In this SEC Power Poll, Daily Mississippian Sports Editor Dylan Rubino ranks the 14 Southeastern Conference teams. The Ole Miss Rebels end their season 9-3 and 5-3 in SEC play. Bowl games will be announced Sunday night.
1. Alabama- In another highly anticipated Iron Bowl matchup with Auburn, the Crimson Tide put the Chris Davis return nightmares to bed and defeated Auburn in a shootout 55-44. Down 26-21 at halftime, the Alabama offense woke up and outscored Auburn 34-18 in the second half. Alabama opens up as a 14.5 point favorite against Missouri in the SEC championship game.
2. Ole Miss- After three straight conference losses, there was no way the Rebels could defeat Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl, right? Wrong. Quarterback Bo Wallace played with a hurt ankle and led Ole Miss to a 31-17 victory over the rival Bulldogs. The running game totaled 205 yards, the most in a game this season, which ended up being the deciding factor.
3. Mississippi State- The loss to Ole Miss knocks out Mississippi State of the SEC title and playoff talks. Quarterback Dak Prescott was running for his life against the Ole Miss defense and was limited on the ground where he is most affective. The defense gave up over 500 total yards to the rebel offense.
4. Georgia- In what certainly was the game of the week, Georgia seemed to have rival Georgia Tech beat at home with a TD pass with 18 seconds left to take the lead. Georgia Tech would force the game to overtime and defeated the Bulldogs 30-24 on the road. With Missouri beating Arkansas Friday, the Bulldogs were eliminated from SEC East contention, so I win wouldn’t have mattered.
5. Missouri- For the second straight year, Missouri is heading to Atlanta for the SEC championship game. Down 14-6 at halftime at home against Arkansas, the Tigers scored 15 points in the fourth quarter to claim the SEC East crown 21-14. The underdog role is something they’re used to, as they’re once again underdogs against powerhouse Alabama.
6. Auburn- The defending conference champions had a second straight Iron Bowl upset in sight after, leading rival Alabama 26-21 at halftime on the road. The defense fell flat in the second half and gave up 55 points in a loss. As a result, Auburn fired defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson after just two seasons under head coach Gus Malzahn.
7. LSU- The Tigers win over Texas A&M on Thanksgiving on the road may be questioned due to a blown offsides call on a game-winning interception, but a win is a win. After two straight SEC losses, LSU defeated the Aggies 23-17 to finish 8-4 on the season.
8. Arkansas- The Razorbacks were the hottest team in the SEC heading into their matchup with Missouri. Two-straight wins against ranked SEC opponents had the Razorbacks hot at the right time, but blew an eight-point lead in the fourth quarter to finish 6-6 for the season.
9. Texas A&M- After starting the season 5-0 and ranked as high as 6th in the country, the Aggies went 2-5 the rest of the way, capped off by a home loss to LSU 23-17. The Aggies finished a disappointing 7-5 on the season, but are set for a bright future with young talent on the roster and another great recruiting class coming in.
10. Tennessee- Winning three out of their last four games helps Tennessee secure a bowl game for the first time under head coach Butch Jones and the first time since 2010. An eight-point loss to Missouri at home two weeks ago prevented a 4-0 ending to a turnaround program to a fan base that is striving for a relevant program.
11. South Carolina- The Gamecocks were riding a five-game winning streak against hated in-state rival Clemson, but could not muster enough offense to defeat Clemson on the road and lost 35-17. Clemson wins The Battle of the Palmetto State for the first time since 2008 and picked apart a South Carolina defense, gaining 491 total yards of offense.
12. Florida- The Gators gave it all they had against rival Florida State on the road, but missed field goals and an inefficient offense late in the game plagued the Gators and lost 24-19. The Gators forced four turnovers, but the offense couldn’t score in the fourth quarter.
13. Kentucky- The Wildcats started 5-1 on the season in which looked to be a drastic turnaround from the year before. Kentucky then went winless in their last six games, capped off by a heartbreaking loss to in-state rival Louisville on the road 44-40. The defense gave up 472 total yards of offense to the defensive-minded Cardinals.
14. Vanderbilt- Started from the bottom, and Vanderbilt finishes at the bottom of my power poll. The Commodores had a chance to pick up their only SEC win of the season at home against Tennessee, but fell 24-17. Vanderbilt finished 3-9 overall on the season and 0-8 in conference play.
