Over The Pylon

We here at OverThePylon were asked to be a voting member in the SEC Power Poll this season hosted by Team Speed Kills. It’s a collection of the best and brightest SEC blogs throughout the college football landscape. Each week we’ll be posting our ballot, and an expansion of the little blurbs we have to put forward with our votes.

General Power Poll Philosophy
In general, it wouldn’t really make sense for us not to start off with the teams already ranked on our CBSSports Blogpoll. So that’s the starting point. From there it’s an exercise in resume evaluation, accomplishments, and expectation. Some use their Power Poll as an evaluation of who would win on a neutral field given the teams’ recent performances while their poll ballots are a combination of where the teams started, how they’ve done, all balanced with preseason expectations. Our Power Poll ballot is a nice hybrid of the two, as is our Blogpoll Ballot.

Off we go for this week’s ballot…

1. Alabama 7-0 (4-0): The SEC team above all others in terms of looking dominant and worthy of the top spot week in and week out. The Tide’s defense and offense are both consistently impressive. Alabama fans should be making reservations for Atlanta.
2. Florida 6-0 (4-0): Since Tebow went down, the Gators have just not seemed themselves. This weekend’s contest at MSU has to worry some since MSU is no pushover and the Gators very easily could have been beaten last Saturday against Arkansas.
3. LSU 5-1 (3-1): Tigers get the bye week last weekend and now play Auburn and Tulane. Could get another shot at a Top 10 upset when they battle Alabama in a few weeks with the SEC West on the line.
4. South Carolina 5-2 (2-2): Spurrier and the Gamecocks gave Bama everything they wanted. With Vandy and UT on the horizon, SC will be back in the Top 25 in no time.
5. Ole Miss 4-2 (1-2): This is more about the teams below them not doing enough to pass them as opposed to Ole Miss earning their spot. They’ve hardly looked dominant or impressive, but they are still a dangerous team.
6. Kentucky 3-3 (1-3): No Hartline? No problem. At 3-3 now, the Cats are looking very likely to make their 4th straight Bowl under Rich Brooks much to the surprise of UK fans and really the entire SEC.
7. Arkansas 3-3 (1-3): An upset of Auburn and a near upset of Florida certainly make Arkansas look like a team to watch in the 2nd half of the season.
8. Auburn 5-2 (2-2): What a difference 2 weeks makes. The most troubling thing through their last two losses is the lack of an explosive offense, the Tigers’ calling card in the early season.
9. Tennessee 3-3 (1-2): Huge win against Georgia this past weekend, but the Vols have two very tough tests against Bama and SC looming. Those two games will tell us exactly what kind of team UT is.
10. Georgia 4-3 (3-2): A win at Vandy does little to quiet the doubters of the Dawgs but next weekend’s game against Florida is a chance for UGA to erase all the bad energy.
11. Mississippi State 3-4 (1-2): The Bulldogs followed their almost upset of LSU by dropping 2 out of 3. Their next three against Florida, Kentucky, and Bama may drop them even lower.
12. Vanderbilt 2-5 (0-4): The only winless team in the conference sort of has to finish DFL by default. Well, that and a loss to Army.

Pretty much as we’ve said all season long, there’s a clear definition between the teams that are pretty good (Bama, Florida, LSU) and teams that aren’t. The interesting thing in this particular conference is the amount of parity that is created on the second rung of teams. Two weeks ago, Auburn was being lauded as a potential darkhorse threat for the SEC West while Kentucky and Arkansas were being relegated to the bottom of most everyone’s ballot. Arkansas goes and beats Auburn and plays Florida within a gnat’s ass while Kentucky beats Auburn at Auburn, and is one play away from a win at Columbia. Sort of trademark SEC and damn exciting, even if people are pointing to the lack of a middle class as a “down year”.

Filed under: SEC Power Poll |