clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

College Football Rankings: Ole Miss Takes No. 1 in SEC Power Poll; Georgia Ranks Second

We have a new, unanimous top team after the Rebels knock off the Tide. Alabama falls to fourth, and there's more controversy brewing at the bottom of the list

Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports

SEC POWER POLL RESULTS, WEEK 3

Team (First-place votes) Points Change Standard Deviation
1 Ole Miss Rebels (12) 168 +1 0.000
2 Georgia Bulldogs 148 -- 0.778
3 LSU Tigers 144 +2 1.279
4 Alabama Crimson Tide 132 -3 0.953
5 Texas A&M Aggies 127 -1 0.669
6 Tennessee Volunteers 101 -- 0.900
7 Mississippi St. Bulldogs 97 -- 0.996
8 Florida Gators 84 +3 1.348
9 Missouri Tigers 66 -2 1.382
10 Kentucky Wildcats 62 -- 0.718
11 Auburn Tigers 58 -2 1.030
12 South Carolina Gamecocks 29 -- 0.793
13 Arkansas Razorbacks 26 -- 0.937
14 Vanderbilt Commodores 18 -- 0.674

No surprise that we have a new No. 1 this week -- that was almost bound to happen with Ole Miss' win over Alabama -- but it is a slight surprise that the new top team is unanimous. It's not unusual to see voters splinter when a unanimous No. 1 goes down, particularly when there was a tie for second the week before, but Ole Miss impressed voters enough to get the honor.

The Tide, for their part, fall three spots to No. 4 after the upset. Florida jumps three spots(!) after beating Kentucky for roughly the 73rd consecutive time, and a few other teams tick up or down a couple of spots. Things are starting to settle down a little bit; the highest standard deviation this week would have been the seventh-highest last week. There are still some teams getting wide-ranging votes. Florida, for example, was ranked anywhere from sixth to 11th. But the consensus on a lot of teams is growing.

And the race to not be last is getting more heated. Five voters this week gave someone other than Vanderbilt a last-place vote. Three had Arkansas ranked No. 14, and two went with South Carolina. Voters?

Alabama Crimson Tide

A Saban-coached team ran 100 offensive plays in a regulation game.  Wrap your mind around that for a second.---Get the Picture

If Lane Kiffin can just find 2 more QBs to start, he can be this season's Karl Dorrell.---Anchor of Gold

Many are saying that this is the beginning of the end of the Alabama dynasty, but that column is written every time the Tide suffers a loss or doesn't cover the spread. There are plenty of facets in which Alabama must get better, but saying this is the end seems a bit premature.---Arkansas Fight

Arkansas Razorbacks

Texas Tech's Kilff Kingsbury had the last word in Fayetteville as Bret Bielema's Hogs lost their second straight. Perhaps he needs to play the games before he runs his yap.---A Sea of Blue

Arkansas is staring into the abyss after the injuries to three of their receivers and Bielema's mouth writing checks his team can't cash.---Georgia Sports Blog

The Hogs got clowned by Texas Tech and then Bielema got schooled by Kliff Kingsbury in the postgame presser.---Roll Bama Roll

Auburn Tigers

Auburn is looking less and less like a top 10 team each week. Actually, they are looking less and less like a top 50 team.---A Sea of Blue

LSU sat a number of their starters in the second half of a game against an offseason national championship contender, and no one thought it was weird. Sorry, Auburn.---Red Cup Rebellion

Leonard Fournette ran for 228 yards against Auburn, which is the exact same distance that Will Muschamp is going to make Rudy Ford sprint during practice this week. Seventeen times. Per day. Wearing a weight vest.---Rock M Nation

AubWk3SPP
Erich Schlegel -- USA Today Sports

Florida Gators

Beat Kentucky, so I guess they have to go here, but that was a fluky game. The Wildcats kicked two short field goals and turned the ball over on their own 19-yard line, which led directly to the Gators' first touchdown. Play this game three times, and see if Kentucky doesn't win two of them.---Rocky Top Talk

It wasn't pretty, but the Gators survived and got another win. This isn't a team concerned with style points; they will take ugly wins over pretty losses.---And the Valley Shook

The quarterbacks in their matchup with Kentucky combined for 21-of-46 for 251 yards and three interceptions. The Gator defense continues to thrive, though, only giving up field goals.---Arkansas Fight

Georgia Bulldogs

Is it possible that UVA just had two very good quarterbacks and had to start one over the other? Matt Johns, who won the job, has kept them competitive against UCLA and Notre Dame. Greyson Lambert just set an NCAA record for completion percentage.---Red Cup Rebellion

Beating the Gamecocks isn't exactly impressive right now, but the Bulldogs looked lethal on Saturday.---Garnet and Black Attack

