After an exciting opening weekend of college football, we have an idea of who are the top contenders for the 2022 season in the Southeastern Conference.
Week 1 provided us with some extremely entertaining football, and the league’s slate of games was capped by an epic battle between FSU and LSU. Florida showed the nation it deserved more preseason love than it was given, beating Utah in an instant-classic. It may have not been terribly convincing, but Arkansas beat Cincinnati in what was a big win for the Razorbacks. Kentucky, South Carolina, Vanderbilt and Ole Miss won cupcake games, but none were impressive enough to turn any heads.
And of course Georgia dominated Oregon, Alabama demolished Utah State and Texas A&M handled Sam Houston.
Here’s our updated SEC power rankings following Week 1:
14
Vanderbilt
Record: 2-0
Result: Beat Elon 42-31
First, how do you allow 31 points to ELON? Beating the Phoenix by 11 points is not a good look for Vandy.
13
South Carolina
Record: 1-0
Result: Beat Georgia State 35-14
I was hoping South Carolina would be better this year, but the Spencer Rattler show had its ups and downs on Saturday. The Oklahoma transfer went 23 of 27 for 227 yards with 1 touchdown and two interceptions. South Carolina was actually trailing this game at one point in the third quarter.
The Gamecocks carried the ball 32 times for only 79 yards (2.5 YPC) while allowing the Panthers to rush for 200 yards.
12
Missouri
Record: 1-0
Result: Beat Louisiana Tech 52-24
Mizzou played fine in its win over Louisiana Tech. If there was one negative it’s that the Tigers allowed 300-plus passing yards, but they recorded three interceptions. Missouri rushed for 300-plus yards.
11
Auburn Tigers
Record: 1-0
Result: Beat Mercer 42-16
Auburn had two quarterbacks go for 100 yards. But Tank Bigsby showed why he’s considered one of the best running backs in the country with 147 rushing yards. This game was never in doubt.
10
Mississippi State
Record: 1-0
Result: Beat Memphis 49-23
Will Rogers is legit. He threw for 450 yards and 5 touchdowns. The Bulldogs played well and were in control of the game from the start.
9
LSU
Record: 0-1
Result: Lost to FSU 24-23
LSU did not deserve to win that thriller on Sunday night, but neither did FSU for that matter. Special teams put a damper on Brian Kelly’s opening game with the Tigers.
8
Ole Miss
Record: 1-0
Result: Beat Troy 28-10
Running back Zach Evans ran for 130 yards, but Ole Miss managing only 28 points against Troy does not do it for me.
7
Kentucky
Record: 1-0
Result: Beat Miami (Ohio) 37-13
Sure, Kentucky won by 24. But this was a three-point game at halftime. Levis threw for 300-plus yards.
6
Arkansas
Record: 1-0
Result: Beat Cincinnati 31-24
KJ Jefferson had four touchdowns and the Razorbacks took care of business against Cincinnati, a team that made the College Football Playoff last year. They moved the ball well on offense, averaging 5 yards per carry with more than 200 rushing yards. Former Georgia receiver Matt Landers caught three balls for 43 yards.
5
Florida
Record: 1-0
Result: Beat Utah 29-26
What a game. First-year Gators head coach Billy Napier proved the doubters wrong with his thrilling win over the No. 7 ranked Utah Utes. Maybe I was wrong about Anthony Richardson — he was the real deal with over 100 rushing yards and three touchdowns on the ground.
4
Tennessee
Record: 1-0
Result: Beat Ball State 59-10
This offense can be deadly. Ball State may be a weak sample size, but the Vols looked good.
3
Texas A&M
Record: 1-0
Result: Beat Sam Houston 31-0
Ainias Smith is one of the nation’s top receivers and he had 164 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Haynes King moved the ball, but threw two interceptions. The final score may not be overwhelmingly impressive, but I’d take the Aggies over any of the teams below them in these rankings right now.
2
Georgia
Record: 1-0
Result: Beat Oregon 49-3
I so badly want to put the Dawgs at No. 1 following their beat down of No. 11 Oregon. I mean, this was a complete thrashing from the reigning champs. The offense looked like incredible, and Stetson Bennett looked like a Heisman contender. Defensively, Georgia looked just as good as it did last year.
What 15 NFL draft picks? You can make a very strong case for Georgia to be No. 1. But would have Alabama had done the same thing to Oregon? I think it’s likely.
1
Alabama
Record: 1-0
Result: Beat Utah State 55-0
Bryce Young had six total touchdowns, 5 passing and 1 rushing. He had 195 passing yards and 100 rushing yards. Running back Jahmyr Gibbs looked awesome as well, taking nine carries for 93 yards. Three wide receivers had a pair of touchdowns, including former Georgia standout Jermaine Burton.
Utah State had 136 total yards. Alabama had 559.
