With seven SEC football teams not in action on Saturday, this is an abbreviated edition of SEC Power Rankings. The weekly reminder is "each week's rankings are a snapshot of 'now' and not a prediction of how teams will finish the season. They are not the product of a computer model and are unabashedly subjective."
A couple of reports about the Alabama win over Vanderbilt were that the Crimson Tide survived the game. That makes a good headline, but to me it underscores two things. The Commodores are a legitimately ranked team, and Alabama has continued to improve. I punished Vandy in this week's rankings because Alabama exposed Diego Pavia's bold claims. Trying to talk your way to greatness is a foolish path for any SEC player.
Does SEC Football have a clearly top team?
A quick and easy answer is no. There are several quite good SEC football teams. All of them have much to prove. Alabama has commendably put itself in serious CFB Playoff contention, but much work remains in a schedule that likely will include another loss. ESPN's computer model gives the Crimson Tide only an 11.4% probability to win out in the regular season. Georgia at 6.4%, and Ole Miss at 6%, are the only other SEC teams above 2.9%.