The game against South Carolina is what it looks like when this year's Georgia squad brings their "A" game, and it is scary. If Greyson Lambert can continue to play even close to the level he did on Saturday, this team has zero chance of not being in Atlanta come the first weekend of December.---Roll Bama Roll

Kentucky Wildcats

The Wildcats picked a bad time to remember they haven't beaten Florida since Jerry Claiborne was coach.---Georgia Sports Blog

So close yet so -- Kentucky. A crash course on needing to cash in on your opportunities.---And the Valley Shook

Looks merely okay so far.---Anchor of Gold

UKWk3SPP
Mark Zerof -- USA Today Sports

LSU Tigers

Why would LSU ever pass the ball with Leonard Fournette in the backfield?---A Sea of Blue

Their rushing game and defense are very good. The rest of their team is middle of the road or below. Is that going to be enough to push them past third in this division?---Georgia Sports Blog

LSU dominated in every facet of this game, Fournette was by far the most spectacular item down on the bayou. He is Adrian Peterson plus 15 pounds, rushing for 228 yards (of the team's 411!!!) on 12 carries for three scores. Worst part of the whole deal? The Wrecking Ball will be around for at this and at least one more season.---Arkansas Fight

Mississippi St. Bulldogs

The loss to LSU doesn't look so bad now, but this team still makes too many mistakes for its own good, especially with the next two games being on the road against divisional opponents.---Get the Picture

Big win over the Northwestern State Demons.  Hold on, where is Northwestern State?---Rocky Top Talk

They might be good, and might also go 6-6 in spite of it.---Anchor of Gold

MSUWk3SPP
Matt Bush -- USA Today Sports

Missouri Tigers

Missouri just put out an APB for a quarterback. Maty Mauk struggled big time against UConn and was benched for an ineffective true freshman.---A Sea of Blue

I think we've finally reached the year when Missouri gets decimated by the conference. Then again, that seemed like the case at this point last year too.---Red Cup Rebellion

Before the season began, someone must have asked Gary Pinkel if there was any way he could make winning look even uglier. Consider that challenge accepted. Mizzou has no offense whatsoever.---Roll Bama Roll

Ole Miss Rebels

Sure, coming up with five turnovers can't hurt.  And neither do freak plays that result in 66-yard touchdown passes. But the impressive thing about Ole Miss' win in Tuscaloosa was its ability to take a punch in a hostile environment and maintain composure.---Get the Picture

Hugh Freeze can't help that Kristi Malzahn accidentally put Gus' special voodoo doll in the Goodwill donation box at the beach this summer. He's just happy he was at Gulf Shores that weekend and needed some more cargo shorts.---Georgia Sports Blog

It's perfectly legal to take advantage of a glitch when you're playing to win. Any good competitive video gamer knows this. Ole Miss' crazy double-tip touchdown play may have existed outside of the game's code, but you have to think outside the box to win at the highest level.---Rock M Nation

South Carolina Gamecocks

At least Vanderbilt has a defense.---Get the Picture

I honestly expected Spurrier to retire at his press conference after the game Saturday. This has to be more miserable than working for Dan Snyder.---Georgia Sports Blog

Things are not looking good in Columbia, South Carolina. The wheels could start to come off pretty soon. The OBC has one last chance to turn things around.---Roll Bama Roll

SoCarWk3SPP
Dale Zanine -- USA Today Sports

Tennessee Volunteers

The Vols generally demolished Western Carolina, but it has to be troubling to see that WCU averaged 5.7 yards per carry.---Red Cup Rebellion

Took care of business against Whoever That Was State University.---Rocky Top Talk

West Carolina is the best Carolina! Wait, no, that's clearly not right.---Anchor of Gold

Texas A&M Aggies

Everyone around me keeps waiting for the Aggies to fall off. Does Kenny Thrill's rise to prominence and then nothingness really still sting that much to early Heisman prognosticators?---Red Cup Rebellion

Aggie stayed looking mighty impressive against Nevada, but they have some added pressure to keep pace next week against Arkansas thanks to Kliff Kingsbury's post-game rant. DON'T LET TEXAS DOWN.---Rock M Nation

The Aggies didn't look quite as impressive beating the snot out of Nevada, but we should learn more now that they will start SEC play. /checks schedule. OK, maybe the week after.---And the Valley Shook

Vanderbilt Commodores

They almost doubled their scoring output from the previous two games! Things are looking up! Hopefully they can continue this trend and [looks at schedule] oh. Oh, no. Oh, no no no.---Rock M Nation

Won 47-7 after realizing midway through the second quarter that they aren't quite to the point of losing to an Austin Peay team that was outscored 80-13 in their first two games.---Garnet and Black Attack

How bad has the bottom half of the SEC looked thus far this season? Vanderbilt winning a game or two in conference play isn't out of the question.---Roll Bama Roll