Alabama Football: Week Five SEC Power Rankings
No. 11 Ole Miss Rebels – 25 points (last week 25 points)
We all watched the game and this Ole Miss football team looks much better than last year’s. Sometimes you run into a program with too much talent to match score-for-score, but what the Rebels did against a frankly-pedestrian Tide defense was impressive. It’s not easy for a true freshman quarterback to go into Bryant-Denny and look good, but there were times that Ole Miss QB John Rhys-Plumlee looked very good. He’s athletic, he can around, through or over defenders and while his arm has a ways to go, there’s plenty that can be taken from his performance.
Even the Rebels’ defense which was downright horrible last season, looked good at times. They still got pressure with only three-and-four-man fronts and they seem to have a swagger that’s been missing these last two seasons. They’re certainly not there, yet, but head coaches Matt Luke, Rich Rodriguez and Mike McIntyre have a team with growing confidence and they just may finish with a bowl-eligible record if things break right for them.
The Rebels host Vanderbilt this Saturday.
No. 12 Arkansas Razorbacks – 20 points (last week 17 points)
You have to think either Arkansas football is getting things figured out with second-year HC Chad Morris or he just has Jimbo’s number. Yes, A&M has won the last two meetings between the two, but two very bad Razorback teams have pushed the Aggies to the brink both years. I hope for the Arky faithful that they are indeed beginning to get it figured out in Fayetteville, because it really can’t get much worse at this point.
The Razorbacks travel to Lexington to take on the Wildcats this Saturday.
No. 13 Vanderbilt Commodores – 15 points (last week 15 points)
The Vanderbilt football team needs wins like the one they had against Northern Illinois on Saturday to keep their season afloat. Conventional wisdom says that the Commodores won’t be competitive enough to make much of a dent in conference play, but they can win the rest of their non-conference slate and steal another three-to-four wins in the SEC to make it to a bowl game.
Vandy QB Riley Neal did enough to keep the Huskies from mounting a serious comeback in the game and RB Ke’Shawn Vaughn (17 carries, 138 yards and a touchdown) continues to be one of the most undervalued backs in the league. This is not a great team, but becoming bowl eligible keeps the faith in head coach Derek Mason who has done an admirable job in his sixth season in Nashville.
The ‘Dores travel to Oxford to take on Ole Miss this Saturday.
No. 14 Tennessee Volunteers – 8 points (last week 8 points)
The Vols had a BYE this past weekend and host Georgia this Saturday.
There you have it, Alabama football on top as it should be, even when one side of the ball is yet to play like it. For all the teams, except maybe the bottom four, the season still carries hope.