SEC Power Rankings Week 7

Well the SEC just continues to do SEC things. Given the opportunity to better itself with some quality non conference road wins, the SEC elected to spend the night before their exams playing XBox and pounding Keystone Light. Needless to say the conference has shown that it is not progressing in an upward direction that many of us had hoped they would this season. 
The SEC has some work to do come conference season if more than a few teams want to be dancing. But enough of the sad news, let's check out how the Tiers.

Tier 1

Tier 1 continues to chug along with the four teams that made up its membership last week, though for the first time in some time, Kentucky has a real challenge for its crown for king of the Power Rankings. After another less than stellar showing in Brooklyn against Ohio State, Kentucky looks vulnerable and more freshmany than ever before. Without Jamal Murray, this team could have been beaten by at least 20. Tomorrow Kentucky takes on instate rival Louisville in the only game on the schedule and should tell us even more about the quality of the Wildcats.
Texas A&M is nipping at the heels of the 'Cats sitting only one point behind, after a strong home win over former conference mate, Baylor. Show out well this week against Cal Poly and we could see the Aggies jumping Kentucky for the top spot in the rankings.
Sitting in third is the team our voters continue to be most confused about, the Gamecocks of South Carolina. Frank Martin has got his team sitting at 11-0 with a nice road win over Clemson, but have yet to play anyone in KenPom's top 50 leading our voters to be rightly speculative. The Cocks won't be challenging themselves before SEC play in 2016, so questions will remain.
Closing out Tier 1 we've got the Commodores of Vanderbilt, losers of three of their last four, all against quality opponents, but still, losses are losses. Without a challenge on the horizon, Vandy should remain in the top tier of the rankings, but how Vandy looks in conference season should tell us something not only about them, but the strength of the SEC itself.

Tier 2

Tier 2 has added yet another member to its group, welcome the Bulldogs of Georgia, who join Florida, Ole Miss and LSU. The Gators continue to sit in 5th, making no waves and just going about their business beating the teams on their schedule that they should, and looking respectable in the losses they've taken to the Power Conference opponents they've faced.  They face another tough game against in-state rival FSU coming up giving them an opportunity to get another resume bolstering win before conference play.
Ole Miss has won seven games in a row and are one of the hottest teams in the conference. They closed out non conference play with a win over Troy State in their final game at the Tad Pad, before they move into classier digs at the Pavillion come January.
Georgia and LSU come into this week tied in our rankings after both have won three games in a row and have started to look like the teams our voters thought they would be when they season began back in November. Georgia got a nice win over Clemson and Georgia Tech, while LSU handled their business putting a hurting on Tulsa and American. While these four wins aren't going to jump off the paper and wow anyone, earlier this season it's conceivable Georgia and LSU could have lost one or both of these games, so PROGRESS!

Tier 3

Sitting together in Tier 3 are friendly neighbors Alabama and Auburn. Alabama had a nice little win streak going before faltering against near top 25  team Oregon at home. Auburn for their part has also been playing well but took a close loss to the braniacs from Harvard. Both schools have games remaining before the end of the nonconference season to distinguish themselves from one another and potentially move up (or down) a tier in our rankings.

Tier 4

The fourth tier continues to expand welcoming back old friend, Mississippi State. All three teams of Tier 4, Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi State continue to do their best to be kind of ok, but not great at anything. But hey, it could be worse, they could inhabit the land of single digit points from our voters and the dregs that is Tier 5.

Tier 5

Finally, in Tier 5 sit conference member Mizzou who can't beat a power 5 team, and hasn't done so since 2014. They are not good and deserve to sit here where they should think about what they are doing and do the opposite.

The Rankings!

Team	Points	Ranking	Ranking Last Week	Change	Highest Rank	Lowest Rank
Kentucky	93	1st	1st	None	1st	2nd
Texas A&M	92	2nd	2nd (Tied)	None	1st	4th
South Carolina	81	3rd	4th	Up 1	1st	7th
Vanderbilt	79	4th	2nd (Tied)	Down 2	3rd	5th
Florida	72	5th	5th	None	4th	6th
Ole Miss	58	6th	7th	Up 1	5th	9th
Georgia	54	7th (Tied)	8th	Down 1	6th	8th
LSU	54	7th (Tied)	9th	Down 2	5th	10th
Alabama	44	9th	6th	Down 3	5th	12th
Auburn	35	10th	10th	None	8th	13th
Tennessee	23	11th	11th	None	11th	13th
Arkansas	18	12th	12th	None	10th	12th
Mississippi State	17	13th	14th	Up 1	10th	14th
Mizzou	9	13th	13th	Down 1	13th	14th

Points were distributed 1st = 14, 2nd = 13, 3rd = 12, 4th = 11, 5th = 10, 6th = 9, 7th = 8, 8th = 7, 9th = 6, 10th = 5, 11th = 4, 12th = 3, 13th = 2, and 14th = 1

Drew over 14,000 fans for a game against Oregon. To be fair, a lot of Tide fans probably didn't find out until they got there that it wasn't football. (Anchor of Gold)

A loss in Birmingham, seems somewhat appropriate for the attempted murder of UAB's football program. (Rock M Nation)

