Alabama Football: What Week 3 AP and Coaches Polls say about the SEC

Voters in the USA Today Coaches Poll stuck with Alabama Football as the No. 1 team, despite the slim margin against Texas. Alabama got a smaller number of first-place votes, as Georgia took quite a few away from the Crimson Tide.

In the Week 3 AP Poll, Georgia moved past the Alabama Crimson Tide into the No. 1 spot. Alabama was voted No.2, but Ohio State was close behind the Tide at No. 3.

What did the voters make of Saturday’s performance by the Texas Longhorns? In the AP Poll, Texas was not in the top 25 in week two but moved into No. 21 in the latest rankings. Texas was previously ranked No. 22 in the Coaches Poll and moved up to No. 20 after nearly upsetting the Crimson Tide.

SEC Football placed eight teams in the top 25 of both polls. Four SEC teams had their rankings take a nice bump up. Two SEC teams had lower rankings. Florida dropped two spots in the Coaches Poll and six spots in the AP Poll. Texas A&M plummeted in the rankings after being upset by Appalachian State. The Aggies, who were clearly overrated going into Saturday’s game, dropped 18 spots in the AP Poll to No. 24 and 16 spots to No. 22 in the Coaches Poll. Appalachian State was rewarded by moving up in the ‘others receiving votes’ category, at No. 28 based on the votes in both polls. Some college football pundits have the opinion the game in College Station was not a major upset and instead reflective of serious problems for Jimbo Fisher.

The biggest upward movers among SEC teams were Kentucky and Tennessee. The Wildcats went up 11 spots in the Coaches Poll and 10 spots in the AP Poll. Tennessee, after knocking off Pittsburgh, moved up 10 spots in the Coaches Poll and nine spots in the AP Poll.

SEC Led By Alabama Football and Georgia

The SEC clearly stands out as the top conference early in the 2022 season. The ten SEC football teams gaining poll recognition are listed below in order of their higher ranking in the two polls.

• Alabama Crimson Tide – No. 1 (Coaches)
• Georgia Bulldogs – No. 1 (AP)
• Kentucky Wildcats – No. 9 (AP)
• Arkansas Razorbacks – No. 10 (AP)
• Tennessee Volunteers – No. 15 (AP)
• Ole Miss Rebels – No. 17 (Coaches)
• Florida Gators – No. 18 (AP)
• Texas A&M Aggies – No. 22 (Coaches)
• Mississippi State Bulldogs – No. 31 (AP)
• Auburn Tigers – No. 40 (both polls)

Some of the SEC teams will no doubt drop in the next few weeks as a full schedule of conference play develops. What happens with Kentucky, Arkansas and Tennessee will be particularly interesting.