fall this year -- we do not do an SEC Power Poll after the title event. Our next vote will follow bowl season.

Voters?

Alabama Crimson Tide

The opening betting line for the SECCG is the largest in twenty years.---Get the Picture

Please don't embarrass us all in the playoffs.---Anchor of Gold

"Oh no, how will Nick Saban ever replace his genius defensive coordinator if he goes to Georgia?" said no one.---Rocky Top Talk

John David Mercer -- USA Today Sports

Arkansas Razorbacks

The Hogs beat Missouri to end the regular season with a winning record both overall and in the SEC.---Garnet and Black Attack

It's almost time for BERT to start his annual hibernation that starts after the Arkansas bowl game and lasts until November 2016.---Rocky Top Talk

Post-Thanksgiving Bret Bielema is nigh-unbeatable. But really, his actual Thanksgiving leftovers probably could've kept Missouri out of the end zone.---Rock M Nation

Auburn Tigers

It's something to think about how far short of preseason hype this team fell in 2015.  But for an overtime win against a FCS squad, the Gus Bus would be winterized and up on blocks in the garage now.---Get the Picture

From starting the season as conference favorites to ending the season last in the West. There's still the East, but this isn't a good stop for the Gus Bus as it blazes into the bowl season.---Arkansas Fight

Gus Malzahn will have his hands full trying to develop some semblance of a passing game this offseason. Without the proper constraints, the Gus Bus offense just doesn't have the same polish on it.---Roll Bama Roll

Florida Gators

Giving hope to Vanderbilt by proving that a competent offense is not necessary to win the SEC East.---Anchor of Gold

Though they've won most of their games, the Gators have looked thoroughly unimpressive over the last few weeks. Fortunately for them, "thoroughly unimpressive" is still a level above most of the SEC East.---Garnet and Black Attack

The game against Florida State was just a big hustle. They don't want Alabama to take them seriously so they'll drop their guard and then BAM! Treon Harris connects on a bomb to oh wait nope, that got intercepted.---Rock M Nation

Kim Klement -- USA Today Sports

Georgia Bulldogs

These moves only validate fans feelings that the Bulldogs should win 11 or 12 games every year despite injury to your Heisman-level running back, a new offense and no clear No. 1 quarterback. Many will debate whether or not this was a "Smart" move or not. Good luck, Kirby.---Arkansas Fight

After another horrendous 9-3 season, the Bulldogs decided that three near-misses at the National Championship (2002, 2007, 2012) isn't good enough for a program with one National Championship in the modern era. The Dawgs just couldn't muster up much offense after the injury to Nick Chubb mid-way through the season, and it cost Mark Richt his job.---Roll Bama Roll

Faton Bauta was one of the nails in Mark Richt's coffin, for sure.---Alligator Army

Kentucky Wildcats

Fell off the cliff faster than a Price is Right contestant guessing $50,000 in Cliff Hangers.---Anchor of Gold

Mark Stoops is now in Year 3 of what looks like The Joker Project 2: Return of the Joke. Does Florida need a wide receiver coach?---Rocky Top Talk

Kentucky's wins: Louisiana (by a TD, in a comeback), South Carolina, Missouri, Eastern Kentucky, Charlotte. I am very unconvinced that Kentucky could beat anyone right now.---Alligator Army

LSU Tigers

The Hat is back, baybee!  SEC Bloggers rejoice in their good fortune.---Get the Picture

Made the decision to keep Les Miles in the third quarter of the game against TAMU, meaning that the decision to fire a winning coach owed a $15 million buyout and to run out for second-half Chik-fil-A happen on roughly the same time line in the LSU AD.---Rocky Top Talk

What an incredible scene it was to see LSU's players lift Les Miles up in his time of need, both literally and figuratively. Letting Miles go would have been a fatal error for the Tigers. This is a very talented young group with another top-ranked recruiting class on the way. 2016 may be the year for the Bayou Bengals.---Roll Bama Roll

Mississippi St. Bulldogs

A nice year.  Not a great year, but a nice one.---Get the Picture

The Bulldogs finish the regular season where they spent most of the year. They're clearly better than a lot of the bottom teams in the conference, but not among the best SEC teams.---Garnet and Black Attack

State got slapped around pretty badly by Ole Miss, but this was still a great season for Dan Mullen's bunch. For a team to have lost the amount of quality talent and experience that the Bulldogs lost from last season and still end up back at the top of the power rankings is pretty impressive. Dak Prescott may be the greatest player in the history of Mississippi State football.---Roll Bama Roll

Missouri Tigers

You had a feeling when Arkansas scored that first touchdown, Mizzou's season was over.---Get the Picture

Plenty of #pinkelface on the sidelines (and deservedly so) on Saturday night and not because it was his final game. Let's put it this way. Punter Corey kicked 80 punts this season, a school record.---Arkansas Fight

The Tigers just wanted one or two pieces of leftover turkey, Bert. That's all. You really couldn't spare them that? Jerk.---Rock M Nation

Ole Miss Rebels

Looks like that loss to Memphis didn't hurt you as much as we all thought it would at the time.---Anchor of Gold

The Rebels handled their rivals without much of a problem and finished the regular season just an improbable Arkansas play away from being in Atlanta.---Garnet and Black Attack

The Egg Bowl was a microcosm of Ole Miss' season. They got off to a scorching hot start, slowly faded as things progressed, and eventually finished with a result that will probably get them to the Sugar Bowl.---Rock M Nation

Matt Bush -- USA Today Sports

South Carolina Gamecocks

The Gamecocks played Clemson closer than expected, but after yet another frustrating loss their season is mercifully over. Now they need to get the coaching hire right, which may prove more difficult than originally expected.---Rock M Nation

As soon as the Georgia job came open there were plenty of desperate sighs in the Gamecock athletic department.---Arkansas Fight

The Gamecocks hung with the No. 1 ranked team in the country about as well as they did The Citadel, so there's that.---Roll Bama Roll

Tennessee Volunteers

James Franklin: left for Penn State. Will Muschamp: fired. Steve Spurrier: quit during the season. Gary Pinkel: retiring. Mark Richt: fired. Butch Jones went from a rookie in one of the toughest coaching divisions in the country to the second-longest tenured guy (by two weeks) in just under three years.---Rocky Top Talk

The Vols finally put the whole package together this past Saturday against Vandy, destroying the 'Dores on both sides of the ball. 523 yards of offense is extremely impressive against this Vanderbilt defense. If only the SEC could file some sort of waiver to have Tennessee take Florida's place this weekend in Atlanta.---Roll Bama Roll

Tennessee's problem isn't that it's not good. It's that it wasn't good when it mattered most.---Alligator Army

Randy Sartin -- USA Today Sports

Texas A&M Aggies

I don't think this is the kind of season a $5 million a year coach is supposed to have.---Get the Picture

The supposed high-powered offense was only able to summon two touchdowns against their three biggest opponents (Alabama, LSU, Ole Miss). Eight wins was a huge disappointment in Aggieland.---Arkansas Fight

What... What is happening in College Station? Why is the defense the strongest part of the team? How? How did Twilight Realm A&M manage to switch places with real world A&M?---Rock M Nation

Vanderbilt Commodores

If we just had a competent defense to go with this offense we would be a bowl team.---Anchor of Gold

The 'Dores definitely have a foundation to build upon now after this season. They had a legitimate top-25 defense this season, Ralph Webb is an extremely underrated running back, and Kyle Shurmer has the potential to make a difference in the passing game.---Roll Bama Roll

The spanking by Tennessee doesn't change the fact that Vandy just finished up a far more successful season than most of us thought possible. Things are looking up in Nashville.---Rock M Nation