IT Poll Post Week 2: Where is the line in the SEC?
There’s a limited amount of data on teams after the first two weeks of the regular season, but some teams have already proven to have contender qualities not only in the broader picture of the 12-team Playoff but also within the Southeastern Conference. Some teams have also proven to have the opposite.
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It’s hard to draw a line that separates contenders from pretenders after two weeks, but a sharpened pencil can be deployed and utilized already so long as the eraser is in full form and ready to re-draw where the tiers are in the SEC.
1 Georgia (-)
They manhandled Tennessee Tech and had Trevor Etienne back as well. Carson Beck tossed a touchdown on one fifth of his attempts for a total of five. Still the top team in the league until proven otherwise. But the No. 2 team in the league is also the No. 2 team in the country.
2 Texas (-)
Deployed defensive versatility and passing acumen the way high-level teams in the Playoff+Portal era do. Michigan may have been one-dimensional but they’ll prove to be an 8-9 win team this year. Winning in front of 111,000 is no easy task.
3 Alabama (-)
Todd Orlando gave Kalen DeBoer fits. What? It’s true, until Jalen Milroe found Ryan Williams and the Bulls front couldn’t stop the Bama O-line in late game situations. What does Alabama look like when it has to work out kinks? Still pretty good, it’s just a novel idea. At Wisconsin will do them a lot of good before they host Georgia.
4 Ole Miss (-)
The Rebels will probably start 6-0 and not have revealed all that much about them.
5 Missouri (-)
This is the one that IT struggled with most. Missouri has not done anything to lose their footing, but Tennessee has gained a LOT of ground on them with quality QB play and defensive prowess. Hard to move a team down that is 89-0 on the scoreboard this year. The Tigers welcome a ranked Boston College team this weekend.
6 Tennessee (-)
The 2023 quarterback class had a number of bona fide stars and Nico Iamaleava is one of them. He’s proven to be worth however much the rumored dollar figure was as he led the Volunteers past a NC State team that will probably compete in the ACC. September 21 in Norman is going to be a proving ground for a lot of different players.
—The competitive line is drawn here—
7 Oklahoma (-)
Oklahoma’s offense looked inept from the coordinator to the quarterback to the O-line to everything else. They still eked out a win and remain undefeated and that keeps them in their current spot. The Sooners were missing a couple of key pieces but that shouldn’t put them in a one-score game against a Houston team in year one of what’s probably a four-year Willie Fritz rebuild. Tulane might make it moderately interesting in Norman.
8 LSU (+1)
LSU can score. It’s defense is a significant work in progress but that’s why Nicholls is on the schedule. They’re going to have quite the test this week at South Carolina, but they get a break in that the game is during the day.
9 South Carolina (New)
Speaking of, please welcome the first-place in the SEC South Carolina Gamecocks! Shane Beamer‘s bunch walloped the Kentucky Wildcats in Lexington and created more existential crises for Mark Stoops than the one he had while considering the job in College Station. South Carolina has questions at QB, but LaNorris Sellers put it together enough to score two touchdowns. Brock Vandagriff… did not.
10 Vanderbilt (New)
Vanderbilt? Beat? The? Dog? Out? Of? Someone?
As long as the Commodores can keep Diego Pavia healthy, there’s some reason for excitement in Nashville. They’ve played better so far than some of the other teams in the schedule. They may not be a bowl team, but they’re chippier than maybe expected and at least at this early juncture deserve some credit for their successes.
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Dropped out
- Auburn, previously No. 10
- Kentucky, previously No. 8
Lost and looked bad doing it!
