Alabama feels unstoppable – Week 11 SEC Rankings
It was meant to be ‘The Game Of The Century’. It was No.1 Alabama, going to the most evil place alive….Baton Rouge. No.3 LSU was waiting, the crowd was off-the-hook…..and Alabama coasted to a 28-0 victory.
Although LSU’s defense played mightily, the offense simply didn’t show up, struggling with Quinton Williams and Bama’s devilishly-effective pash rush, and Joe Burrow spent most of the game running for his life. On the other side of the ball, Tua was also running – but showed he was as happy making a throw off the run as anyone else in football. And when Bama’s running backs came into play, it was frightening.
The thing about LSU is that they weren’t bad on Saturday. They were just another team to get butt-kicked by ‘Bama.
So here are your SEC Power Rankings. And as we’ve mentioned before, it’s about how teams are playing right now, rather than the transitive properties of winning.
The sad news is that the SEC as a league is pretty much over until December. Both Alabama and Georgia clinched their divisions.
- Alabama (9-0): Absolutely peerless this season. Saban’s decision to promote instead of hire offensive co-ordinators and defensive co-ordinators looks absolutely genius. Everyone on this team – apart from special teams – looks excellent. Good luck to anyone trying to beat them this season. They clinched the SEC West in Baton Rouge, by the way.
- Georgia (8-1): The Bulldogs went back to playing a physical style of football against Florida, and continued the same against Kentucky, and they were absolutely dominant. Because of the loss against LSU, the Bulldogs can’t afford another loss if they are to get into the play-off. That’s OK, because they clinched the SEC East, and will play the SEC Championship Game against…..Alabama.
- LSU (7-2): The Tigers were outmatched. Coach O has managed to recruit good offensive depth for 2019, and they’ll need it – they were getting destroyed on Saturday. Also, they were unlucky not to get a bunch of holding calls when on defense. But then again, #SECRefs.
- Mississippi State (6-3): Nick Fitzgerald AGAIN plays solidly, and Cowbell Central comfortably puts away Louisiana Tech. Fitzgerald will have to be on fire if MSU manages to pull off any kind of upset (ie keeping the spread to under the 30 that it is now).
- Kentucky (7-2): The Cats have no offense. And when you go down early against Georgia, and your running back is completely suffocated, it’s going to hurt. And yes, we get they beat Mississippi State comfortably, but that was then…this is now.
- Auburn (6-3): The Tigers aren’t a wonderful team. But they pulled out a victory against Texas A&M when they needed to. But you can’t help but feel that the Tigers are one of the most disappointing teams of 2018…and that doesn’t bode well for two of the nastiest teams Auburn will now have to play in the next few weeks…..Georgia and Alabama.
- Texas A&M (5-4): THIS IS THE BEST FOUR-LOSS TEAM IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL (Maybe).
- Florida (6-3): The Gators played well for three quarters against Georgia….and looked utterly lost against Missouri. This team has to be careful or the season could descend into nothing.
- Missouri (5-4): Massive on the road win over Florida – Drew Lock’s first win against a ranked team – and this team could well have been 7-2 if it hadn’t shot itself in the foot against both South Carolina and Kentucky. Seriously.
- South Carolina (5-3): Won a shoot-out at Ole Miss. When this South Carolina wins in a shoot-out, the opposition’s defense probably needs a bit of work.
- Vanderbilt (4-5): Vanderbilt’s stuffing of Arkansas on Week 9 still makes me believe that they aren’t altogether terrible.
- Tennessee (4-5): They beat Charlotte. And struggled while doing it. Well done #sarcasm.
- Ole Miss (5-4): As proved yet again, the Rebels have no defense. As we said before, the DC has to go. Preferably now.
- Arkansas (2-6): Yeah, so the Razorbacks aren’t very good.