Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low
Selecting the No. 1 team in this week's SEC power rankings was even more difficult than a week ago. You could make an argument for four teams -- Alabama, Florida, Georgia and LSU. Ultimately, I opted to keep the Bulldogs on top for a third straight week. Going out West and beating nationally ranked Arizona State on the road will pay dividends for Georgia later on if the Bulldogs continue to take care of business. Of course, the schedule only gets more treacherous from here. Alabama comes to town this weekend in the second battle of top 10 teams in the SEC in as many weeks. LSU took down Auburn last week:
1. Georgia: The Bulldogs are still a bit unsettled in their offensive line, and the inexperience and shuffling could come back to get them. But Matthew Stafford formally introduced himself to freshman receiver A.J. Green in Georgia's 27-10 win at Arizona State, and that's bad news for everybody else the Bulldogs are going to play.
2. LSU: The Tigers get bumped up to No. 2 this week based on their 26-21 win at Auburn, the best win an SEC team has produced this season. Any time you go to a top 10 team's house and win, people are going to notice. Redshirt freshman quarterback Jarrett Lee rallied LSU in the second half. He showed a lot of courage after a poor first half.
3. Florida: A second straight Heisman Trophy might not be in the offing for quarterback Tim Tebow, but the Gators are in as good a position as any to win the Eastern Division crown after going on the road and blitzing Tennessee 30-6 last week. They have a favorable schedule the rest of the way, and their defense and special teams are playing at a championship level.
4. Alabama: The best thing about Alabama right now is how well the Crimson Tide are playing in the offensive and defensive lines. That's where it starts, and Alabama is smothering the opposition up front. The freshmen are also coming along nicely, and we find out for sure Saturday against Georgia if this program is further ahead than anybody could have imagined back in August.
5. Vanderbilt: The Commodores have trailed in every game this season, but they're 4-0 and nationally ranked for the first time since 1984. This is no mirage, folks. This is a good football team that does all of the little things right. The open date this week comes at a good time. Vanderbilt had several players banged up in its 23-17 win at Ole Miss last Saturday.
6. Auburn: The good news is that quarterback Chris Todd came alive in the spread offense, and offensive coordinator Tony Franklin said he might even let Todd throw more the rest of the way. The bad news is that Auburn's vaunted defense gave up 398 yards in the 26-21 loss to LSU, which was playing a couple of untested quarterbacks. Auburn's defense is better than it showed on that game-winning drive by LSU.
7. Kentucky: The unbeaten Wildcats were idle last weekend, which was probably a good thing. They had several injuries they were dealing with coming out of their last game against Middle Tennessee. This is the first real SEC defense Kentucky has had under Rich Brooks. The Wildcats should go to 4-0 this weekend against Western Kentucky before traveling to Alabama on Oct. 4.
8. South Carolina: Hard as this is for some to believe, but Steve Spurrier is thinking about making another quarterback change after the Gamecocks' unimpressive 23-13 win over Wofford. He wants to give redshirt freshman Stephen Garcia a shot against UAB. After reading about Garcia in the police blotter for the last two years, it will be nice to finally see if the guy can play.
9. Ole Miss: All of a sudden, Ole Miss quarterback Jevan Snead is struggling after playing lights out to open the season. He had a nightmarish game in the Rebels' 23-17 loss to Vanderbilt and was intercepted four times. He has six interceptions in his last two games. The Vanderbilt loss was a costly one for Ole Miss in its quest to get to a bowl game this season.
10. Tennessee: The Vols have been the biggest disappointment in the SEC through the first four weeks. Quarterback Jonathan Crompton is struggling to find any consistency. Special teams are an embarrassment, and this looks like a 7-5 or 6-6 football team right now. Similar to last season, Phillip Fulmer has his work cut out if the Vols are going to turn it around.
11. Arkansas: The race for the bottom spot is a close one. As badly as Arkansas played last week against Alabama in a 49-14 home loss, however, the Hogs were able to escape the cellar ... but barely. The next three weeks could really get ugly. Arkansas travels to Texas this Saturday, comes back home to face Florida on Oct. 4 and then travels to Auburn on Oct. 11.
12. Mississippi State: Where do you start with the beleaguered Bulldogs, who are 1-3 and have yet to beat an FBS team? Their only win was over Southeastern Louisiana. Already this season, Mississippi State has turned the ball over 12 times. But even the defense was AWOL last Saturday, as Georgia Tech rushed for 437 yards in a 38-7 beatdown.
