SEC Power Poll: Week 2

by Arkansas Expats on Sep 9, 2008 9:03 PM CDT in Football Comment 4 comments

It's time for another edition of our SEC Power Poll ballot, in which we do our best to seem objective while secretly wishing we could rate the Hogs towards the top of the rankings (unfortunately, current events mean us that doing so would probably cast serious doubt as to our sanity).

Anyway, here's our ballot from this week. Most SEC teams are still beating up on non-conference cupcakes, so not too much movement from last week's poll (which is shown in parentheses). As always, let us know what you think in the comments section and be sure to check out the final results if you're curious to see how others voted.

1. (1) Georgia (defeated Central Michigan, 56-17)
2. (2) Florida (defeated Miami, 26-3)
3. (3) LSU (game postponed)

Knowshon Moreno makes a highlight reel play, Urban Meyer runs up the score and LSU dodges a hurricane. Good times at the top of the poll.

4. (4) Alabama (defeated Tulane, 20-6)
5. (5) Auburn (defeated Southern Mississippi, 27-13)
6. (10) Vanderbilt (defeated South Carolina, 24-17)

The Commodores are this week's big climber after upsetting South Carolina. And they're smart, too!

7. (7) Kentucky (defeated Norfolk State, 38-3)
8. (9) Tennessee (idle)
9. (8) Mississippi (lost to Wake Forest, 28-30)
10. (6) South Carolina (lost to Vanderbilt, 17-24)

A vintage last-second heartbreaker for a Houston Nutt-coached team (for reference, see the Hogs' 2007 season). And if anyone doubts why we rated Steve Spurrier as only the 8th best SEC coach, his losing to Vandy two years in a row ought to provide a few answers.

11. (12) Mississippi St (defeated SE Louisiana, 34-10)
12. (11) Arkansas (defeated Louisiana-Monroe, 28-27)

It brings us no joy to write this, but get used to Arkansas in this spot. With four top-15 opponents in a row coming up we could be down here for a long while.

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Comments

If I remember correctly, didn’t Miss. St. lose thier first game? Isn’t the UofA 2-0, compared to Miss. St. at 1-1? I’m not wishing the Hogs up the ladder or anything, but where’s the justice in that? It’s not like the Bulldogs beat a better team than we did you know.

by GonzoHog on Sep 10, 2008 12:01 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I have to agree with Gonzo Hog, based on pure record, I would still put Mississippi State behind us. They were stupid enough to schedule a game in Ruston with a non-BCS conference team and then lose it. Shouldn’t they have to pay for that by being Number 12 until they have a better record or tie the Hogs’ record? We had some seriously close calls, but we did win those games in the end, so give us Number 11 for this week. If by some miracle we beat Texas (Spit!), then take one of those 1’s away for the following week, haha. Go HOGS!

by KevinHog on Sep 10, 2008 8:54 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Hey guys. Those are totally fair comments and I don’t really disagree. To be honest, I think that #12 vote was done partly out of frustration and partly due to the fact that when MSU did win its game it at least beat up on a bad team decisively. It’s hard for me to count a 4 point win over a D-IAA team and a 1 point win over a team rated the 101st best out of 114 D-I teams (both at home) for all that much.

But yeah, a win is a win so I also see your point! The larger issue, of course, is that it kind of sucks to be debating whether we should be ranked 11th or 12th…it’ll be nice when we can move out of that discussion altogether.

-John

by Razorback Expats on Sep 10, 2008 12:32 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs