ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low

Alabama upheld the SEC’s honor in Week I. Georgia let the league down.

Of course, after seeing most of their SEC brethren open the season with glorified scrimmages, who could blame the Bulldogs if they re-think the wisdom of playing a nonconference schedule again that includes Oklahoma State, Arizona State and Georgia Tech all in the same season?

There were some serious cupcakes on the schedule in Week I for the SEC, but the Crimson Tide served notice that they’re for real.

Here’s a look at this week’s SEC power rankings:

1. Florida: The Gators could have named their score against Charleston Southern. They would have won this game by four or five touchdowns playing all second and third-teamers. A handful of defensive starters were held out of the game, so maybe that explains why the Gators weren’t especially sharp on that side of the ball. They’re still the class of the league.

2. Alabama: What a tough, gutsy performance by Alabama in the fourth quarter of its 34-24 win over Virginia Tech. The Crimson Tide were anything but polished, but they got it done when it counted against a Top 10 team. This defense might be better than the one last year, and you could see quarterback Greg McElroy coming into his own in that decisive fourth quarter.

3. Ole Miss: The Rebels drop a spot despite winning by 31 points on the road against Memphis. The 45-14 final score was deceiving. Ole Miss only led 17-7 going into the fourth quarter, and one of those touchdowns was a defensive score. The way the Rebels finished the game was encouraging and so was their defensive performance. It sounds like some of the Ole Miss players might have been battling flu-like symptoms during the game.

4. Arkansas: The Hogs make the biggest move this week, thanks in part to how impressive they were offensively in the opener and the fact that LSU wasn’t very impressive at all. Arkansas has a week off before Georgia comes to town on Sept. 19, but this definitely appears to be a team on the move in Bobby Petrino’s second season in Fayetteville.

5. LSU: Those cross-country trips always take their toll, and you wonder how LSU might be affected this coming weekend against Vanderbilt. Give the Tigers credit for hanging in there in the Pacific Northwest and doing just enough to beat a Washington team that was 0-12 last season. But allowing 478 yards of total offense and 25 first downs is not the way the LSU defense wanted to start this season.

6. Georgia: It’s tempting to drop the Bulldogs even more. At least offensively, they didn’t look like an upper-tier SEC team last Saturday against an Oklahoma State defense that was ravaged all season a year ago. But they did face a real opponent and showed signs of improvement on defense from a year ago. They get a chance for redemption this weekend against South Carolina.

7. South Carolina: The Gamecocks probably deserve to be a few spots higher. They went on the road and won, keeping North Carolina State out of the end zone, and the young talent on their defense is really impressive. But what in the name of the Head Ball Coach is wrong with that offense? Maybe it was just the first-game jitters, but this defense needs some help if South Carolina is going to win eight or nine games this season.

8. Tennessee: Tennessee’s the toughest team to rank this week. The Vols looked like a different bunch last weekend under Lane Kiffin in a 63-7 trouncing of Western Kentucky. Then you consider the opponent, and as Kiffin himself said, let’s hold off before we declare the Vols a bona fide contender just yet. We’ll know more after UCLA comes to town this weekend. You gotta like the freshmen on this team.

9. Auburn: Louisiana Tech was a dangerous team and led early, but Auburn showed its muscle in the second half. There were a lot of things to be happy about on the Plains. Quarterback Chris Todd appears healthy again. The running game has some diversity to it, and the defense is good enough to keep the Tigers in just about every game they play. There’s still no getting around the lack of depth.

10. Vanderbilt: Like a lot of teams in the SEC last weekend, Vanderbilt rolled it up against a team that had absolutely no prayer. Western Carolina was woefully outmanned. Still, the Commodores unleashed freshman running backs Zac Stacy and Warren Norman, and their defense is legit. Don’t count Vanderbilt out on the Bayou, especially if LSU doesn’t play any better than it did at Washington.

11. Kentucky: The Wildcats will get their chance later this month to prove they should be ranked higher. There were a lot of things to like about their season-opening 42-0 win over Miami (Ohio). Mike Hartline was more polished as a passer. Junior college newcomer Chris Matthews is the real deal at receiver, and the new faces on defense stepped up. Kentucky is off this weekend before taking on Louisville in two weeks.

12. Mississippi State: It took the Bulldogs a while to get started against Jackson State, but they finished the game with a flurry. Senior running back Anthony Dixon didn’t play, and they still won easily. Freshman receiver Chad Bumphis had a pair of touchdown catches, and it looks like Dan Mullen will continue with the two quarterbacks. The real season starts this Saturday at Auburn.