Cats slide in Week 9 SEC Power Rankings

Last week helped further separate SEC contenders from pretenders through a series of blowouts. Alabama steamrolled Texas A&M, Georgia smashed Arkansas, Ole Miss walloped Tennessee, Missouri blasted Florida and LSU hammered Kentucky.

Top-ranked Mississippi State and star quarterback Dak Prescott got a well-deserved weekend off after emerging from a gauntlet of games against LSU, A&M and Auburn – all in a row – unscathed. The defending SEC champion Tigers were also idle but have a daunting second half of their schedule ahead, including three games against current top-10 teams.

As for this week's games, Ole Miss at LSU (7:15 p.m. ESPN) is the marquee matchup and Auburn-South Carolina (7:30 p.m. SEC Network) is intriguing, while Mississippi State-Kentucky (3:30 p.m. CBS) and Alabama-Tennessee (7:30 p.m. ESPN2) are don't-stub-your-toe road games for the Bulldogs and Tide against the improving Wildcats and Volunteers.

The mighty SEC West has five teams ranked this week, including a remarkable four of the top five in the Associated Press poll. The East has No. 9 Georgia, which one might argue is playing better without its one-time Heisman frontrunner at running back, and then a jumbled mess. Also: Vanderbilt, a separate category of dysfunction.

You might be able to guess where the Commodores rank in the latest SEC Power Rankings. Behold:

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