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The Wacky World of Week 2 Polls

LSU and Ole Miss are #1. Kentucky is #4. Auburn is still #5. Polls are weird.

By Bama Bobblehead
Auburn defensive coordinator Will Muschamp can't figure out how the Tigers got outgained by FCS Jacksonville State...or why anyone would still have Auburn in their Top 10.
Auburn defensive coordinator Will Muschamp can't figure out how the Tigers got outgained by FCS Jacksonville State...or why anyone would still have Auburn in their Top 10.
Shanna Lockwood-USA TODAY Sports

Before we get into the madness of this week's Massey composite, let's take a look at the AP and Coaches Polls...

The AP Top 25 17 and others

AP_Top_25.0.png

Ohio State is no longer the unanimous AP #1. #4 Michigan State picked up two first-place votes after beating then-#7 Oregon 31-28.

Alabama remains at #2, gaining three voting points. The Tide is ranked #2 on 32 ballots. Joey Knight, Kirk Bohls and Rustin Dodd have Bama ranked #5.

After setting the record with 10 SEC teams in last week's Top 25, the conference now has only seven ranked teams. Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi State fell out after losing to Oklahoma, Toledo and LSU, respectively.

Eleven SEC teams received Top 25 votes with Mississippi State coming in at #28, Tennessee at #29, Florida at #36 and Arkansas at #38.

Who are Texas A&M, LSU and Ole Miss?

After two weeks of football, there is still a great deal of uncertainty about a lot of the SEC teams in the Top 25.

Texas A&M is #2 on Josh Kendall's ballot after the Aggies beat Ball State 56-23. They're #20 on Rob Long's ballot. Stewart Mandel still thinks they'll win the SEC.

Kirk Bohls gave two SEC teams their worst rankings of the week. Besides being one of three voters that have Bama at #5, he has LSU at #22. The Tigers are #5 on Mitch Vingle's ballot.

Eric Hansen has Ole Miss at #4, but Jon Wilner has the highest-scoring team in the country (74.5 ppg) ranked 25th. Guess we'll find out Saturday if the Rebels are for real.

Auburn

Auburn fell from #6 to #18 after The Scare at Jordan-Hare against FCS Jacksonville State. They're so far behind #17 Texas A&M that the AP probably could've just published a Top 17 this week.

Robert Gagliardi still has Auburn ranked #6 and Bob Asmussen has them at #7; I assume their cable was out or they were too mesmerized by the giant scoreboard to notice just how badly the Tigers got outplayed on both sides of the ball.

Auburn is unranked on nine ballots.

Auburn and LSU meet this weekend in Death Valley.

UPDATE: The AP's Ralph Russo is calling out the 52 voters (of 61) who still have Auburn ranked.

Bama Opponent Watch

Wisconsin moved back into the Top 25 after beating Miami-Ohio 58-0.

Bama's next opponent, Ole Miss, checks in at #17.

Rebels vs Crimson Tide coverage

Coaches Poll

The Top 5 have separated themselves from the rest of the pack in the Coaches Poll, and it's virtually a three-way tie for #6.

Thirteen SEC teams got Top 25 votes in the Coaches Poll this week, including South Carolina despite suffering a close home loss to Kentucky. Tennessee checks in at #27, Mississippi State is #30, Kentucky and Florida are tied at #37, Arkansas is #45 and the Gamecocks are #49.

Bama Opponent Watch

Wisconsin is #23 in this week's Coaches Poll. Ole Miss is #11.

Massey Composite

Composite Top 5

Combining the 44 sources available in this week's Massey Composite gives us the following Composite Top 5:

  1. Ohio State (average rank 1.73)
  2. Alabama (3.23)
  3. TCU (4.84)
  4. Georgia (8.34)
  5. Baylor (9.89)

Seems the computers weren't impressed with Michigan State's win over Oregon.

SEC Composite Rankings

Team AP Coaches Massey Average High Low
1. Alabama Crimson Tide 2 2 3.0 1 9
2. Georgia Bulldogs 7 8 8.1 3 16
3. Ole Miss Rebels 15 11 11.0 1 52
4. LSU Tigers 13 14 14.6 1 34
5. Texas A&M Aggies 17 18 15.9 6 51
6. Auburn Tigers 18 15 23.0 5 71
7. Missouri Tigers 22 20 24.9 9 54
8. Mississippi St. Bulldogs 28 30 29.5 15 55
9. Tennessee Volunteers 29 27 30.4 12 61
10. Florida Gators 36 37 32.1 18 58
11. Arkansas Razorbacks 38 45 32.5 10 63
12. South Carolina Gamecocks 49 47.9 28 72
13. Kentucky Wildcats 37 48.7 4 90
14. Vanderbilt Commodores 86.3 63 111

Alabama will play seven of the other eight Top 9 teams in the SEC. We don't play SEC #7 Missouri (yet).

SEC #1 Teams

Three SEC teams are ranked #1 overall in at least one source in the Massey Composite:

  • Alabama is #1 in 10 of the 37 sources.
  • Alabama's next opponent, Ole Miss, is #1 in ESPN's FPI.
  • LSU is #1 in the Hatch ratings.

Questionable High Ratings

Aside from Ole Miss and LSU getting first-place rankings, the Solecismic rating has Georgia at #3, Pugh still has Auburn at #5, and Hatch, who has LSU at #1, has Kentucky at #4!

Massey.0.png

Questionable Low Rankings

Once again, the CSL rankings are tough on the SEC, giving six teams their worst rankings in the Massey composite.

CSL has Georgia at #16, LSU at #34, Texas A&M at #51, Ole Miss at #52, Auburn at #71 and Kentucky at #90.

Catherwood has Alabama ranked #9.

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