Anyone who's been stuck in the mud in Alabama knows, you step on the gas, one tire spins, the other tire does nothing. (My Cousin Vinny)

That awkward moment when you get your suspended point guard back in the lineup and you immediately lose to Mercer. (Anchor of Gold)

Beat North Florida, beginning their quest to destroy all directional colleges in the state. UCF, you're next on the Mike Anderson hit list. (Rock M Nation)

I was the fattest baby in Clark County, Arkansas. They put me in the newspaper. It was like a prize turnip. (Billy Bob Thornton)

That awkward moment when you find out that the Harvard kids aren't just smarter than you, they're also better at basketball. (Anchor of Gold)

We lost to Harvard, y'all. HARVARD. Not the Harvard that's been in the tournament the last four seasons either, noooooo. We lost to the Harvard that was 3-6 before it arrived in Hawaii. It highlights Auburn's problems against good perimeter defenders and effective half court offenses. (College and Magnolia)

Those nerds just dunked all over Auburns dreams...(Rock M Nation)

Nice win over OSU. They appear to be rounding into form. (Good Bull Hunting)

They're a top 10 team, if you believe the RPI, which nobody does. (Anchor of Gold)

If Michael White doesn't coach a game in a black suit, white shirt and skinny black tie at some point this season I am going to be very disappointed. (Rock M Nation)

A nice week against GT and Clemson slots Georgia in the top half at #7. (Good Bull Hunting)

Georgia beat Clemson bad enough to where I'm willing to start believing again. (College and Magnolia)

Georgia basketball, like the mafia, just when you think you're out...they pull you back in. (Rock M Nation)

Kentucky has trailed off with a disappointing loss to Ohio State. Everyone else is still lagging significantly behind. (Rocky Top Talk)

The signature win against Duke still looks good but not great. The loss to Ohio State looks awful. There is a lot of work left for the Wildcats if they have any hope of winning the SEC. (For Whom the Cowbell Tolls)

Kentucky lost to a very average Ohio State. (Good Bull Hunting)

Ben Simmons' passing skills seem more like a positive when Keith Hornsby and Craig Victor are the guys he's passing to. (Anchor of Gold)

LSU has started to get it's "s" together which would be great news for the SEC, but then you look down that bench and you just feel an overwhelming amount of sadness because, we all know what's coming...(Rock M Nation)

When I wake up in the morning and I turn that film on, it's like reading a book and it's exciting. I don't read books, but if I read books it would be like reading a book. (Les Miles)

Are A&M fans allowed to make fun of someone else wasting five star talent? We probably aren't, right? I really want to. (Good Bull Hunting)

They didn't embarrass themselves this week. Baby steps. (Anchor of Gold)

You know Howland, this season to date is really putting a hole in my theory that Mizzou should have hired you...(Rock M Nation)

It's looking pretty grim. Flashes of competitiveness are offset by some pretty ugly final scores against just about every good team they've faced. (Good Bull Hunting)

This Mizzou team has decided 40 minutes of competent basketball is not for them, they'll give 20 good, 10 so so and then 10 where you just scratch your head and you wonder if this is the first time they've met each other. (Rock M Nation)

They're 337th in D-1 in experience, which only works when your name is John Calipari. (Anchor of Gold)

"Josh Pastner had a great game plan but didn't quite have the talent to overcome Ole Miss" -- said no one ever (Anchor of Gold)

A solid win at Memphis highlights a very nice four week stretch that includes four road victories. (Good Bull Hunting)

I wonder what the fans will think when they're arena's lights stay on all game long, it's a new world Rebels!!! (Rock M Nation)

Undefeated. Wins over ACC and Big East opponents. The resume may not look great but it's better than most in the SEC. Time to give credit where it is due. (For Whom the Cowbell Tolls)

Well I'll be damned. They just keep winning. (Good Bull Hunting)

There are currently five teams in Division I that haven't lost a game, and Frank Martin's team is one of them. (Anchor of Gold)

The Vols are loading up on quality losses, but that's not always the best strategy. Just ask Kansas Football. (Good Bull Hunting)

Oddly, Rick Barnes seems like a better offensive coach when he doesn't have a bunch of future NBA players on the roster. (Anchor of Gold)

Kevin Punter really missed an opportunity to play for Mizzou, or as it should be known, Punt U! (Rock M Nation)

Texas A&M has showed that they're the real deal with a convincing win over Baylor. (Rocky Top Talk)

Kentucky lost to a very average Ohio State, and the Aggies railroaded #16 Baylor at home. That's enough to barely give A&M my first place vote. If Kentucky beats Louisville on the 26th, balance shall return to the force. (Good Bull Hunting)

Congrats Aggie! You unseated Kentucky for top of the league. (College and Magnolia)

Maybe they should stop anchoring down. Because anchors stop things from moving forward. This squad hasn't improved at all in the last month, and they now sit at an ugly 2-4 in their last six. (Good Bull Hunting)

Needs Luke Kornet to get healthy again, badly. (Anchor of Gold)

Valiant effort against Purdue but four losses this early in the season? That's a big disappointment for a team highly regarded coming into the year. (For Whom the Cowbell Tolls)

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That will do it people! We've got one game tomorrow when Kentucky takes on Louisville, so set your schedule around that.
Enjoy the game and we'll be back next week!