Alabama Football: SEC Football Week 7 Power Rankings

This team is almost the antithesis to Mississippi State in 2020. While Mississippi State was knocking down the defending champs and breaking records, Kentucky laid an egg against Auburn and then let Ole Miss complete a comeback in OT Week 2. In the two games since, Kentucky’s defense has allowed a total of seven points including shutting out Mississippi State (MSU scored via safety but those points were not allowed by the defense). They also have been helping out the offense. Kentucky had three INTs that directly led to 17 UK points, including two pick-sixes on back-to-back drives.

Kentucky travels to Missouri next week and if they take care of business there, that will set up a very significant showdown with Georgia on Halloween. If they win that game they will either need to upset Alabama football and beat Florida or, if they lose to Alabama football, hope for Florida and Georgia to both lose another game. That would mean the Wildcats would win the SEC East for the first time going back to the first year the SEC crowned division champions (1992). It is still a long road ahead for the Wildcats, but the possibility exists for the Wildcats to be in the SEC Championship game.

You can say that it is scheduling or whatever, but the Razorbacks are one bad call away from being 3-1 and tied with Texas A&M for second in the SEC West. I don’t know what Sam Pittman has been feeding these Hogs, but whatever it is has been the secret remedy they have been searching for. They even gave UGA a fight for a half. They have taken advantage of almost every opportunity that has been presented to them especially on the defensive side of the ball. Arkansas is currently tied for 2nd in the nation with 3.2 takeaways per game, and 6th in turnover margin.

Will the magic continue for Arkansas? Probably not, but you can say that they have earned their spot at this point in the season. The schedule gets ugly quickly. They get a BYE week next week and before a brutal stretch of Texas A&M, Tennessee, Florida, and LSU. Then it is a slight reprieve with Missouri before the season closes with Alabama football. Razorback fans are probably already happy with the way the season has gone, considering preseason predictions were bleak. If Arkansas can get to even four wins I expect fans would be ecstatic. Three is reasonable, but five is not out of the realm of possibility either.

Florida stumbled in their third game against Texas A&M. Mullen blamed crowd noise, but every reasonable person blamed the defense, or lack thereof. This week’s game was shaping up to be another barn burner, but an outbreak of COVID in the program caused the matchup with LSU to be delayed. Florida has been a slight disappointment to this point as most people thought they would be undefeated going into a matchup with Georgia to decide the SEC East. The Florida vs. Georgia game will still likely decide the East, but neither of the teams will be undefeated.

What else is there to say about Florida? The offense is historically good and the defense is historically bad. Makes for fun games to watch, but are they title contenders on the conference or national level? Probably not. They get a BYE week before Missouri comes to visit which should be a W for the Gators. The next week is the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party in Jacksonville against the Bulldogs. That is the game Florida has circled, you can bet on that. Will Florida be caught looking ahead to the Bulldogs against Missouri? Maybe. Although another Florida loss would certainly make for a much less exciting game with UGA.