MrSEC.com’s Power Rankings – 9/11/12

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Week Two is behind us and we’re starting to get a bit better feel for which teams belong in each of our four categories.  As always, we base our rankings on how well teams are currently playing, what we’ve seen from them to date, and what we believe their ceilings to be.

Your Week Two rankings are as follows…

National Title Contender

Alabama (2-0) –  The Crimson Tide didn’t look quite as good against Western Kentucky as it did against Michigan, but that was to be expected.  The media refused to help build up Bama’s foe and UA’s players weren’t focused.

LSU (2-0) –  LSU just keeps on rolling.  The Tigers drubbed a decent Washington squad on Saturday night.  After seeing Southern Cal give up points and yards galore to Syracuse over the weekend, I wouldn’t rule out another potential Alabama-LSU BCS Championship Game just yet.

Georgia (2-0) –  Yep, we’re bumping the Dawgs up a category after a gritty win at pumped up Missouri Saturday night.  Minus four starters, Todd Grantham’s defense held high-flying Mizzou to 20 points.  Keep that up and Mark Richt’s team will be in the national title picture at year’s end.

Top 25 Contender

Arkansas (1-1) –  The Hogs’ defense hasn’t looked good against Jacksonville State or Louisiana-Monroe.  And the offense only looked good with Tyler Wilson running the show.  Still, we’ll leave them in the Top 25 zone for now.  But if the Razorbacks lose to Alabama on Saturday — with or without Wilson — the wheels could start to come off John L. Smith’s bus.

Florida (2-0) –  Well, they ain’t your daddy’s Gators.  After a sloppy win over Bowling Green, UF went into College Station and proceeded to grind out a win over the Aggies.  That was enough to move them up a category this week.  But Florida’s losing bodies on a weekly basis and that’s not good.  This weekend’s game in Knoxville will tell us a lot more about Will Muschamp’s second squad.

Mississippi State (2-0) –  Dan Mullen and his Bulldogs finally got their breakthrough win.  Now they just need to build on it.  If Tyler Russell and State’s defense keep doing what they’ve been doing… they will.

Missouri (1-1) –  Not a bad showing for SEC Game #1.  The Tigers hung with Top 10 Georgia for about 52 minutes before the flood gates opened on them.  Their depth and size in the trenches is worrisome, but James Franklin can make up for a lot of shortcomings elsewhere on the roster.

South Carolina (2-0) –  If we had a “Top 10 Contender” category, that’s where the Gamecocks would be.  The defense looks good, but how much — and what kind of — offense will USC generate on a weekly basis?  Is this Marcus Lattimore’s team?  Connor Shaw’s?  Will it become Dylan Thompson’s?  Very, very good but we’ve not seen greatness just yet.

Tennessee (2-0) –  Tyler Bray has gone from being a gunslinger to being a passer.  With Florida coming to Neyland Stadium on Saturday, he’ll need to keep making big plays and avoiding bad turnovers.  Also, through two games, it’s been a smoother transition into Sal Sunseri’s 3-4 defense than expected.

Bowl Game Contender

Auburn (0-2) –  Very, very, very close to landing in the next category down, we decided to drop the Tigers just one category instead of two.  Two weeks into the season, this appears to be a team without a quarterback and without the ability to tackle.  The Tigers are on the ropes and their legs are wobbly.

Texas A&M (0-1) –  First time out against the big boys of the SEC, the Aggies and first-time starting quarterback Johnny Manziel acquitted themselves nicely.  Take care of business outside the SEC and the Aggies could/should be bowl material come December… and that’d be a good first step for Kevin Sumlin.

Basement Contender

Kentucky (1-1) –  Well, the Wildcats have rediscovered the air-raid style offense that brought them a few seasons of success in recent years.  That’s the positive.  The negative is on the defensive side of there UK can’t stop anyone on the ground.  Not Louisville.  Not even Kent State.  Maxwell Smith will have to pass the Cats out of the basement if they’re to emerge in 2012.

Ole Miss (2-0) –  Feel good story of the year in the SEC so far?  Hugh Freeze’s work in Oxford.  The Rebel roster in paper thin, but as long as Bo Wallace stays healthy, UM can survive.  Depending on the next couple of weeks, it wouldn’t be a stretch for us to flip-flop Ole Miss and Auburn in terms of their categories.  An impressive start for Freeze and his juco QB.

Vanderbilt (0-2) –  Oh, well.  Back to the ground floor for the Commodores after a bowl-hope-crushing loss at Northwestern on Saturday.  Perhaps VU can pull an upset along the way and reignite their pilot light, but for now, it looks like James Franklin’s most important work will be done on the recruiting front.  Vandy just flat needs more players.